Robert M. Gates, U.S. secretary of defense from 2006-2011 and former director of the CIA, will kick off Wichita State University’s inaugural Craig W. Barton Speaker Series this spring.
Gates, who grew up in Wichita, will be the featured speaker in the moderated discussion at 6 p.m. April 27, in WSU’s Wiedemann Hall.
The event is free and open to campus and the public. Media are welcome to attend but are asked to take photos for only the first five minutes of the event and to not record any audio or video.
The new speaker series was created as another opportunity to encourage free expression, critical thinking, and the engaging in discourse of various perspectives.
Individuals can reserve their free seat and learn more about the Craig W. Barton Series at wichita.edu/BartonSeries.
The new speaker series picks up where the WSU Forum Board Lecture Series left off. Originally established in 1937 and discontinued in 2002, the series brought in over that time more than 500 national and internally known speakers, from poets to politicians.
Robert M. Gates biography
Gates served as the 22nd secretary of defense (2006-2011). He is the only secretary of defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in office by a newly elected President. Dr. Gates served eight U.S. presidents across both parties.
On Gates’ last day in office, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. During that period, he spent nearly nine years on the National Security Council at the White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.
He served as director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993. He is the only career officer in CIA’s history to rise from entry-level employee to director. He served as deputy director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser at the White House from Jan. 20, 1989, until Nov. 6, 1991, for President George H.W. Bush.
Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has three times received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA’s highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.
Read more about Robert M. Gates
Wichita State University serves as the Kansas urban-based research university, enrolling more than 16,000 students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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