On September 17, the Perry Center celebrated the 17th anniversary of its founding in September 1997. Concurrent with the Center’s anniversary, Perry Center Director Mark Wilkins hosted the presentation ceremony for the recipients of the 2014 William J. Perry Award for Excellence in Security and Defense Education. The William J. Perry Award recognizes those institutions and individuals that strive to strengthen civilian defense and security leadership in the democracies of the Western Hemisphere through education and engagement. This year, the Perry Center honored two institutions and one individual with William J. Perry Awards: Spain’s Advanced Center for National Defense Studies (CESEDEN), represented by Lieutenant General Alfonso De La Rosa Morena; the Inter-American Defense College (IADC), represented by Rear Admiral Martha Herb; and Dr. Richard L. Millett.

Nearly 150 attendees joined the Perry Center faculty and staff in celebrating the recipients of the 2014 William J. Perry Award at Abraham Lincoln Hall Auditorium in Washington, DC.

Previous William J. Perry Award recipients include:

• Peru’s Postgraduate Naval War College’s Strategic Management Course for Defense and Crisis Management (CEDEYAC)
• Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez
• Chilean National Academy for Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE)
• College of High Strategic Studies (CAEE) of El Salvador
• Former Uruguayan Defense Minister Dr. Jose Bayardi
• US General John Galvin
• Mexican Center for Superior Naval Studies (CESNAV)
• Former Minister of Defense of Brazil Nelson Jobim
• US National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program
• Canadian Defense Minister, the Honorable Peter MacKay
• Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon
• The Regional Security System
• Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
• Former Paraguayan Minister of Defense Maria Liz Garcia de Arnold
• Colombian National War College (ESDEGUE)

Director Mark Wilkins (right) congratulates Dr. Richard Millett

Rear Admiral Herb accepting the Perry Award on behalf of the IADC

Lieutenant General de la Rosa Morena accepts on behalf of CESEDEN