John Marsh, William Whitehurst to speak at CNU

News Release - Jan. 12, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Public's contact for publication:
Brian Larson
President's Leadership Program
(757) 594-8877
blarson@cnu.edu

Media contact:
Karen L. Gill
Office of Communications and Public Relations
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — The former Secretary of the Army and the former Congressman will speak at Christopher Newport University on Feb. 15. The event at 7 p.m. in the Music and Theatre Hall of the Ferguson Center for the Arts is free and open to the public.

John O. Marsh, Jr., is a former Secretary of the Army and former Virginia Representative in Congress. Born Aug. 7, 1926, in Winchester, Va., he received his LL.B. degree in 1951 from Washington and Lee University and began the practice of law in Strasburg, Va.  He was elected to four terms as a Representative in Congress from the Seventh District of Virginia (1963-1971) and was a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

In March 1973, he returned to federal service as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs).  In January 1974, he became Assistant for National Security Affairs to Vice President Ford, and, in August of that year, Counselor, with Cabinet Rank, to President Ford. 
  
On Jan. 30, 1981, Marsh was sworn in as Secretary of the Army.  When he retired from that post on Aug. 14, 1989, his tenure was the longest of any Secretary of the Army or Secretary of War in the history of the Republic. He has been awarded, on six occasions, the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award and has been decorated by the governments of France and Brazil.  He holds the Presidential Citizens Medal.

In 1990, Marsh was selected by the Virginia Press Association to receive its Virginian of the Year Award and was chosen by the Association of the United States Army as recipient of its George Catlett Marshall Medal for public service. The John O. Marsh, Jr. Armory, a Virginia National Guard facility in Woodstock, Va., was named in Marsh's honor and dedicated in November 1996.

In 1968, G. William Whitehurst was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's Second District. His principal congressional committee was the House Armed Services Committee, but he also served a six-year term on the Select Committee on Intelligence, and two years on the Ethics Committee.

Whitehurst retired from Congress in January 1987 and became the Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs at Old Dominion University, where he teaches courses in both political science and history. He earned an M.A. from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in American diplomatic history at West Virginia University.

Their speeches are part of the 2006-2007 President’s Leadership Speaker Series at CNU, which brings to campus great leaders whose lives reflect the qualities that the University endeavors to impart to students each day – a commitment to excellence, a willingness to engage and lead and a passion for making the world a better place.

Claude A. S. “Chip” Hornsby III, group CEO of Wolseley plc, gave the first speech of the 2006-2007 series on Sept. 7. General J. H. Binford “Binnie” Peay III, superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, spoke on Oct. 3, and Music Director and Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra JoAnn Falletta spoke on Nov. 13.

Other upcoming speakers in the series are:

• March 13: C. Larry Pope, President and CEO, Smithfield Foods, Inc.
  
• April 24: William P. “Bill” Magee Jr., co-founder and CEO, Operation Smile; and Kathleen S. “Kathy” Magee, co-founder and president, Operation Smile

For more information on the President' Leadership Speaker Series at CNU, please contact Brian Larson, director of the President's Leadership Program, at (757) 594-8877 or blarson@cnu.edu.