Global Leadership and Maritime Strategy
Keynote
Speakers
Henry Kissinger
Former U.S. Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger served as President Richard Nixon's National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, and continued as Secretary of State during the Ford administration. He is currently director of Kissinger Associates, Inc., a consulting firm, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D from Harvard University, where he was a member of the faculty from 1954 to 1969. He has published numerous articles in leading newspapers on U.S. foreign policy, and has written over ten books.
Susan M. Gordon
Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
Susan Gordon is currently the fifth Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. Previously, she served as Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. She was a CIA officer for 27 years, beginning as an analyst in 1980 and serving in senior executive positions within the Agency's four directorates throughout her career. Ms. Gordon also designed and implemented In-Q-Tel , a private non-profit which develops technological solutions for the intelligence community, in 1998.
Ashton B. Carter
Former Secretary of Defense
Ashton B. Carter served as the 25th Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2017. Previously, he has served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for National Security Policy . He is author or co-author of 11 books and graduated from Yale University summa cum laude in 1976, later receiving his doctorate in physics from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
Eric Schmidt
Former CEO of Google
Eric Schmidt currently chairs the Department of Defense Innovation Advisory Board and was the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011. He was the executive chairman of Alphabet's board from 2011 to 2018, and has served on the Boards of Trustees for the Mayo Clinic, Carnegie Mellon University, Apple, and Princeton University. He graduated from Princeton in 1976 and received his Ph.D in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982.