Morton I. Abramowitz

Early life Morton Isaac Abramowitz was born in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, on January 20, 1933, the son of Mendel and Dora (Smith) Abramowitz. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. He received his B.A. from Stanford University (in history and economics ) in 1953. He then attended Harvard University, earning an M.A. in 1955.

Abramowitz returned to Washington D.C. in 1966, spending the next seven years there in various capacities, including serving as special assistant to Under Secretary Elliot Richardson.

From 1973 to 1978, Abramowitz was political adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command (1973–1974) and then deputy assistant secretary of Defense for international affairs (1974–1978).

In 1978, President of the United States Jimmy Carter named Abramowitz United States Ambassador to Thailand, and he held this post from August 9, 1978, until July 31, 1981.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan named Abramowitz as the U.S. representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Negotiations in Vienna, with ambassadorial rank.

Post-Government career Abramowitz retired from government service in 1991 and took over as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. He retired from that position in 1997. Subsequently, he was a Senior Fellow of The Century Foundation and a director of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Abramowitz was a long-time board member of the International Rescue Committee.

Abramowitz played a leading role in the foundation of the International Crisis Group, and was a board member from its inception in 1995.

Abramowitz served for nine years on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy, and upon his retirement in 2007 was awarded its Democracy Service Medal.

Personal life and death In 1959, Abramowitz married Sheppie Glass, the older sister of composer Philip Glass. Sheppie Abramowitz spent her career advocating on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers for the International Rescue Committee and KIND (Kids in Need of Defense). The couple were married until her death in April 2024, and had two children. their daughter, Rachel, had a successful career as an entertainment reporter for the Los Angeles Times before embarking on a second career in screenwriting with her husband, Joshua Goldin (Wonderful World).

Abramowitz died at his home in Washington, D.C., on November 29, 2024, at the age of 91.

Writing Americans Are Ignoring Syria's Humanitarian Crisis, Washington Post, December 5, 2013 With Richard Harris Moorsteen, Moving the Glacier: The Two Koreas and the Powers International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1971 East Asian Actors and Issues (1991) China: Can We Have A Policy? Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1997, ed. Turkey's Transformation and American Policy, Century Foundation Press, 2000, with James T. Laney, ed. The United States and Turkey: allies in need, Century Foundation Press, 2003, with Stephen W. Bosworth, Chasing the Sun: Rethinking East Asian Policy Since 1992 Century Foundation, 2006,