Richard Burt

Richard R. Burt (born February 3, 1947) is an American businessman and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Germany and was a chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Prior to his diplomatic career, Burt worked as director of a non-governmental organization and from 1977 to 1980 was a national security correspondent for The New York Times. Early life and education Burt was born on February 3, 1947, in Sewell, Chile. He attended Cornell University, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He earned his bachelor's degree, and earned a master's degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1971. Following graduate school, he was selected for a research fellowship at the United States Naval War College. Following this fellowship, Burt moved to London to work as a research associate and later Assistant Director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. In 1977, he was hired by The New York Times to work as a correspondent on national security issues. Career Burt began working for the United States Department of State in the early 1980s. In 1981, he was appointed Director of Politico-Military Affairs, and in 1983 Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs. In 1985, he became the United States Ambassador to Germany. He assisted in the 11 February 1986 exchange of 9 persons including Anatoly Shcharansky and Hana and Karl Koecher across the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin. His tenure as Ambassador to Germany coincided with the beginning of the process that would lead to the reunification of Germany. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Burt as chief negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the rank of ambassador. The treaty, signed in 1991, limited the number of nuclear weapons that the two countries could have.