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The University of Arizona 2012 Executive of the Year

Honoring Dr. Robert M. Gates

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
Chancellor, The College of William and Mary
Former President of Texas A&M University

The 2012 Executive of the Year Award will be presented to Dr. Robert M. Gates, 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense and Chancellor, The College of William and Mary, on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Event Details

This event is sold out. Thank you for your interest.

Individual: $80
Table of 10: $800

Friday, March 30, 2012
11:30 a.m. Registration
12:00 p.m. Lunch

Tucson Marriott University Park
880 East Second Street
Tucson, Arizona
Registration includes parking at Main Gate Parking Garage (on 2nd Street and Euclid Avenue).
[view maps and transportation info]

About Dr. Robert M. Gates

Robert M. Gates served as the 22nd Secretary of Defense (2006-2011) and is the only Secretary of Defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in that office by a newly-elected president. President Barack Obama is the eighth president Gates has served. He previously served under President George W. Bush. On Gates' last day in office, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.

Before becoming Secretary of Defense in 2006, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University, he nation's seventh largest university. Prior to assuming the Texas A&M presidency, on August 1, 2002, he served as interim dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001.

Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, the White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.

Gates 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 January 20, 1989, until November 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.

He is the author of the memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insiders Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.

Until becoming Secretary of Defense, Gates served as chairman of the Independent Trustees of the Fidelity Funds, the nation's largest mutual fund company, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc.

Gates has also served 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. He has also been president of the National Eagle Scout Association.

A native of Kansas, Gates received his bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. He was recently named as the next Chancellor of the College of William and Mary. His term begins in February 2012, and he is the first William and Mary alumnus in modern era to serve as Chancellor of the College.

In 1967, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S Air Force and served as an intelligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

For more information, including sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at 520.621.0053 or eoy@eller.arizona.edu.