Clements Center Integrates History and National Security Policy

Several media outlets reported on the announcement, including the Austin American-Statesman, the Dallas Morning News, and the Texas Tribune.

The primary goal of the Center is to train future leaders and scholars in U.S. diplomatic and national security history. It is a non-partisan and interdisciplinary center committed to policy-relevant scholarship that addresses the most important strategic issues facing our nation today and in the coming decades.

Leading the Clements Center toward these goals is Dr. William Inboden [link to bio page]. In addition to his role as executive director of the Center, Inboden is a faculty member at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. He previously served in the presidential administration of George W. Bush at the Department of State and on the staff of the National Security Council.

“When I worked for a decade in Washington, D.C., I saw over and over again how the president and secretary of state and other senior officials really sought out the lessons of history when they were wrestling with foreign policy questions,” Inboden said. “The policy community is very hungry for more history.”

Serving as chairman of the Clements Center’s board of advisors [link to board page] is George Seay, Gov. Clements’ grandson and chairman of Annandale Capital LLC. “Bill Clements would be humbled and honored that a leading international center named for him would be established at the leading state university of his beloved Texas to honor his legacy, train future American leaders in how to serve their country with excellence in the national security arena, and buttress America’s strong, moral leadership of world affairs,” Seay said.

The official launch of the Clements Center will occur at a gala dinner on Thursday, November 21, 2013 in Austin. Rita Clements will serve as the dinner’s honorary chair.

In the meantime, the Center is already hard at work on some exciting projects from its new offices in the Flawn Academic Center. It has convened several public lectures at UT-Austin and co-sponsored a “History and Policy” workshop with Duke University’s American Grand Strategy Program. Over the summer, the Center funded internships for ten UT-Austin students working in government and policy. Finally, the Center has embarked on a long-term project to compile Gov. Clements’ defense and national security papers from his service to Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan.