Former deputy secretary of defense to speak on U.S. strategic change in Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture

Discovery Park and Purdue's Institute for Global Security and Defense Innovation will host Robert O. Work, former deputy secretary of defense, on Aug. 29 as part of the Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series at Purdue. Highly regarded as an expert in a broad range of national security and defense concerns, Work will address the emerging direction of the U.S. military and the national defense strategy.

Work, whose career combines Marine Corps service, leadership in the Department of Defense and prominent advisory roles, will speak at 11 a.m.-noon in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121. The event is free and open to the public. His remarks, titled "The New National Defense Strategy: Pursuing 'Urgent Change at Significant Scale," will provide an analysis of and response to the Trump administration's recent document on the subject.

That 14-page document from the Department of Defense is titled "Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America: Sharpening the American Military's Competitive Edge."

Work's lecture will describe how that strategy is based on the presumption the United States is entering into a new era of great power competition, which will be more strategically challenging than the immediate post-Cold War Era. He will explain the thinking behind the strategy, discuss seven national security challenges that must be addressed and outline the changes to the defense program that are necessary to address them.

The talk will end with a discussion about projected future defense budgets, and the choices they are likely to pose to future defense leaders.

After 27 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and retirement as a colonel, Work served in 2009-17 under two presidents and five secretaries of defense as the deputy secretary of defense and undersecretary of the Navy. His expertise has remained in high demand. Also after retirement, he has been vice president and director of studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and CEO of the Center for a New American Security. He has written and spoken on a wide variety of defense matters.

Today, Work is president and owner of TeamWork LLC and has returned to CNAS as senior consultant for defense. He also is a senior counselor at Telemus Group LLC, a strategic consulting firm specializing in defense issues, and a principal at WestExec Advisors. He is also a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He sits on the boards of directors of the Raytheon Corp., Hensoldt Inc., IEA and BlackLynx, as well as the boards of advisors for several small technology firms.

He has received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service and several other military and government service awards. He has three master's degrees; they are in international public policy, space systems operations and systems management.

The Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible by the Lilly Endowment with the purpose of bringing experts and thought leaders in the areas of science and technology to Purdue. For more information about Work’s lecture, or the Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series, contact Nicole Finley at kingman@purdue.edu.

This event is part of Purdue's celebration of its 150-year heritage and its future.

The Purdue sesquicentennial

The Purdue University Sesquicentennial Campaign, 150 Years of Giant Leaps, is a yearlong celebration of Purdue, its remarkable people, its unique history and its visionary drive to meet the world’s future challenges. From Homecoming 2018 through Homecoming 2019, the Purdue community will spend the year celebrating its unique legacy, which has included giant leaps across every field of endeavor, and further advancing the mission set forth since its founding as a land-grant university in 1869. With the campaign serving as a springboard for a renewed commitment to growth, innovation and discovery, Purdue’s call is simple: Whatever your pursuit, take Giant Leaps.