Carter, Ashton B., 1954-

<p>Ashton Baldwin Carter served as secretary of Defense in the administration of Barack Obama from February 17, 2015, until Obama left office in January 2017.</p>

<p>Carter was born on September 24, 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1976 with a double major of physics and medieval history. As a Rhodes Scholar, he attended Oxford University in England and graduated with his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1979. After working on research fellowships, Carter began teaching at Harvard University in 1984 and continued there until 1993.</p>

<p>From 1993 to 1996, Carter served as the assistant secretary for International Security Policy in the Department of Defense in the administration of Bill Clinton. He became the undersecretary for Acquisitions, Technology, and Logistics at Defense at the beginning of Barack Obama's presidency. In 2011, he became the deputy secretary of Defense, serving as the department's chief operating officer. President Obama nominated Carter for secretary of the Department of Defense on December 5, 2014. The U.S. Senate confirmed him with a vote of 93 to 5 on February 12, 2015.</p>

<p>Carter was awarded the Department of Defense's Public Service Medal five times.</p>

<p>Ashton Baldwin Carter (born September 24, 1954) is an American public policy professor who served as the 25th secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He is currently Director of the Belfer Center for Science &amp; International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.</p>

<p>Carter began his career as a physicist. After a brief experience as an analyst for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, he switched careers to public policy. He joined the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1984 and became chair of the International &amp; Global Affairs faculty. Carter served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during President Clinton's first term, from 1993 to 1996, responsible for policy regarding the former Soviet states, strategic affairs, and nuclear weapons. During President Obama's first term, he served first as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and then Deputy Secretary of Defense until December 2013. In February 2015, he replaced Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense and served until the end of the Obama administration.</p>

<p>For his service to national security, Carter has on five occasions been awarded the DOD Distinguished Public Service Medal. He has also received the CJCS Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and the Defense Intelligence Medal for his contributions to intelligence. Carter is author or co-author of 11 books and more than 100 articles on physics, technology, national security, and management.</p>