Though it is now more than two decades since Henry A. Kissinger '50 left his job as Richard M. Nixon's secretary of state, the foreign policy whiz kid has not lost his reputation as one of the greatest analysts of international affairs of the 20th century.

The summa cum laude government graduate remains at the forefront of American foreign policy debate, recently endorsing presidential hopeful George W. Bush and lending his weight to a proposal to cut nuclear reserves.

Last year, Kissinger published the third volume of his well-received series of memoirs and has maintained a heavy schedule of international speaking engagements.

But the one-time Harvard professor has not officially ventured back to his alma mater for more than 20 years.

"To the best of my knowledge, [Kissinger] has not attended any University function in Cambridge since the end of the Vietnam War," says University Marshal Richard M. Hunt. And Kissinger has declined to attend his 50th reunion, refusing interviews and photo requests.

The break with Harvard occurred in the midst of the Vietnam War. Many of Kissinger's Harvard colleagues vehemently opposed his policies as secretary of state, leading many to speculate that political bitterness has created a permanent rift between Kissinger and the University.

Years of Service

Kissinger is best known for his work as a diplomat in the 1960s and 1970s.

An expert on the defense policy, he advised presidential administrations from 1955 to 1968, before officially joining Nixon's staff. He received international recognition for his studies of the Cold War. In the 1960 work The Necessity for Choice, he originated the "missile gap" hypothesis, and he was later instrumental in engineering the first strategic arms limitation talks (SALT) between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1969.

With his official entrance into the government as Nixon's national security advisor, Kissinger became one of the primary crafters of United States policy in Vietnam, facing the protests of numerous anti-war activists.

But Kissinger's lengthy negotiations in 1973 brought about the final cease-fire of the war and engineered peace between North and South Vietnam. For his efforts, Kissinger shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam.

In addition, Kissinger played an instrumental role in opening relations with the People's Republic of China. His efforts at rapprochement culminated in the 1972 meeting between Nixon and Chinese premier Mao Zedong, the first official contact between the United States and China since the victory of Communist forces in 1949.

Kissinger also won international acclaim for his work in the Mideast peace process. After the Egyptian invasion of Israel in 1973, Kissinger adopted a policy later coined "shuttle diplomacy," travelling throughout the region to orchestrate a truce in the conflict.

Kissinger also advised both the Ford and Reagan administrations, but in recent years has devoted most of his efforts to speaking and writing. He also heads an international consulting, Kissinger Associates, based in New York.

The Whiz Kid

Born in Furth, Germany on May 27, 1923, Kissinger and his family immigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape anti-Semitism.

He arrived at Harvard on the G.I. Bill after service in the U.S. Army in World War II and immediately distinguished himself academically.