On November 18, 2014, Major General Frederick M. Padilla, USMC, became the President of the National Defense University in a ceremony in Abraham Lincoln Hall at Fort McNair in Washington, DC. Maj Gen Padilla relieved Senior Vice President AMB Wanda Nesbitt from her position as Interim President of NDU. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey, USA, presided over the ceremony and gave remarks.