Gen. Wesley K. Clark, former supreme allied commander of NATO, will join the Burkle Center for International Relations in UCLA's International Institute this fall as a senior fellow. Clark will teach seminars, publish papers through the Burkle Center and host an annual conference on national security.

"Gen. Clark's involvement with the campus will add a unique and valuable dimension to the Burkle Center's exploration of the contemporary world and the role of the United States in global security and military, political, social and economic affairs," said Patricia O'Brien, executive dean of UCLA's College of Letters and Science, of which the Burkle Center and International Institute are part. "I am especially pleased that our students at UCLA will benefit from Gen. Clark's extraordinary experience, as well as his dynamic leadership and teaching credentials." 

Clark's 40 years of military leadership, teaching, research and executive management in federal government ultimately led to his service as NATO's commander during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, for which he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Clark retired as one of the nation's most highly decorated military officers since Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Burkle Center's work includes research, teaching and public outreach and service on the contemporary world. The International Institute is committed to the education of global citizens through its degree programs; the people-to-people linkages it fosters among students, scholars and citizens around the globe, and its commitment to helping people everywhere become lifelong learners about their world.

"Wes Clark brings incisive and visionary analysis to questions of economic and security policy, particularly as they relate to future U.S. relations with Asia and Latin America," said professor Ronald Rogowski, interim vice-provost for international studies, dean of the International Institute and director of the Burkle Center. "All of us at the Burkle Center and the larger International Institute look forward to working with him."

Clark said it was an honor to join the Burkle Center.

"I am hopeful and enthusiastic about the progress to be gained through frank and friendly discussion about the challenges we face to secure peace throughout the world," Clark said. "The Burkle Center is offering a vital voice to the international conversation on security and peace."

Clark makes frequent appearances in national and international news media, providing expert commentary on the occupation of Iraq, the war on terrorism and American foreign policy. In 2004 Clark sought the candidacy for president of the United States at the urging of national Democratic leadership. He recently joined members of the U.S. Democratic Party in releasing a report analyzing the effect that Republican policies have had on the security of the nation.

"Gen. Clark is a four-star general and a first-class intellect with tremendous expertise in national security issues," said Amy Zegart, associate professor in UCLA's School of Public Affairs, where she specializes in U.S. intelligence and national security affairs. Zegart was a member of a selection committee of five faculty members that met with Clark prior to his Burkle Center appointment. "He will be a tremendous addition to the UCLA community," she said.

Ronald W. Burkle, managing partner of the Yucaipa Companies, whose endowment provides core support for the Burkle Center, said: "Gen. Clark's wide-ranging international experience will enhance the Burkle Center's mission of providing thoughtful analysis of some of the world's most pressing issues. Clark's presence will illuminate the center's research and teaching about the contemporary role of the United States in the international community."

Clark joins a group of internationally renowned policymakers and analysts who have been involved with the Burkle Center. They include Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, Secretaries of State Warren M. Christopher and George P. Shultz, Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castaneda and Finance Minister Francisco Gil-Diaz, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, Russian Finance Minister Yegor Gaidar, Clinton advisor Dennis Ross, State Department Director of Policy Planning Stephen Krasner, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and leading public intellectuals Alan Dershowitz and Edward Said, as well as ambassadors from a dozen countries.

California's largest university, UCLA enrolls approximately 38,000 students per year and offers degrees from the UCLA College of Letters and Science and 11 professional schools in dozens of varied disciplines. UCLA consistently ranks among the top five universities and colleges nationwide in total research-and-development spending, receiving more than $820 million a year in competitively awarded federal and state grants and contracts. For every $1 state taxpayers invest in UCLA, the university generates almost $9 in economic activity, resulting in an annual $6 billion economic impact on the Greater Los Angeles region. The university's health care network treats 450,000 patients per year. UCLA employs more than 27,000 faculty and staff, has more than 350,000 living alumni and has been home to five Nobel Prize laureates.

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