General Norman Schwarzkopf has served in numerous and varied Army command and staff assignments throughout the United States, Europe and the Pacific, in places such as Berlin, Alaska, Hawaii, and five times in Washington, D.C., to name a few. He served two combat tours in the Vietnam and later was designated the Deputy Commander of the Joint Task Force in charge of U.S. Forces participating in the Grenada student rescue operation.

General Schwarzkopf is perhaps best known for his service as Commander in Chief, United States Central Command and Commander of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In Dessert Storm, he coordinated the efforts of all Allied forces from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from August 1990, soon after Iraq invaded Kuwait, until August 1991, when he retired from military service.

Since his retirement from the military, General Schwarzkopf has joined the ranks of successful authors with his best-selling autobiography, It Doesn't Take a Hero, participated in six critically acclaimed CBS television specials and is currently working with NBC News to produce programs about what's right with America.

Schwarzkopf is a leader in philanthropy as well of the military . . . he is chair of the STARBRIGHT (pediatric pain reduction research) Capital campaign, is co-founder with Paul Newman of the Boggy Creek Gang (a proposed camp in Florida for children with chronic illness), is on the board of the Nature Conservancy, and is national spokesperson for both prostate cancer awareness and the Recovery of the Grizzly Bear. He is currently a member of the University of Richmond board of trustees and serves as director on several corporate boards.

Schwarzkopf and his wife have three children, Cynthia, Jessica and Christian.

NOTE: Bio is as it appeared in the Forum playbill for "A Conversation about Leadership" on May 19, 1997.