Gen. John Shalikashvili, who earned a master’s degree in international affairs from GW in 1970 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2004, passed away from complications due to a stroke on July 23. He was 75.
An open memorial service for Mr. Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997, will be held on Aug. 6 at the Tacoma Convention Center, according to a message President Steven Knapp sent out to the GW community. A funeral will be held at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery.
In the message, Dr. Knapp referred to Mr. Shalikashvili, who won a Presidential Medal of Freedom and honors from 18 foreign nations, as a “distinguished alumnus.” GW awarded Mr. Shalikashvili a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 1993.
According to an obituary in the Washington Post, Mr. Shalikashvili, a native of Warsaw, Poland, was the first foreign-born person to be appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Former President Bill Clinton appointed him in 1993, and he succeeded fellow GW alumnus Colin Powell, M.B.A. ’71.
“From the humble beginnings of a childhood in war-torn Poland, General Shalikashvili commenced a remarkable rise from the rank of private in the U.S. Army to serving as the principal military advisor to the president and the senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces,” said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a statement.
In his remarks at GW’s 2004 Commencement ceremonies, where he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Service, Mr. Shalikashvili expressed his gratitude to his alma mater.
“When, many years ago, this great university awarded me a master’s of arts degree in international affairs, little did I suspect how that would shape my military career and indeed my life,” he said. “And how I would draw on what I had learned from this great faculty, throughout my subsequent years wearing our nation’s uniform.”
Mr. Shalikashvili noted GW’s prime location in the heart of Washington, D.C., “where nearly all important issues across all disciplines are debated, and where faculty and students have a front-row seat and often come face to face with those experts and those high officials at the center of those debates.”
“I submit to you it’s somewhat like having studied in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire,” he said.
Mr. Shalikashvili also joked about the university’s decision to grant him an honorary Doctor of Public Service.
“I’m sure that you recognize and will agree with me that to receive an honorary degree is by any measure an extraordinarily high honor,” Mr. Shalikashvili said in his address. “But I tell you, to receive one from your alma mater is surely doubly so, because they not only know your shortcomings, in fact, they have documented them.”