Robert Gates
U. S. Secretary of Defense, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, president of Texas A&M University. Born 1943.
Raised in Wichita and a graduate of Wichita East High School, Gates attended the College of William and Mary on scholarship where he had wide academic interests. He then earned a master's degree in history in 1966 from Indiana University and a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history in 1974 from Georgetown University.
Gates served in the Air Force as an intelligence officer and in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He also served on the staff of the National Security Council. He returned to the CIA in 1979 and held other security positions. In 1991 he was appointed Director of the CIA. After retiring from the CIA he was engaged in various academic pursuits and became president of Texas A & M University in 1999.
Gates was appointed Secretary of Defense in 2006 by President George W. Bush and was retained in that office by President Barack Obama. He was named the Native Sons and Daughters' Kansan of the Year in 2009.
Entry: Gates, Robert
Author: G. Joseph Pierron
Author information: Judge Pierron serves on the Kansas Court of Appeals and has an interest in Kansas history.
Date Created: March 2012
Date Modified: August 2013
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
