(Washington DC) Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell,
United States Army (Ret.), received an honorary degree of Doctor of National Security Affairs from
National Defense University (NDU) on Wednesday 11 December at 1300 in Abraham Lincoln Hall
Auditorium. Dr. John Yaeger, NDU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, presented the
degree and introduced General Powell.
General Powell began his military service when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant after
graduating from the Army ROTC program at City College of New York in 1958. General Powell received
a master’s degree from the National War College in 1976 and later served as President Reagan’s National
Security Advisor from 1987-89 and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both Presidents Bush and
Clinton from 1989-1993. During his tenure as Chairman, General Powell oversaw such operations as the
intervention in Panama and Operation Desert Storm.
Following his retirement in 1993, General Powell served as Secretary of State for President Bush from
2001-2005. Aside from his government service, General Powell is the Honorary Chair of the Colin L.
Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York and the founder of
America’s Promise Alliance, an organization that seeks to give children the fundamental resources they
need to succeed.
General Powell’s numerous awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army
Distinguished Service Medal, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President’s Citizens Medal, and
the Congressional Gold Medal, as well as induction into the French Legion of Honor and honorary
knighthood by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He was also previously inducted into the
NDU National Hall of Fame in 2004.
General Powell has been an avid supporter of National Defense University, telling guests at the dedication
of the Richard A. Chilcoat International Student Center in January 2011 that “…we are going to make a
better world for our people, a better world for promotion of individual liberty, by promotion of
democracy, by helping people in need. One way to do that is to gather people from around the world and
bring them to a place like NDU.” After receiving his honorary degree from NDU, General Powell
addressed NDU students, faculty, and staff on the continued importance of the university.
NDU is the premier national security institution focused on advanced joint warfighter education, leader
development, and scholarship. The University provides rigorous Joint Professional Military Education to
members of the U.S. Armed Forces and select others in order to develop leaders who have the ability to
operate and creatively think in an unpredictable and complex world. For more information about the
National Defense University, please contact: Daniel Magalotti, Acting Public Affairs Officer, at 202-685-
3140 or
daniel.magalotti@ndu.edu; or visit
www.ndu.edu.