Ashton Carter
American physicist and defence official; 25th US Secretary of Defense, 2015–2017
| Ashton B. Carter
| |
|---|---|
| Image |  Official Department of Defense portrait as Secretary of Defense |
| Born | 24 September 1954 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | 24 October 2022 |
| Occupation | Physicist; US Secretary of Defense (2015–2017) |
| Known for | 25th US Secretary of Defense, 17 February 2015 – 19 January 2017; earlier Deputy Secretary of Defense and Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics |
| Education | B.A. degrees in physics and in medieval history, Yale University; D.Phil. in theoretical physics, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar, 1979) |
Ashton B. Carter (24 September 1954 – 24 October 2022) was an American physicist and defence official who served as the 25th US Secretary of Defense from 17 February 2015 to 19 January 2017, in the administration of President Barack Obama. The Historical Office of the Department of Defense records that he was the fifth former Deputy Secretary of Defense to become secretary. He died on 24 October 2022.[1]
Education and scientific work
The Historical Office records that Carter was born on 24 September 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, attended Yale University, and graduated summa cum laude with bachelor's degrees in physics and in medieval history. In 1979, as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned a doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University. He was a physics instructor at Oxford, a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an experimental research associate at Brookhaven and Fermilab National Laboratories. The Department of Defense's later biography of him as former secretary adds that the Yale degrees were accompanied by election to Phi Beta Kappa.[1][2]
Defence posts before the secretaryship
The Historical Office says his government service began in 1981 as an analyst with Program Analysis and Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy from 1993 to 1996, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from 2009 to 2011, and Deputy Secretary of Defense from 6 October 2011 to 3 December 2013.[1]
The Department's biography of him as former secretary describes the 1993–1996 assistant secretaryship as covering strategic affairs, nuclear-weapons policy, and the Nunn–Lugar programme that removed nuclear weapons from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. As under secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, it says, he had responsibility for the department's procurement-reform and innovation agenda, including the KC-46 tanker, the development and production of mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, and the introduction of a "Better Buying Power" initiative. As deputy secretary, it describes him as the department's chief operating officer, overseeing the annual budget and more than three million civilian and military personnel during the period of budget sequestration. It also records service on the Defense Policy Board, the Defense Science Board, and the Secretary of State's International Security Advisory Board.[2]
| Period | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| From 1981 | Analyst, Program Analysis and Evaluation, Office of the Secretary of Defense | [1] |
| 1993–1996 | Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy | [1] |
| 2009–2011 | Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics | [1] |
| 6 October 2011 – 3 December 2013 | Deputy Secretary of Defense | [1] |
| 17 February 2015 – 19 January 2017 | 25th US Secretary of Defense | [1] |
Secretary of Defense
Carter was sworn in as the 25th Secretary of Defense on 17 February 2015 and served until 19 January 2017.[1]
Academic and other work
From 1996 to 2009, according to the Historical Office, he was the Ford Foundation Professor of Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and from 2006 to 2009 he chaired the International and Global Affairs faculty there. After leaving government he was a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and a lecturer at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a senior executive at the Markle Foundation. The Department's later biography also records earlier work as a senior partner of Global Technology Partners and as an adviser on global affairs to Goldman Sachs, and board service with the MITRE Corporation, Mitretek Systems and Lincoln Laboratory at MIT, and membership of the Draper Laboratory Corporation. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group. Both official biographies describe him as the author or co-author of 11 books and more than 100 articles on physics, technology, national security and management.[1][2]
Awards
The two official biographies differ on the naming and number of his principal defence decorations. The Historical Office lists the Distinguished Public Service Medal, which it calls the Department of Defense's highest civilian award, three times (in 1994 and 1995 as assistant secretary and in 2011 as under secretary), and the Defense Intelligence Medal. The Department's later biography of him as former secretary says he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, described there as the Department's highest, on five occasions, and that he also received the Defense Intelligence Medal and the Joint Distinguished Service Medal from the Chairman and Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both accounts are recorded here; they were not further reconciled in the sources opened for this page.[1][2]
Death
The Historical Office records that he died on 24 October 2022. The Department's biography page of him as former secretary, still published at defense.gov when retrieved on 11 November 2026, does not record his death.[1][2]
External links
- Department of Defense Historical Office, biography of Ashton B. Carter
- Department of Defense, official biography