Public service focus of Greitens’ talk

Assembly Series lecture accompanied by service project to help U.S. troops

Eric Greitens, PhD, chief executive officer of The Mission Continues, will address the importance of public service in his upcoming lecture, “Inspiring Leadership in Challenging Times.”

Sponsored by the Assembly Series and the Gephardt Institute for Public Service, the talk will take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, in Room 118, Brown Hall. It will be followed by a reception and service project in Brown Lounge.

Greitens

The service project involves collecting and assembling care packages for military men and women stationed overseas. In partnership with the WUSTL Military Care Package group and the Gateway Battalion, volunteers are being asked to donate items by Greitens’ appearance March 30.

These items will be collected and brought to Brown Lounge, where volunteers will assemble the packages. Anyone interested in volunteering, receiving a list of desired items or requesting more information about how to participate can call (314) 935-9104 or visit gephardtinstitute.wustl.edu.

Greitens’ life offers a study in public service. After being injured in Iraq and retiring from active duty, Greitens settled in St. Louis and founded, with Kenneth Harbaugh, The Mission Continues.

The organization empowers wounded and disabled veterans to begin new lives in public service. In October 2008, President George W. Bush presented Greitens with the President’s Volunteer Service Award in recognition of his inspiring national leadership working with wounded and disabled veterans.

A former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, his service in the U.S. military includes deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia.

For his valor, he received the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.

After graduating from Duke University, Greitens attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes and Truman Scholar, where he earned a master’s degree in development studies and a doctoral degree in politics.

His doctoral thesis studied best practices of international humanitarian organizations serving children in war-ravaged countries. An outgrowth of those investigations inspired his book, “Strength and Compassion,” a collection of photographs and essays.

For information on this and other Assembly Series events, call (314) 935-4620 or visit assemblyseries.wustl.edu.