Admiral William J. Fallon

Retired U.S. Navy Admiral William J. Fallon will be at Davidson College Wednesday night for a lecture on “The Media and International Relations.” His free talk begins at 7 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room. There is no charge to attend.

Admiral Fallon is the final speaker in this year’s Dean Rusk International Studies Program-Bank of America Lecture Series. He plans to examine how social media outlets are now connecting not only people with other people, but governments to governments.

Adm. Fallon spent 41 years in the Navy, leading U.S. and Allied forces in eight separate commands and leading military and diplomatic operations at the highest levels of the U.S. government. His career concluded with management of all US forces in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa as Admiral of the Navy’s Central Command from March 2007 to March 2008. He retired from that post and the Navy after just a year when his outspoken public statements emphasizing the importance of diplomacy over conflict in dealing with Iran put him at odds with the Bush administration.

His Naval service gave him insider knowledge of cyber security’s role in protecting communications and critical assets, and he has created a second career in that field. He currently serves as chair of the board of CounterTack Inc., a cyber security firm that offers rapid detection and cyber attack intelligence, enabling customers to immediately engage an attacker and take control over its impact. He also owns his own consulting and advisory business, William J. Fallon & Associates LLC, and is a partner at Tilwell Petroleum LLC.

A native of East Orange, N.J., Fallon graduated from Villanova University in 1967 and holds a master’s degree in international studies from Old Dominion University. He began his Navy career as a combat aviator flying from an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. He also participated in many military operations during the Cold War, leading a Carrier Air Wing in combat during the Gulf War of 1991, and a Navy Battle Group and the U.S. 6th Fleet Battle Force during NATO military operations in Bosnia. He logged more than 1,300 carrier landings and 4,800 flight hours in tactical jet aircraft.

For more information about the talk, call 704-894-2440.