Redefining Global and National Security
Speaker:
Col. (Ret) Lawrence Wilkerson
15 Feb 2017
8:00 PM
Great Hall, Memorial Union
Col. (Ret) Lawrence Wilkerson was Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff from 2002 to 2005. He was also associate director of the State Department's policy planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard Haass. During his thirty-one years in the U.S. Army he served as Deputy Executive Officer to then-General Colin Powell when he commanded the U.S. Army Forces Command, and Special Assistant to General Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is currently the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William & Mary. Part of the World Affairs Series
Colonel Wilkerson was director and deputy director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97). His many honors include the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Bronze Star among other awards and decorations. At the Department of State, he earned the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award, as well as two Superior Honor Awards.
Since leaving the State Department, Wilkerson has spoken to groups all over America - World Affairs Councils, university and war college audiences, and members of local and state governments and the U.S. Congress and their staffs. He has been a television guest of Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Rachel Maddow and Wolf Blitzer, been published in national magazines and newspapers and has appeared in several recent documentaries, including Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side and Charles Ferguson's No End in Sight.
Colonel Wilkerson was also chairman of the U.S.-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation, 2006-2010.