Gardiner Howland Shaw (1893-1965)

He was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard. He began his career in 1917 as a State Department bureaucrat. Three years later, he was appointed Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State, the first in a series of diplomatic positions which resulted in his becoming the foremost American expert on Near-Eastern affairs. His knowledge led to his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State in 1941. While serving in Turkey, he was horrified by the conditions in that country’s harsh prison system. After 1941, he devoted himself to juvenile penal reform. He became a “nationally known specialist in the field of criminal rehabilitation and youth problems.” He was President of the American Correctional Association, President of the Bureau of Rehabilitation, and President of the Osborne Society in New York. In 1959, he established the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation to fund "research, analysis, and journalism, that examine important criminal and juvenile justice issues and offer ways to improve the administration of justice in Massachusetts." In 1945, he was awarded the Laetare Medal, the most prestigious award given to American Catholics. He was seemingly unmarried.