Frederick Yeager graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1940. Captured after the fall of the Philippine Islands in 1942, he spent the remainder of the war as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese. While imprisoned he learned the Russian language, generously taught by a fellow POW. After the war he earned two masters degrees and a doctorate in Political Science from Princeton University in 1959. He retired in 1969 as a U.S. Army Colonel. In retirement began teaching the Russian Language and Political Science at Rider College (now Rider University). His innovative teaching tactics earned him the distinguished teacher award from the university in 1980.