Leadership in America Lecture Series takes a Global View with Guest Speaker Admiral James (Jim) O. Ellis Jr., USN (Ret.)
On Wednesday, September 27, the Virginia War Memorial Foundation will host guest speaker Admiral James O. Ellis Jr, USN (Ret.) as part of our ongoing Leadership in America lecture series.
The LIA series strives to examine topics of military readiness, economic strength, medical advances, and cultural influence. We highlight leaders with ties to Virginia that have advanced the United States as a world superpower. Admiral Ellis’s chosen topic, Why Taiwan is not Ukraine (and vice versa), will help us bring a global view to two seemingly parallel world conflicts that have deep and nuanced differences.
Admiral Ellis served on the Dominion Energy Board of Directors and has vast experience in Engineering and Nuclear Power Operations. A former Chairman of the Board of the Space Foundation, Ellis was appointed Chairman of the Users’ Advisory Group to the Vice President’s National Space Council in 2018.
He holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and, in 2005, was inducted into the school’s Engineering Hall of Fame. He completed United States Navy Nuclear Power Training and was qualified in the operation and maintenance of naval nuclear propulsion plants.
The Admiral will draw from this as well as his extensive military career in both China and Europe to examine the historic and present-day differences between Taiwan and Ukraine.
A 1969 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Ellis was designated a Naval aviator in 1971. After selection to Rear Admiral in 1996, he served as a carrier battle group commander, leading contingency response operations in the Taiwan Straits. His onshore assignments included numerous senior military staff tours and senior command positions. Among other titles, Admiral Ellis has served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in Southern Europe during a time of historic NATO expansion. Notably, he led United States and NATO forces in combat and humanitarian operations during the 1999 Kosovo crisis.
His final assignment, before he retired from active-duty in 2004, was serving as Commander of the United States Strategic Command during the post 9-11 era of challenge and change. In this role, he was responsible for the global command and control of United States strategic and space forces, reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense.
We are thrilled to be welcoming Admiral Ellis to the Virginia War Memorial on Wednesday, and we hope you are able to join us and hear his presentation. Learn more online HERE.
