Frederic Pryor
Encyclopedia
Frederic L. Pryor is a Senior Research Scholar of Economics
at Swarthmore College
. He is best known for his subsidiary role in a Cold War
spy swap.
On February 10, 1962, he was placed in prison with American U-2
pilot Francis Gary Powers. Central Intelligence Agency
pilot Powers had been shot down in his spy plane on May 1, 1960.
Pryor, along with Powers, was freed in a swap for Soviet KGB
Colonel Vilyam Fisher
(Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge
between West Berlin
and Potsdam
, East Germany.
Soviet spy Fisher had been arrested in 1957 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) in the famous Hollow Nickel Case
and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
. He is best known for his subsidiary role in a Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
spy swap.
Cold War incident
In August, 1961, Pryor was arrested and held without charge by the East German police. He had been taking graduate courses in East European studies at the Free University of West Berlin since 1959.On February 10, 1962, he was placed in prison with American U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
pilot Francis Gary Powers. Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
pilot Powers had been shot down in his spy plane on May 1, 1960.
Pryor, along with Powers, was freed in a swap for Soviet KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
Colonel Vilyam Fisher
Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher was a noted Soviet intelligence officer...
(Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge
Glienicke bridge
The Glienicke bridge is a bridge on the edge of Berlin that spans the Havel River to connect the cities of Potsdam and Berlin near Klein Glienicke...
between West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
and Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, East Germany.
Soviet spy Fisher had been arrested in 1957 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) in the famous Hollow Nickel Case
Hollow Nickel Case
The Hollow Nickel Case , refers to the method that the Soviet Union spy Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher used to exchange information between himself and his contacts, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin and Reino Häyhänen.-Background:On June 22, 1953, a newspaper boy , collecting for the...
and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Academic history
- B.A. Chemistry, 1955, Oberlin CollegeOberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
- M.A., Economics, 1957, Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
- Ph.D., Economics, 1962, Yale University with courses at the Free University of West Berlin, 1959–1961
Career
- Assistant Professor of Economics, University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, 1962–1964 - Research Staff Economist, Economic Growth Center, Yale University, 1964–1966
- Visiting Associate Professor of Economics (part time), Lincoln UniversityLincoln UniversityLincoln University or University of Lincoln or variations may refer to:in England*University of Lincolnin New Zealand*Lincoln University, New Zealandin the United States*Lincoln University...
, 1967 - Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore CollegeSwarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
: Assistant and Associate Professor, 1967–1972 - Visiting Associate Professor of Economics, International Development Research Center, Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, 1969 - Swarthmore College: Professor of Economics, 1972–1998
- Visiting Fellow, Institute of International Studies, University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, 1972–1973 - Visiting Professor, Graduate Institute of International StudiesGraduate Institute of International StudiesThe Graduate Institute of International Studies, best known as HEI , was founded in 1927 as one of the first institutions in the world dedicated to the study of international relations...
, Geneva, 1977–1978; 1982 - Swarthmore College: Acting Chair, 1980–1981; 1983–1984; 1988–1989
- Visiting Professor, École des hautes études en sciences socialesÉcole des Hautes Études en Sciences SocialesThe École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
, Paris, 1981 - Visiting Scholar, Hoover Institution, Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, 1989–1990 - Guest Scholar, Brookings InstitutionBrookings InstitutionThe Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
, Washington, D.C., 1993–1994 - Consulting economist to the World Bank 1998-2001.
- Swarthmore College: Senior Research Scholar, 1998–present
- Visiting Scholar, Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von WirtschaftssystemenMax Planck Institute of EconomicsThe Max Planck Institute of Economics was founded in 1993 as the Max Planck Institute for Research into Economic Systems...
, Jena, 2004
External links
- Pryor's resume
- Biography - Swarthmore