General George W. Casey Jr., Korbel Alumnus, Makes a Broad Impact During Spring Quarter 2016

For the fifth consecutive year the Josef Korbel School was honored to host distinguished alumnus General George W. Casey Jr. (Ret.) for the first two weeks of the spring quarter. General Casey (MA '80, International Relations) served as the 36th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (2007-2011) and, among other positions, was Commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq (2004-2007), where he oversaw a coalition of more than 30 countries.

A strong advocate of the importance of effective communications between the military and civilians within the government, particularly during wartime, General Casey began teaching a graduate-level course on civil-military relations at the Korbel School in 2012. 

"In that class I do three 20th century case studies and two 21st century case studies," Casey said. "The whole idea is to assist the students in developing a framework so they can judge the effectiveness of civil-military relations as we go forward. That's important today because the solutions to today's problems aren't exclusively military. You need defense, but also diplomacy and development. And these young men and women who are studying international security have got to be able to figure out how to blend civil-military responses and actions if we're going to bring all the power of the United States to bear in solving these very difficult problems."

General Casey has a full schedule during his springtime visits. This year, in addition to teaching his course, he was a guest lecturer to classes on conflict resolution and civil protection during armed combat; advised the Korbel School's annual Crisis Engagement and Negotiation Exercise (CENEX); and spoke about strategic leadership to the Daniels College of Business Executive MBA program. He is also an advisor to DU veterans and active military personnel, including current Korbel School Army War College Fellows. As Army Chief of Staff, General Casey led a significant expansion of the Army War College Fellows program to include exposure to political and cultural aspects of international affairs at universities such as the Korbel School.

General Casey also participates in DU initiatives which are aligned with the University's commitment to veterans. One of these is a partnership between the Sturm Family Foundation and DU's Graduate School of Professional Psychology. The Sturm Specialty in Military Psychology is a specialty education and training track for students who wish to serve the veteran population. The program will help expand mental health services for the men and women who have served our country, in both the Denver and DU communities.

To cap off this year's visit to DU, General Casey presented the General George W. Casey Jr. Endowed Scholarship for Distinguished Military Veterans to Korbel School graduate student John Shattuck. The scholarship, funded by donors Craig R. Harrison, Nicole Harrison and Craig D. Harrison, and matched by the University's scholarship funds, provides funds to a Korbel School graduate student who has served in the United States Armed Forces, exhibits exemplary leadership qualities and demonstrates academic merit and/or financial need.

Shattuck retired as a United States Marine Corps Captain in 2014 after serving as a Marine Ground Intelligence Officer in multiple locations including Helmand Province, Afghanistan. After deciding to pursue a career in which he could continue to serve the U.S. Government in a security-related position, Shattuck enrolled in the Josef Korbel School to pursue a master's degree in international security as a stepping-stone to future work. In addition to his coursework, Shattuck studies the Russian language and volunteers at the Colorado Children's Hospital in the oncology ward.