2025 William J. Perry Award for Excellence
in Security and Defense Education

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

A Message from the Director

Every day, thousands of dedicated professionals in government, the military, academia, and civil society do the tireless, often unheralded work of making the Americas safer and more secure. The Perry Award for Excellence in Security and Defense Education offers an opportunity to recognize some of the individuals and institutions advancing security and defense education in the Americas.

When thinking of potential nominees, please consider the example of the Center’s founder, William J. Perry, a leader who has promoted hemispheric security in many arenas – as a senior policymaker in government, enlisted soldier and reserve officer in the US Army, executive in private business, and researcher and educator in universities. The networks and organizations that promote democracy, the rule of law, and improved security and defense governance in the Americas are varied and deserve recognition.

Thank you for your interest in the William J. Perry Award for Excellence in Security and Defense Education. Due to the competitive nature of the awards, only awardees will be contacted. The Perry Center looks forward to receiving and reviewing your nominations.

Paul J. Angelo, PhD
Director
William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

2025 William J. Perry Award

The William J. Perry Award was first presented in 2007 as part of the Center’s 10th anniversary celebration. At that time, the Center’s leadership determined it should be awarded to the creators and director of Peru’s “Strategic Leadership for Defense and Crisis Management Course (CEDEYAC),” who modeled their course on the Perry Center’s academic content and instructional methodology, adapted to the Peruvian reality.

Since then, the Perry Center has recognized individuals and institutions that have made significant and sustained contributions in security and defense education, thereby advancing mutually supportive approaches to regional challenges and strengthening institutional capacity in security and defense sectors in the Americas.

Eligibility: Awardees may be individuals or institutions that, through education, research, outreach, and scholastic leadership, have contributed to the knowledge base of security and defense practitioners, fostered a cooperative international security environment, and sustainable institutional capacity in the Americas. Awardees will have made sustained contributions in their fields in a manner consistent with the Perry Center’s mission and US policy.

Please note: US citizens and entities are not eligible for this award. Nominees are limited to foreign individuals and institutions that have not previously received this award.

Nomination Process: Please submit nominations to the Perry Center Selection Committee via our online nomination form. In addition to standard nominee and nominator information, please respond to three brief questions. A single recommendation letter should be attached. Nominations may be made in either English or Spanish.

Nomination deadline: May 7, 2025

Submissions: Submit nominations electronically via the online nomination form to the Perry Award Selection Committee by May 7, 2025. Late applications will not be considered. Thank you for nominating outstanding Western Hemisphere policymakers, educators, practitioners, and organizations.

About Dr. William J. Perry

William J. Perry, PhD, the 19th United States Secretary of Defense, founded the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, later renamed in his honor. His previous academic experience includes being a professor at Stanford from 1988 to 1993 when he was the co-director of the Center for International Security and Arms Control. He also served as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Santa Clara University from 1971 to 1977.

Secretary Perry served as Secretary of Defense from February 1994 to January 1997. His previous government experience was as Deputy Secretary of Defense (1993–1994) and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (1977–1981). Important contributions from his time in office include instituting needed acquisition reforms, managing the post-Cold War military drawdown, ensuring effective US military deployments in Haiti, Bosnia, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, forging strong relationships with defense counterparts overseas, and advancing the Partnership for Peace within NATO.

In response to discussions with his regional colleagues at the second Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 1996, Secretary Perry proposed the creation of a regional education center tailored to the unique requirements of democratic countries that sought to strengthen civilian security and defense leadership. Secretary Perry’s vision became a reality the following year with the establishment of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies.

William J. Perry was born October 11, 1927, in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. He attended grade school and high school in Butler, Pennsylvania. He received his BS and MS degrees from Stanford University and his PhD from Pennsylvania State University, all in mathematics. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 1946 to 1947, Secretary Perry enlisted in the Army Corps of Engineers and served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1948 and was a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves from 1950 to 1955.