2019, General Jack M. Keane, USA (Ret)
General Jack Keane is president, GSI Consulting. He serves as chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and the Knollwood Foundation, executive chairman of AM General, a director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and the Smith Richardson Foundation, a member of the Commission on National Defense Strategy selected by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, Senator John McCain, and a former and recent member, for 9 years, of the Secretary of Defense Policy Board. General Keane is also a Trustee Fellow of Fordham University, and an advisor to the George C. Marshall Foundation. He is a former member of the board of directors for both MetLife and General Dynamics.
General Keane, a four-star general, completed over 37 years of public service in December 2003, culminating in his appointment as acting Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army. He was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and provided oversight and support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2004, General Keane spent a decade conducting frequent trips to Iraq and Afghanistan for senior defense officials with multiple visits during the surge period in both countries directly assisting General David Petraeus. General Keane appears before Congress regularly, offering testimony on matters of foreign policy and national security, with his most recent testimony on ISIS: Post Caliphate. He serves as the senior strategic analyst for Fox News and speaks throughout the country on leadership and national security.
General Keane is a career infantry paratrooper, a combat veteran of Vietnam, decorated for valor, who spent much of his military life in operational commands where he commanded the famed 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and the legendary 18th Airborne Corps, the Army’s largest war fighting organization.
General Keane graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Science degree and received a Master of Arts degree from Western Kentucky University. He is a graduate of the Army War College and the Command and General Staff College. He is the recipient of the Fordham University Founder’s Award as well as the Western Kentucky University Distinguished Alumni Award. General Keane is also the recipient of three honorary Doctorate Degrees, a member of the Army ROTC Hall of Fame and has been named the USO Man of the Year. Among his numerous awards, he is the 2018 recipient of the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award and has also received the William Penn Club of Philadelphia Award and a recipient of the prestigious Lynde and Harry Bradley Prize.
General Keane’s numerous military service medals and citations include two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, five Legions of Merit, the Silver Star, Bronze Star, three Vietnam Service medals, Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge and Ranger Tab, to list a few.