Peter Vincent Pry

Peter Vincent Pry was born to Sasha and Frank Pry in upstate New York where he grew up in
the house his father built with his own two hands. His parents and two brothers chose nursing
degrees but Peter’s passion was history and scholarship. He graduated with a PhD in History
from the State University of New York and went on to publish “Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal” which
earned him a fellowship to the University of Southern California where he achieved a second
PhD in International Relations.

Dr Peter Vincent Pry was one of our country’s preeminent thinkers, a formidable national
security practitioner and an inspiring patriot. In the course of a career spanning nearly forty
years, he served with distinction first in the executive branch of the federal government as a
Verification Analyst in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1984-1985), an Intelligence
Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency specializing in Soviet nuclear forces and doctrine
(1985-1995), and a Professional Staff Member on the House Armed Services Committee (1995-
2001). He played a decisive role in enacting legislation in 2001 establishing the blue-ribbon
Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP). He
served as the Commission’s Staff Director, under its formidable Chairman, Dr. William
Graham. With Dr. Pry’s tireless help, the EMP Threat Commission produced multiple reports,
briefings and congressional testimonies that constitute the most authoritative and
comprehensive analyses of the grave vulnerabilities associated with our most critical of critical
infrastructures – America’s electric grid. It was Dr. Pry’s life’s work to have the Commission’s
recommendations fully implemented.

At the time of his passing, Dr. Pry was the Executive Director of the Task Force on National and
Homeland Security, the Director of the United States Nuclear Strategy Forum, and a Senior
Fellow of the Center for Security Policy. As part of his tireless advocacy for protecting the
electric grid, Dr. Pry authored nine books (including The Long Sunday and Blackout Wars) and
countless essays and op.eds. He also gave innumerable TV and radio interviews and appeared
in a number of documentary films, including the recent “Grid Down, Power Up,” narrated by
Dennis Quaid.

Peter Vincent Pry was a founding member of and inspiration for the Center for Security Policy’s
Secure the Grid Coalition, which is dedicated to the task of protecting every American citizen.
Dr. Pry has been properly described as a national treasure. He will be sorely missed by all
those who love freedom and dedicate their lives, as he did so nobly and effectively, to securing
it.

Peter is especially remembered by his family as a teacher, mentor, bulwark, and a certain and
awesome ally. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, daughter Rebecca and son Frank as well as his
brothers Paul and Frank.

The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at Thacker Brothers Lake Monticello Funeral Home.

Family and friends may share memories and photos at www.thackerbrothers.com. 

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