General Martin E. Dempsey, named one of the 100 most influential leaders in the world by
Time magazine (2015), retired in October 2015 after 41 years of military service. He now teaches leadership and public policy as a Rubenstein Fellow at Duke Universityand serves as Chairman of USA Basketball.
During his time in the Army, General Dempsey commanded combat units at every level including United States Central Command, where he was responsible for securing U.S. interests in the Middle East and South Asia. He served in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, accumulating 42 months in combat. Between 2011 and 2015 he served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and then as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dempsey was the senior officer in the armed forces and the principal military adviser to the president of the United States.
General Dempsey is a 1974 graduate of West Point and has master’s degrees from Duke Universityin literature, from the Army Command & General Staff College in military science, and from the National War College in national security strategy. He also holds an honorary doctorate degree in law from the Universityof Notre Dame and is co-author of the bestselling leadership book Radical Inclusion: What the Post-9/11 World Should Have Taught Us About Leadership. In 2016 he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight of the British Empire. In 2019, the Association of the United States Army honored him with the George C. Marshall Award for public service.
General Dempsey and his wife, Deanie, have been married for 43 years. They have three children and nine grandchildren.
