Paul Edward Cronin ’51 died on February 10, 2009, in Concord, New Hampshire.

He was born in Lewiston, Maine, on November 10, 1927, and prepared for college at Lewiston High School. He enlisted in the Army after high school and served for two years, attaining the rank of sergeant. In 1951, he attended Norwich University for two terms, then enrolled at Bowdoin, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with high honors in history, and went on to earn a master’s degree in European history at Harvard University in 1952. From 1954 through 1971, he served as an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency’s overt analytical section under the deputy director of intelligence, and for the next 10 years as a CIA consultant. For a time, he was involved in writing the presidential daily brief. He lived for more than 50 years in an efficiency apartment at the Excelsior Manor in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington. He was a devoted communicant of St. Stephen the Martyr Church. He was an avid tennis player, enjoyed theater and symphony, and later in life took up jogging, competing in many road races in his 60s and 70s. He is survived by his brother’s wife, Jacqueline Cronin of Manchester; seven nieces; a nephew; two cousins; six grandnieces; and six grandnephews. He was predeceased by a brother, Joseph F. Cronin Jr.