Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations

Colonel Frederick W. Smullen

Monday, March 12, 2012

Topic: Thinking Strategically about U.S. Foreign Policy

F. William “Bill” Smullen is director of the Maxwell School’s National Security Studies program at Syracuse University, an integrated course of academic and practical instruction for military and civilian officials. The program participants have the benefit of interaction with senior government executives and leaders from business, industry, Congress, and the media. Until 2002, Smullen was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, with whom he had worked for nearly 13 years, first as special assistant when Powell was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then later as Powell’s chief of staff at America’s Promise-The Alliance for Youth, a nonprofit organization chaired by Powell. Smullen also served as special assistant to Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral William Crowe, Jr. Smullen was a professional soldier for 30 years, retiring from the Army in 1993 as a Colonel. He earned a B.A. in business and economics from the University of Maine in 1962 and an M.A. in public relations from Syracuse in 1974.