The Aspen Institute

William Perry is the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at Stanford University. He is a senior fellow at FSI and serves as the director of the Preventive Defense Project. He is an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control. Dr. Perry was the 19th Secretary of Defense for the United States, serving from February 1994 to January 1997. He previously served as Deputy Secretary of Defense (1993-1994) and as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (1977-1981). Dr. Perry currently serves on the Defense Policy Board (DPB), the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), and the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB). He is on the board of directors of Covant, LGS Bell Labs Innovations and several emerging high-tech companies. From 1946 to 1947, Dr. Perry was an enlisted man in the Army Corps of Engineers and served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1948 and was a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves from 1950 to 1955. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1997 and the Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1998. He received a B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, all in mathematics.