Shevardnadze Credit - NASA

Personal: Male. Born in Georgia.

Eduard A. Shevardnadze was a reform leader of the Soviet Union along with Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s. He was heavily involved in the transformation of the nation from a communist state to one built on capitalism, and in a variety of senior positions negotiated with the United States for international cooperation in space, including the building of a space station in the 1990s.

• Launius, Roger D, NASA Chief Historian, NASA History Office Home Page, . Accessed at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/index.html.