Ashton Carter served as deputy defense secretary under Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel, who announced his resignation last week. Hagel said he will stay on as defense secretary until his successor is confirmed. According to the AP, President Obama has chosen Carter as his nominee for the top position at the Pentagon.
Prior to the Pentagon, Ashton Baldwin Carter was a senior partner of Global Technology Partners — a defense/aerospace-focused investment banking boutique chaired by former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry — where he advised investment firms in technology and defense, and was also an advisor to Goldman Sachs on global affairs. Carter was professor and chair of the International Relations, Science, and Security faculty at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He received bachelor’s degrees in physics and in medieval history from Yale University (summa cum laude) and received his doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Carter has written and co-written several books on everything from Manaing Nuclear Operations to Ballistic Missile Defense. Missing from Carter’s resume: he has not served as an elected official, nor did he serve in the military.
