Keynote Speakers

Dr. Chris Howard is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Arizona State University. He is a distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Academy and earned a doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

He also earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. Dr. Howard’s military career included service as a helicopter pilot and an intelligence officer, and he was awarded a Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan.

As a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, Dr. Howard co-edited the report “Re-Engineering American Security: Cultivating Talent for Competitiveness.” He unveiled the report’s key findings during the 2023 Aspen Security Forum sharing a panel with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Previously, he served as President of Robert Morris University and Hamden Sydney-College and had a successful corporate career with GE and Bristol-Myers Squibb.