CLEVELAND – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has announced former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert M. Gates as a featured speaker at the 57^th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Gates will address all attendees in a Featured Session on Monday, June 27 at 4 p.m.
 
Hotel and Convention registration for #NACDA22 will open on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 12 p.m. ET. Visit nacda.com/convention for more information.

"We are proud to welcome Dr. Gates as a featured speaker for the 2022 Convention in Las Vegas and look forward to hearing his perspective as chair of the NCAA Constitution Committee," said NACDA President Jamie Pollard, director of athletics at Iowa State University.  "His leadership and steadfast commitment to the betterment of college athletics has been inspiring for leaders at all levels in our industry."  
 
In August 2020, Gates was appointed to serve as one of five independent members on the NCAA Board of Governors. He is serving a three-year term, which can be renewed for an additional three years. In 2021, Gates used his decades of leadership across higher education and government to inform the process that reshaped how college sports are governed, as he served as chair of the Constitution Committee.
 
Gates served as the 22^nd secretary of defense (2006-11). He is the only secretary of defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in office by a newly elected President. Gates served eight U.S. presidents across both parties. On Gates' last day in office, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.
 
Before becoming secretary of defense, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University. Prior to assuming the Texas A&M presidency in August 2002, he served as interim dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999-2001.
 
Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. He served as director of the CIA from 1991-93. He is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level employee to director.
 
He is the author of four books, Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World, published in 2020; A Passion For Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service, published in 2016; Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, published in 2014; and From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.
 
A native of Kansas, Gates received his bachelor's degree from William & Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. In 1967, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served as an intelligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
 
In February 2012, Gates was installed as chancellor of William & Mary. He is the first William & Mary alumnus in the modern era to serve as chancellor.
 
In May 2018, Gates succeeded General Colin Powell as National Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowships. He is currently a partner in the consulting firm, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel, LLC, with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.

About NACDA: Now in its 57th year, NACDA is the professional and educational Association for more than 22,000 college athletics administrators at more than 2,200 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. NACDA manages 17 professional associations and four foundations. In addition to virtual programming, NACDA hosts five major professional development events in-person annually. The NACDA & Affiliates Convention is the largest gathering of collegiate athletics administrators in the country. For more information, visit www.nacda.com.