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Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be the featured speaker at this year's University of Washington commencement.
By Nick Perry
Seattle Times higher education reporter

Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be the featured speaker this
year at the University of Washington's commencement ceremonies.

Gates, 65, has been the top defense official since 2006, putting him
in the somewhat unusual position of serving in the cabinet of both a
Republican and Democratic president.

Before that, Gates spent 27 years in the intelligence community,
working his way up to become director of the Central Intelligence
Agency in 1991. He retired from that role in 1993, and began lecturing
at colleges and universities. In 2002, he was named president of Texas
A&M University, where he served until being tapped by President
Bush to replace Donald Rumsfeld.

Gates also has served on several corporate boards, including those
at Fidelity Investments, NACCO Industries and Brinker International.

He's been praised for helping turn around the situation in Iraq
through a more cautious and pragmatic approach than Rumsfeld. He's also
been criticized for his track record in the CIA, and for calling into
question the effectiveness of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

About 4,100 graduating students and 39,000 family members and guests
are expected to attend the UW's 134th annual graduation ceremony, which
begins at 2 p.m. June 13 at Husky Stadium.

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