U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE TO DELIVER LANDON LECTURE FEB. 22

 

Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, will present the first Landon Lecture of the spring 2010 semester at K-State. Blair's lecture will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, in McCain Auditorium.

Appointed the nation's third director of national intelligence in January 2009, Blair serves as the head of the intelligence community, overseeing and directing the implementation of the National Intelligence Program and acting as the principal adviser to the president, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created at the recommendation of the 9-11 Commission and began operations in April 2005.

"The mission of the Landon Lecture Series is to bring the top national and foreign leaders and policymakers to Kansas State University, which is why we have invited Director Blair to be a speaker," said Charles Reagan, chair of the Landon Lecture Series. "National security is one of America's most vital concerns, as evidenced by the recent attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight."

Blair has a long, distinguished career related to national security. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2002 as an admiral, serving as commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, the largest of the combatant commands. In his 34-year naval career, Blair served on guided missile destroyers in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and commanded the Kitty Hawk Battle Group. He also was director of the Joint Staff, the first associate director of Central Intelligence for Military Support at the CIA, and had budget and policy positions on the National Security Council and several major Navy staffs. For his service, Blair was awarded four Defense Distinguished Service medals and has received decorations from the governments of Japan, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Australia.

After retiring from the Navy, Blair served as the John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies at the National Bureau of Asian Research, and as the deputy director of the Project on National Security Reform. From 2003-2006, Blair was president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses, one of the nation's foremost national security analysis centers.

Blair is a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned a master's in history and languages from Oxford University.