Harry Yeide ’82
Alumni Achievement in Foreign Affairs - Military History
Harry Yeide knew he wanted to go to a liberal arts college, and Muhlenberg had the perfect program
for the potential physics major. However, it was humanities that opened a world of understanding of
how economics, politics, German and foreign affairs coincided. Philosophy with Professor Ludwig
Schlecht taught him critical thinking, as he crafted a curriculum that combined all of his favorite
subjects. Relying on his double major in political science and German, his education prepared him for
a career of research, writing and analysis for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The CIA, the country’s largest intelligence agency, is often thought of as a spy agency, but it is actually
made up of intelligence and national security professionals who collect and analyze foreign
intelligence with the goal of protecting the U.S. from foreign threats. Yeide worked for the CIA as an
intelligence analyst for 30 years.
The CIA provided a solid career path, but writing and history became his hobby and his love. His fluent
German enabled him to dig into German records from World War II, and he now tells stories that have
never before been told. Veterans have said to him, “You got it right. That’s the way it was.” He has
written several nonfiction books unearthing historical documents that provided the real stories of war
and conflict. His next book, tentatively called They Bet Against America, is about the Axis powers and
what they were thinking when they decided to go to war against the United States.
Yeide says Muhlenberg was a nexus point in his life because he met Nancy, his wife, the very first day
of freshman orientation. He says that was the luckiest day of his life.
