Bio

Admiral James Stavridis is Vice Chair, Global Affairs and Managing Director, focused on advising Carlyle’s executive team and investment professionals on geopolitical and national security issues. Previously, Admiral Stavridis served five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A retired four-star officer in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as the 16th Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter piracy and cyber security. He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006 to 2009. Admiral Stavridis holds more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations. The Admiral served as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, and was promoted directly from 1-star to 3-star Vice Admiral prior to his 4-star commands. Earlier in his military career he commanded the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet, winning the Battenberg Cup, as well as a squadron of destroyers and a carrier strike group all in combat. In 2016, he was formally vetted for Vice President by Hillary Clinton and subsequently invited to Trump Tower to discuss a cabinet position in the Trump Administration. Admiral Stavridis earned his PhD in international relations and his MA in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and he is an honors graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Admiral Stavridis is the 14th Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Rockefeller Foundation. He is also a weekly columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, a contributing editor at TIME magazine, and Chief International Security and Diplomacy Analyst for NBC News. Admiral Stavridis is the author of ten books, including “Sea Power,” “Sailing True North,” and, most recently, the New York Times bestseller “2034: A Novel of the Next World War.”