Former Director, CIA

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

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In conversation with Marie-Josée Kravis, Chair of The Economic Club of New York.

General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus is one of the most prominent U.S. military figures of the post-9/11 era and has been described as "one of the great battle captains" in American military history.

Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were in combat, including command of coalition forces during the Surge in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. Following his service in the military, Gen. Petraeus served as the Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the global war on terror.

David H. Petraeus joined KKR in June 2013 and is Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which supports KKR's investment committees, portfolio companies, and limited partners with analysis of geopolitical and macro-economic trends, as well as environmental, social, and governance issues.

Gen. Petraeus graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy and subsequently earned M.P.A. and Ph.D. degrees in an interdisciplinary program of international relations and economics from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He subsequently taught both subjects at the U.S. Military Academy and later completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. Gen. Petraeus has received numerous U.S. military, State Department, NATO and United Nations medals and awards, including four Defense Distinguished Medals, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, and the Combat Action Badge, and he has been decorated by 13 foreign countries. Since leaving government, he also served as a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at CUNY's Macaulay Honors College for 3-1/2 years and he has, since 2013, been a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California, a Senior Fellow at Harvard University, a personal venture capitalist, and Senior Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute. Additionally, he is a member of the boards of the Institute for the Study of War, the Atlantic Council, the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, and over a dozen veterans service organizations.