Paul Robert Ignatius (born November 11, 1920) is an American government official who served as

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

between 1967 and 1969 and was the

Assistant Secretary of Defense Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many high-level executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Assistant Secretary of Defense title is junior to Under Secretary of De ...

during the Lyndon Johnson Administration. He is the oldest-living former U.S. government official.

Life and career

Ignatius was born in 1920 in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, the son of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

parents who migrated to the United States, Elisa (née Jamgochian; ) and Hovsep "Joseph" B. Ignatius (original last name – Ignatosian; ). Ignatius' ancestors came from the historic Armenian settlement of Agin near

Kharpert Harpoot () or Kharberd () is an ancient town located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. It now forms a small district of the city of Elazığ. p. 1. In the late Ottoman period, it fell under the Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet (also known as the Harput ...

. Ignatius is a trustee of the

George C. Marshall Foundation The George C. Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia, US, was commissioned by President Harry S. Truman in order to preserve the papers of General George Marshall, George C. Marshall, who served as Army chief of staff, secretary of state and d ...

and member of the

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and the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs. He has served previously as cofounder and chairman of the board of trustees for

Logistics Management Institute LMI (formerly Logistics Management Institute) is an American management consulting firm with focus on the defense sector. Established in 1961, LMI is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, near McLean, in the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with sate ...

; chairman, president and CEO of

Air Transport Association Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as Air Transport Association of America (ATA), is an American trade association and lobbying group based in Washington, D.C. that has represented major North American airlines since 1936. The A4A ...

; president of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' newspaper and executive vice president of

The Washington Post Company Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate holding company. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, it was formerly the owner of ''The Washington Po ...

;

(Installations and Logistics),

Under Secretary of the Army Under may refer to: Music *''Under'', an album by Savoy, 2024 * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *"Under", a song by Sampha from ''Process'', 2017 People *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz � ...

, and Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Logistics).Department of Defense Key Officials, September 1947-December 2017
/ref> While serving as

, he presented the Congressional

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

to Captain

William Loren McGonagle William Loren McGonagle (November 19, 1925 – March 3, 1999) was a United States Navy officer who received the Medal of Honor for his actions while in command of the when it was USS Liberty incident, attacked by Israel in the Eastern Mediterran ...

for the heroism he demonstrated during the 1967 USS ''Liberty'' incident. McGonagle's Medal of Honor was not presented to him by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in a public ceremony at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, as is customary, but was instead presented at the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is a ceremonial and administrative center for the United States Navy, located in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. (federal District of Columbia). It is the oldest shore establishment / base of ...

. This is the only time in history it has been done this way. At the time of the ceremony, President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

was in the East Room of the White House overseeing the graduation of high school students from Capitol Page School.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

Admiral

Thomas H. Moorer Thomas Hinman Moorer (February 9, 1912 – February 5, 2004) was an admiral and naval aviator in the United States Navy who served as the 18th chief of Naval Operations from 1967 to 1970 and 7th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970 to ...

, a longtime ''Liberty'' advocate, was also in attendance. Moorer explained the award was presented in this manner because the attack on the USS ''Liberty'' had been covered-up by the incumbent presidential administration. He founded Harbridge House, Inc., a Boston

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

and research firm. Ignatius received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

and

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

) and his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. He served as a commissioned lieutenant in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, principally as an aviation ordnance officer aboard

escort aircraft carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slower type of aircraf ...

in the Pacific. He has two sons and two daughters.

David Ignatius David Reynolds Ignatius (born May 26, 1950) is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He has written eleven novels, including ''Body of Lies (novel), Body of Lies'', which direct ...

is a columnist for ''

'', and a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Adi Ignatius Adi Ignatius (born 1958) is editor-in-chief of ''Harvard Business Review''. He joined the magazine in January 2009. Biography Previously, he was deputy managing editor for ''Time (magazine), Time'', where he was responsible for many of its speci ...

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

''. Both daughters, Sarah and Amy, have practiced law. Amy Ignatius is a Superior Court Judge in New Hampshire. Sarah Ignatius has worked for decades as a non-profit executive director.

Personal life

He married Nancy Weiser Sharpless (1925–2019) in 1947. They had four children, including

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and

Adi Adi or ADI may refer to: Abbreviations * Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine * Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector * Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank * Alternating ...

. He turned

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

on November 11, 2020. He currently lives in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Legacy

On May 23, 2013, the Navy announced that an , would be named for him. It was commissioned at

Port Everglades, Florida Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2022, Port Ev ...

on July 27, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ignatius, Paul Robert 1920 births Living people American people of Armenian descent Harvard Business School alumni People from Glendale, California Military personnel from California United States secretaries of the navy University of Southern California alumni The Washington Post people 20th-century American naval officers 20th-century American businesspeople United States Under Secretaries of the Army Journalists from California American men centenarians United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers