Retired General Colin L. Powell will present a lecture titled “Diplomacy: Persuasion, Trust, and Values” on Wednesday, February 4, at 8 p.m. in Goucher College’s Kraushaar Auditorium.
His talk is part of both the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Visiting Professorship Series and the theme semester speaker series “Civil Rights: Past/Present/Future.” Due to high demand, no more tickets are available for this event.
For more than 50 years, Powell has devoted his life to public service and democratic values, having held senior military and diplomatic positions across four presidential administrations.
Powell was born in Harlem in April 1937 and was raised in the South Bronx by his parents, who were Jamaican immigrants. He was educated in the New York City public schools and attended the City College of New York (CCNY), where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geology. While at CCNY, Powell joined the Army ROTC program and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in 1958. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army for 35 years, rising to the rank of four-star general.
From 1987 to 1989 Powell served as President Ronald Reagan’s national security advisor. He served 1989-1993 as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. Not only was Powell the youngest officer and first ROTC graduate ever to serve in the position, he was also the first African American to serve in this capacity.
Under President George W. Bush, Powell was appointed as the 65th secretary of state and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As secretary of state, he led the State Department in major efforts to address and solve regional and civil conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan, the Congo, Liberia, the Balkans, Cyprus, Haiti, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. In these instances, he used the power of diplomacy to build trust and forge alliances to help bring peace and prosperity to unstable regions. He also worked at the forefront of U.S. efforts to advance economic and social development worldwide
Powell’s many U.S. military awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and Purple Heart. His civil awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President’s Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal.
Now retired from the military and governmental service, Powell is a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. He serves on the board of directors of Bloom Energy, an alternative energy company; Salesforce.com, a Cloud-based customer relationship management software provider; the Council on Foreign Relations; and the Smithsonian Institute’s African American Museum of History and Culture.
Powell is the chair of the Board of Visitors of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at his alma mater, the City College of New York. He is also the founder and chairman emeritus of the America’s Promise Alliance, a partnership alliance committed to providing children with the fundamental resources they need to succeed.
His autobiography, My American Journey, was a best seller that has been published in more than a dozen languages. Powell’s second book, It Worked for Me, was an instant New York Times best seller.
Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama. They live in McLean, Virginia, and have three children and four grandchildren.