John Hamre, PhD, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Former Deputy Secretary of Defense
John Hamre was elected president and CEO of The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in January 2000. Before joining CSIS, he served as the 26th U.S. deputy secretary of defense and was the under secretary of defense (comptroller) from 1993 to 1997.
In 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Dr. Hamre to serve as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, and he served in that capacity for four secretaries of defense.
Before serving in the Department of Defense, Dr. Hamre had a long career as a professional Congressional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committees and the Congressional Budget Office.
Dr. Hamre received his Ph.D. with distinction in 1978 from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., where his studies focused on international politics and economics and U.S. foreign policy. In 1972, he received his B.A., with high distinction, from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, emphasizing political science and economics.