2025
Robert M. Gates served as the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Defense. Dr. Gates served eight U.S. presidents across both parties and has the distinction of being the only secretary of defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in office by a newly elected president. He has led a distinguished career of public service and institutional reform both in and out of government. On his last day as Secretary, President Barack Obama awarded Gates the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
Gates began his career at the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional, including 9 years on the National Security Council. He was the first career officer in CIA’s history to rise from entry-level employee to director. He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993 and, through the collapse of the Soviet Union, restructured the intelligence community for a post-Cold War world.
Gates later served as President of Texas A&M University, one of the nation’s largest universities, from 2002 to 2006. As President, he launched a successful campaign to make Texas A&M one of the nation’s top twenty research universities.
As Secretary of Defense, Gates reversed losing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while preparing the U.S. military for unconventional warfare and dramatic reductions in federal spending. Among his many initiatives, Gates championed the production and deployment of Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, saving the lives and limbs of thousands of U.S. servicemembers. Gates is fondly remembered as the “Soldiers’ Secretary.”
For his service, 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.
Currently, Gates is a principal in the international strategic consulting firm Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel, LLC, alongside former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Aspen Strategy Group Executive Director Anja Manuel. Gates also serves as Chancellor of the College of William & Mary and as National Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowships. He is Board Chairman of the Holdsworth Center, a Texas nonprofit institution dedicated to improving K-12 public education by supporting and developing education leaders. Gates is a member of the Board of Directors of the George and Barbara Bush Foundation and has served as National President of the Boy Scouts of America. Gates has authored four books, covering his experiences at CIA and at the Pentagon, leadership, and U.S. nonmilitary instruments of power.
IQLA Prior Laureates
