Speaker series launching

First guest is Iraq conflict expert

Trine University will launch its popular Distinguished Speaker series with a presentation by Iraq conflict consultant and transition coordinator Leslie “Cap” Dean on Monday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in Fabiani Theatre.

Dean’s list of credentials as a diplomat, coordinator and analyst for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) dates to the early 1970s, when he first held a variety of development positions with USAID in Zambia, Tanzania, Pakistan, Nepal, Laos, and Washington, D.C.

Throughout the years, he has fulfilled management and executive responsibilities, including policy development, with the Coalition Provisional Authority and U.S. Embassy in Iraq; the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM); and the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help. He has completed two extended senior-level assignments in Iraq. He has worked in strategy development, program and project development and executive oversight and management of some of the most complex and demanding social, economic, and political development programs in Iraq and throughout Africa and Asia.

His presentation, “Iraq: Untying the Gordian Knot,” will detail problems, mistakes, progress, prospects, and lessons learned in the Iraq conflict and detail his two Iraq assignments, one in 2004 and one in 2007, when he worked for Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus. A question and answer session will wrap up the one-hour presentation.

The public is invited to join the Trine University community for the first presentation in this year’s Distinguished Speaker series.