Contact: Kristina Peterson-Wilson, WSU Office of the Provost, 509-335-8915, kpeterson2@wsu.edu  

PULLMAN, Wash. – Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis – who recently declined bids to enter the U.S. presidential election as a third-party candidate – will present a free, public talk at Washington State University at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, in the CUB junior ballroom.

Widely recognized as a straight-talking yet humble man of brilliance and strategic insight, he will discuss efforts that the United States should and should not undertake to support peace and prosperity in the Middle East. 

Born in Pullman and raised in Richland, Wash., Mattis served 40 years in the Marine infantry, much of it in the Middle East. He commanded the U.S. Joint Forces Command and later served as head of Central Command until his retirement in 2013. He is a scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. 

He has never married and he earned the nickname “warrior monk” from those who served under him because he devoted his life to studying and fighting war.

His address: “A Way Ahead for the United States in the Middle East” will be broadcast via AMS (videoconference) for remote participants. His visit is sponsored by WSU’s Office of the Provost. For more information, go to: https://news.wsu.edu/announcement/august-23-invited-address-u-s-middle-east/.

Find this news release at WSU News online at https://news.wsu.edu/2016/08/18/revered-warrior-monk-general-speak-wsu/.