Retired Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will present the 2016 Flora Cameron Lecture on Politics and Public Affairs at Trinity University at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, in Laurie Auditorium.

The lecture is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. The lecture will also be broadcast live on the Tiger Network at live.trinity.edu.

As the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dempsey served in that capacity from October 2011 to September 2015. In this role, he advised President Obama and other national leaders on wartime and post-wartime missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, worked to reaffirm ties with U.S. allies around the globe, and provided counsel and strategy on how to defeat ISIL. Dempsey previously served as the U.S. Army's 37th Chief of Staff.

Past assignments have taken him and his family across the globe during both peace and war, from platoon leader to combatant commander. Among his accolades, Dempsey has been awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the USO's Distinguished Service Award.

He is a 1974 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He holds graduate degrees from Duke University, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the National War College.

Currently, Dempsey is on the faculty of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Sanford School of Public Policy.

The Flora Cameron Lecture on Politics and Public Affairs is made possible by an endowment gift by Mrs. Flora C. Crichton of San Antonio.

For more information, visit www.trinity.edu or contact the Office of University Marketing and Communications at 210-999-8406.