General George W. Casey Jr. (Ret.) (MA '80, International Relations) served as the 36th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (2007-2011) and, among other positions, was Commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq (2004-2007), where he oversaw a coalition of more than 30 countries.

Following his distinguished career in the military, General Casey continues to make a broad impact, including at his alma mater. Since 2012, he has taught a graduate course each spring; advises students, University of Denver military veterans and Korbel Army War College Fellows; and is a guest lecturer across campus.

A strong advocate of the importance of effective communications between the military and civilians within the government, particularly during wartime, General Casey began teaching a graduate-level course on civil-military relations at the Korbel School in 2012.

"In that class I do three 20th century case studies and two 21st century case studies," Casey said. "The whole idea is to assist the students in developing a framework so they can judge the effectiveness of civil-military relations as we go forward. That's important today because the solutions to today's problems aren't exclusively military. You need defense, but also diplomacy and development. And these young men and women who are studying international security have got to be able to figure out how to blend civil-military responses and actions if we're going to bring all the power of the United States to bear in solving these very difficult problems."

General Casey is just one example of our distinguished alumni who have stayed engaged with our school, benefitting our students and the larger community.