Sec. Gates to speak in Reynolds

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will speak at Reynolds Theater Sept. 29.

Gates, the only secretary of defense to be asked to remain in office by an incoming president, will deliver the Ambassador S. Davis Phillips Family International Lecture.

“We are delighted to welcome Secretary Gates to Duke,” President Richard Brodhead said in a Tuesday Duke news release. “His leadership in government and higher education is a model of service to society.”

The speech will be hosted by the American Grand Strategy Program, the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, the Office of Global Strategy and Programs and Duke’s “A World Together” initiative.

Last year, Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and a contributing editor for Time, spoke at the speech.

Peter Feaver, director of the AGS Program and former advisor on the National Security Council, said in an interview that Gates is “the perfect speaker for a grand strategy program.” Feaver added that he does not yet know the topic of Gates’ speech, but “he doesn’t lack important issues.”

“He is one of, not just the most celebrated defense strategists of all time, but probably one of the most celebrated cabinet secretaries and advisers to a president, respected across the aisle and praised for serving in a very difficult position in a critical time,” Feaver said.

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets for students, faculty and staff will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis starting Sept. 3. The general public can purchase tickets starting Sept. 8.