AMES, Iowa -- The principal logistics official within the senior management of the U.S. Department of Defense will speak as part of the World Affairs Series at Iowa State University. Jack Bell, deputy undersecretary of defense, will speak on "Department of Defense Operations in the 21st Century" at 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 15 in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Bell has been deputy undersecretary of defense since August 2005. In this role, he is the principal advisor to the defense secretary on logistics and materiel readiness. He has served as the first chief of staff of the U.S. Department of State's Afghanistan Reconstruction Group in Kabul, advising the President's Special Envoy and Ambassador to Afghanistan on efforts to accelerate political stability, reconstruction and economic development in that country.
Bell previously had a successful career in the private sector, specializing in transformation management in large complex organizations facing major challenges in their operational, market and/or competitive environments. He was in senior management positions with U.S. Airways, American Airlines, Burlington Northern Railroad and Adobe Systems. He also served as a venture advisor to and board member of start-up information technology companies in the Silicon Valley.
Bell began his career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving in Vietnam, Okinawa and the Caribbean. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Northwestern University, and a master's degree in international relations from the University of South Carolina.
Bell's lecture is cosponsored by the World Affairs Series and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body.