R. James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency who is now foreign policy and energy adviser to Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, will speak at an Aug. 20 luncheon sponsored by the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.
The event will be held at 11:30 a.m. the Foundry on the World’s Fair site.
Cost is $15, payable by cash or check, and reservations are required by calling (865) 974-0931.
Woolsey will talk about energy issues, including the growth of alternatives to conventional petroleum, and the impact such developments will have on the U.S. war against terrorism.
Woolsey is a venture partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners of San Bruno, Calif., one of the nation’s premier venture capital firms. Woolsey also chairs the Strategic Advisory Group of the Washington, D.C.-based private equity fund Paladin Capital Group; is a senior executive adviser to the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton; and is of counsel to the Washington, D.C., office of the Boston-based law firm Goodwin Procter. In all of these, he specializes in alternative energy and security issues.
From July 2002 to March 2008 he was a vice president and officer of Booz Allen Hamilton, a strategy and technology consulting firm. He was also previously a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gardner, now Goodwin Procter, in Washington, D.C., where he practiced for 22 years in the fields of civil litigation, arbitration and mediation.
Woolsey has held presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, most recently as director of Central Intelligence from 1993 to 1995.
During his 12 years of government service, in addition to heading the CIA and the Intelligence Community, Woolsey was ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Vienna, 1989-1991; Under Secretary of the Navy, 1977-1979; and general counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, 1970-1973. He also was appointed by the president to serve on a part-time basis in Geneva, Switzerland, 1983-1986, as delegate at large to the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST). As an officer in the U.S. Army, he was an adviser on the U.S. delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), Helsinki and Vienna, 1969-1970.
The Baker Center is a nonpartisan center that develops educational programs and promotes research to further the public’s understanding and knowledge of our system of governance, critical public policy issues and the importance of public service and civic engagement. For more information about the Baker Center, see http://www.bakercenter.utk.edu.