Former Center Director Named Defense Secretary

Ashton B. Carter, a former director of the Belfer Center and professor at Harvard Kennedy School, was confirmed in February as the 25th secretary of defense of the United States. Carter served as deputy secretary of defense from 2011-13 and previously was under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics. In earlier administrations, he served in both the Department of Defense and Department of State.

“Ash Carter’s confirmation as secretary of defense makes all of us at the Belfer Center proud,” said Center Director Graham Allison. “Ash’s expertise and dual background in science and policy make him uniquely qualified for managing the challenges posed by today’s unconstrained enemies and constrained resources. He also embodies a rare mix of academic depth and managerial savvy with an even rarer ability to build a consensus for progress in Washington.”

Outside of government, Carter has spent much of his professional life at Harvard Kennedy School and the Belfer Center. A highly regarded physicist, he began as an assistant professor in 1984, rose to professor, and served from 1990-93 as director of the Kennedy School’s Center for Science and International Affairs (now the Belfer Center).

As Center director in 1991 when the dissolution of the Soviet Union was imminent, Carter and Center colleagues Steven B. Miller, Kurt Campbell, and Charles Zraket worked around the clock to produce the first comprehensive analysis of what could happen to the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons. This report directly influenced the creation of the Nunn-Lugar Act and helped secure nuclear weapons in the former Soviet republics. (For more, see belfercenter.org/SovietWeapons.) Later at the Center, Carter co-led the Preventive Defense Project with Stanford University’s William Perry with the aim of preventing potential national and international threats from becoming major crises.

Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor Ashton Carter meets with a student at the Kennedy School in 1985. Carter joined the faculty at the School in 1984.