NFF Gold Medal Recipients
Biography
Gates began his career as an intelligence analyst in the 1960s, and he steadily climbed the government ranks during a four-decade career that spanned service to eight U.S. Presidents, including positions at the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, and the Department of Defense. He became CIA director under President George H.W. Bush, serving from 1991-1993, and he holds the distinction of being the first person to ever rise from an entry-level position to CIA director. After a stint in academia, Gates returned to Washington in 2006 at the request of President George W. Bush to succeed U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and to help fight simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Having developed a stellar reputation for being direct and honest, Gates became the only U.S. secretary of defense in history to serve under presidents from both political parties when President Barack Obama asked him after the 2008 election to continue his service with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his tenure as secretary, Gates received wide praise for his concern for America's troops, pushing to deliver mine resistant vehicles as well as increasing the number of field hospitals and the military's medevac capabilities. He retired in June 2011 as defense secretary during a ceremony where he accepted the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, from President Obama.
Between retiring from the CIA in 1993 and before returning to Washington in 2006, Gates pursued a career in academia. He served as a lecturer at nine universities, sat on advisory boards at the University of Oklahoma and the College of William & Mary, and evaluated student theses for the international studies program at the University of Washington.
In 1999, Gates accepted a position as the interim dean at Texas A&M University for the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. On August 1, 2002, Texas A&M made him the school's 22nd president. While president, Gates established his "Vision 2020" plan which has set Texas A&M on a course to be a top-10 public university by 2020. He spearheaded the addition of 440 faculty members; increased funding for academics; and oversaw more than $500 million in construction on campus. He also hired NFF Board Member Bill Byrne as the school's first career athletic director.
Reconnecting to academia, The College of William & Mary, where Gates received his undergraduate degree, recently announced that the former secretary of defense will become the institution's 24th chancellor in February 2012.
Born on September 25, 1943, in Wichita, Kan., Gates earned the honor of Eagle Scout, becoming a member of scouting's National Honor Society. Attending the College of William & Mary, Gates was president of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, and he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for service to his fellow man before completing his bachelor's degree in 1965. Gates received a master's degree in history from Indiana University in 1966, and while working at the CIA, he earned a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University in 1974. Gates' service to the country also includes a commission in the Air Force as a second lieutenant at the Strategic Air Command from 1967 to 1969.
In addition to the Medal of Freedom, Gates has been honored with numerous awards, including the Presidential Citizens Medal, the National Security Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. Gates has earned honorary doctorates from William & Mary, Indiana, Oklahoma and Notre Dame, and he is the only non-member honoree in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor.
Gates has served on several corporate boards, including Brinker International, Fidelity Investments, NACCO Industries, and Parker Drilling Company. 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, the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America and as president of the National Eagle Scout Association. He published a memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, in 2006. He and his wife Becky have two adult children.
