Robert Gates to deliver speech at Winter Commencement

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will speak at IU Winter Commencement on Dec. 19 at Assembly Hall.

The University will also award Gates, an IU alumnus, with an honorary Ph.D.

“The conferral of an honorary doctoral degree on Robert Gates would bring great credit and positive attention to Indiana University and its highly ranked programs in the Russian and East European Institute and the Department of History,” history professor David Ransel said in an e-mail.

Gates has served in the office since Dec. 18, 2006, and is the first Secretary of Defense to retain his position for two different presidential administrations.

Gates, originally from Kansas, received his bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, his master’s degree from IU and his doctorate from Georgetown University.

While at IU, Gates was recruited by the CIA, where he worked for 27 years. He was on the National Security Council for nine years and served presidents from both political parties. He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 to 1993 and is the only career officer in the history of the CIA to rise from entry-level employee to director.

Gates was awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal twice.

He also won the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA’s highest award, three times.

In 1996, he published his memoir “From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insiders Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War.”

Gates also served as Chairman of the Independent Trustees of The Fidelity Funds and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc.

Gates was also on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America.