CHDS Director Richard D. Downie announced Wednesday, September 2nd, that the winner of the third annual William J. Perry Award for Excellence in Defense Education in the institutional category is the Strategic Superior Studies College (CAEE) of El Salvador. The winner in the individual category, he said, is to be announced later.

The presentation of the institutional award will take place on September 17th.

The award is named after the former U.S. Secretary of Defense, William J. Perry, whose vision resulted in the founding of CHDS

“It is truly a privilege for me and for the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies to be able to announce that this year’s award in the institutional category is going to the CAEE, so ably headed by General (ret.) Arturo Vaquerano Quintanilla,” Downie said. “With this award, we celebrate the enormous progress El Salvador has made in its transition to democracy and the role played by the CAEE in ensuring professional civilian education in the security and defense arenas. In addition, the CAEE plays an essential role in the education of senior military officers as they prepare to meet myriad challenges of the 21st century.”

Since its founding, CHDS has had close academic ties with the National Defense University (NDU), and has been intimately involved in creating expertise and cooperative initiatives in subjects ranging from civil-military relations, defense policy formulation, resource allocation and management, to the nexus between international terrorist organizations and organized crime. Following the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in Williamsburg, Virginia in late 1995, then Secretary of Defense William J. Perry created an academic center to educate and foster cadres of knowledgeable civilians in the defense and security arenas–CHDS.

While making the announcement, Downie noted that last year’s winners of the Perry Award were Colombian President Alvaro Uribe (individual category) and the Chilean National Academy of Politics and Strategy (ANEPE, institutional category). In 2008, a single Perry award was given to the creators and director of Peru’s Strategic Leadership for Defense and Crisis Management Course (known by its Spanish acronym CEDEYAC), who modeled their course on CHDS’ academic content and instructional methodology, adapted to the Peruvian reality.

Eligibility for the Perry award includes a recognized contribution in either academic or policy arena, and extends to practitioners or institutions of defense and security education or policy in the Hemisphere.