Our Genealogy - Person Sheet
Our Genealogy - Person Sheet
NamePeter Shaw Thacher 
79, 3C1R, M
79, 3C1R, MBirth8 Sep 192679
Death3 Apr 1999
OccupationDiplomat
FatherDaly Highleyman , M
MotherAnne Shaw Jones , F (1909-)
Notes for Peter Shaw Thacher
He is son of Dan Highleyman but took the last name of his mother’s 2nd husband.
He is the sole grandson of Percival Shaw Jones.
He and his wife provided information on the Jones pedigree to the Moncton Museum in 1991.
“Peter Shaw Thacher is a graduate of Yale University 1948, he worked for the Marshall plan in Paris 1948-1951, for the Department of the Army in Korea; then he was a member of the US Foreign Service assigned to the US Mission to the UN 1956-1971, first as a political officer, then as counsellor for science and technology; in 1971 he was seconded to the United Nations as Program Director working with Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment; on the creation of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in 1973 he was Director of UNEP’s European Office in Geneva, in 1977 he became Deputy Executive Director of UNEP with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary General and worked in that position in Nairobi, Kenya, until retiring from the United Nations in May 1983 (he had earlier retired from US service). Since 1983 he has been associated with the World Resources Institute, a non-profit policy research organization in Washington, first as a Distinguished Fellow and currently, on a half time basis, as Senior Counsellor; he is also Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General (Maurice Strong) of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio, Brazil in June 1992. He serves also on a number of boards, among them the Board of Review of the American Society of International Law and is a member of the Advisory Committee on Environment of the International Council of Scientific Unions.79
He is the sole grandson of Percival Shaw Jones.
He and his wife provided information on the Jones pedigree to the Moncton Museum in 1991.
“Peter Shaw Thacher is a graduate of Yale University 1948, he worked for the Marshall plan in Paris 1948-1951, for the Department of the Army in Korea; then he was a member of the US Foreign Service assigned to the US Mission to the UN 1956-1971, first as a political officer, then as counsellor for science and technology; in 1971 he was seconded to the United Nations as Program Director working with Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment; on the creation of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in 1973 he was Director of UNEP’s European Office in Geneva, in 1977 he became Deputy Executive Director of UNEP with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary General and worked in that position in Nairobi, Kenya, until retiring from the United Nations in May 1983 (he had earlier retired from US service). Since 1983 he has been associated with the World Resources Institute, a non-profit policy research organization in Washington, first as a Distinguished Fellow and currently, on a half time basis, as Senior Counsellor; he is also Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General (Maurice Strong) of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio, Brazil in June 1992. He serves also on a number of boards, among them the Board of Review of the American Society of International Law and is a member of the Advisory Committee on Environment of the International Council of Scientific Unions.79
Obituaries notes for Peter Shaw Thacher
From The New York Times, April 11, 1999:
“Peter Thacher, Diplomat, 72; Helped to Lead a U.N. Agency
By Nick Ravo
Peter Shaw Thacher, a former State Department official and a retired deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, died on April 3 at a nursing home in Mystic, Conn. He was 72 and lived in Stonington Borough.
The cause of death was a brain tumor, said his wife, Mary C. McGrath Thacher.
As a leader of the United Nations Environment Program in the mid-1970's, Mr. Thacher helped the agency assess environmental problems in the world. Earlier in the decade, as director of the program's European operations in Geneva, he built up the agency and forged relationships with European governments and other United Nations agencies.
''He was a very early environmental advocate,'' said Adnan Amin, director of the United Nations Environment Program's regional office for North America.
Mr. Thacher was born in New York on Sept. 8, 1926. He served in the Navy in World War II and was graduated from Yale College in 1948. After graduation, he went to Paris on a summer trip and stayed as a clerk-typist assigned to the Marshall Plan.
He later served in the Korean War with the Department of the Army. In July 1954, Mr. Thacher was aboard a commercial aircraft that was shot down by Communists in China; 8 of the 18 passengers survived.
Shortly afterward, Mr. Thacher became a Foreign Service officer and was assigned to the United States Mission to the United Nations, where he stayed for 14 years. In 1971, Mr. Thacher became program director in Stockholm for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Subsequently, he became director of the United Nations Environment Program's European office in Geneva. In 1977, he went to Kenya as the organization's deputy executive director, with the rank of Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations. He worked in Nairobi until 1983, when he retired and returned to the United States.
That year, he became a distinguished fellow at the World Resources Institute in Washington. He also advised many other organizations, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the World Health Organization.
In 1992, he was named conservationist of the year by the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions.
Besides his wife, Mr. Thacher is survived by three children, Ann Thacher Tate of Stonington, Linda Thacher Visscher of Mystic and Peter Jr., of Washington, and one granddaughter.”
“Peter Thacher, Diplomat, 72; Helped to Lead a U.N. Agency
By Nick Ravo
Peter Shaw Thacher, a former State Department official and a retired deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, died on April 3 at a nursing home in Mystic, Conn. He was 72 and lived in Stonington Borough.
The cause of death was a brain tumor, said his wife, Mary C. McGrath Thacher.
As a leader of the United Nations Environment Program in the mid-1970's, Mr. Thacher helped the agency assess environmental problems in the world. Earlier in the decade, as director of the program's European operations in Geneva, he built up the agency and forged relationships with European governments and other United Nations agencies.
''He was a very early environmental advocate,'' said Adnan Amin, director of the United Nations Environment Program's regional office for North America.
Mr. Thacher was born in New York on Sept. 8, 1926. He served in the Navy in World War II and was graduated from Yale College in 1948. After graduation, he went to Paris on a summer trip and stayed as a clerk-typist assigned to the Marshall Plan.
He later served in the Korean War with the Department of the Army. In July 1954, Mr. Thacher was aboard a commercial aircraft that was shot down by Communists in China; 8 of the 18 passengers survived.
Shortly afterward, Mr. Thacher became a Foreign Service officer and was assigned to the United States Mission to the United Nations, where he stayed for 14 years. In 1971, Mr. Thacher became program director in Stockholm for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Subsequently, he became director of the United Nations Environment Program's European office in Geneva. In 1977, he went to Kenya as the organization's deputy executive director, with the rank of Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations. He worked in Nairobi until 1983, when he retired and returned to the United States.
That year, he became a distinguished fellow at the World Resources Institute in Washington. He also advised many other organizations, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the World Health Organization.
In 1992, he was named conservationist of the year by the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions.
Besides his wife, Mr. Thacher is survived by three children, Ann Thacher Tate of Stonington, Linda Thacher Visscher of Mystic and Peter Jr., of Washington, and one granddaughter.”