This year the Perry Center has selected one individual and two institutional awardees for the William J. Perry Award for Excellence in Security and Defense Education. Since 2007, the Perry Center (formerly CHDS) has awarded the William J. Perry Award to individuals and institutions to recognize their significant contributions in the field of security and defense studies. Awardees are chosen for their achievements in promoting education, research, outreach, and knowledge-sharing on security and defense issues that affect the Western Hemisphere. These efforts have often resulted in the enhancement of security and defense capacity, the advancement of cooperative international security environment, and the fostering of effective civil-military relations, consistent with the Perry Center’s core values.

2014 Individual Recipient

This year’s individual recipient is Dr. Richard Millett, currently serving as Southern Illinois University Professor Emeritus of History. He is recognized for his outstanding contributions to the field of security and defense education in the Americas through teaching, outreach, and publishing. He is author and co-editor (with Perry Center Professor Michael Gold-Biss) of Beyond Praetorianism: The Latin American Military in Transition (1996), a classic on civil-military relations in the region, long been considered an authoritative guide to militaries in Latin America. Millett is also vice president of the St. Louis Committee on Foreign Relations. He was a Senior Fellow at the North-South Center and former Oppenheimer Chair of Modern Warfighting Strategy at the US Marine Corps University, and has taught and published extensively at many other academic institutions. He is also a founding member of the Inter-American Defense College’s Foundation Board and a champion for that institution, located at Ft. McNair in Washington, DC.

2014 Institutional Recipients

The first of this year’s institutional recipients is the Inter-American Defense College (IADC), recognized for its pivotal role in supporting Hemispheric security and defense through graduate-level educational opportunities for senior military and government officials from around the Western Hemisphere. Since its inception in 1962, the IADC has graduated more than 2,000 students through a rigorous year-long academic program that includes seminars, daily briefings, fieldwork, and the submission of a final monograph. Owing to the similar topic areas of interest to students at both the Perry Center and the IADC, there are many opportunities for inter-institution collaboration, and Perry Center professors often lend their expertise to IADC courses.

Spain’s Center for Advanced Studies in National Defense (Centro Superior de Estudios de la Defensa Nacional – CESEDEN) is also being honored with an institutional William J. Perry Award. Founded in 1964 and celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, CESEDEN is the main education center of the Spanish armed forces. Falling under the Minister of Defense, CESEDEN comprises a Technical Secretariat, a School of Advanced Defense Studies, the College of the Armed Forces, the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies, the Spanish Commission of Military History, and a number of other support services. Through courses, seminars, original research, and professional military educational opportunities, CESEDEN stands out as a premier partner institution of the Perry Center for its dedication to security and defense education and for its ties to the Western Hemisphere. CESEDEN plays a key role in the Virtual Center for Ibero-American Studies for International Peace and Security, publishes Strategic Notebooks of analysis and opinion surveys, participates in the Association of Directors for Ibero-American Defense Schools, and offers numerous academic opportunities for senior Latin American military officers and general staff.

There will be a ceremony and award presentation for the award recipients at the Perry Center in September 2014.