Leo Cherne (1912–1999) was born in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from Law School in New York in 1935.

His career spanned more than fifty years. Cherne, an economist, first gained prominence in the private sector, as Executive Director of the Research Institute of America , founded to translate complex government legislation for the businessman; Chairman of the Executive Committee of Freedom House, established to advance the struggle for freedom at home and abroad; and Chairman of the International Rescue Committee, formed to assist democratic leaders, scholars, and others to escape Fascism, Communism, and other forms of totalitarianism. He maintained these positions for the greater part of his career.

Cherne also served many Presidents, from Roosevelt to Bush, in a variety of capacities, including memberships on the U.S. Select Committee for Western Hemisphere Immigration and the U.S. Advisory Commission on International Educational and Cultural Affairs, as well as his activities on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) and the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB). He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Rescuing the World: The Life and Times of Leo Cherne by Andrew F. Smith and Henry A. Kissinger, is a biography of Leo Cherne.