Vandenberg Prize with General (ret.) H.R. McMaster
April 7 @ 12:00-1:45 P.M.
Huizenga Grand Room @ the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
Networking from 11:30-Noon, with program beginning at Noon.
Vandenberg Award Recipient:
General (ret.) H. R. McMaster
Hillman/Orr Award Recipient:
To be announced
The World Affairs Council of Western Michigan (WACWM) announces the recipient of its sixth Vandenberg Prize—which goes to a national or international leader who has been influential in developing global understanding and collaboration on the world stage. The first six prizes were awarded to Ambassador (ret.) Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (2020); General (ret.) James N. Mattis (2021); Ambassador (ret.) Marie Yovanovitch (2022); U.N. World Food Programme Director David M. Beasley (2023); Ambassador Bridget Brink (2024); and Ambassador Nicholas Burns (2025).
The recipient of the 2026 Vandenberg Prize is General (ret.) H. R. McMaster.
H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 26th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for34years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.
From 2014 to 2017 McMaster designed the future army as the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and the deputy commanding general of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). As commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, he oversaw all training and education for the army’s infantry, armor, and cavalry force. His has extensive experience leading soldiers and organizations in wartime including Commander, Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force—Shafafiyat in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012; Commander, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006; and Commander, Eagle Troop, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Operation Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991. McMaster also served overseas as advisor to the most senior commanders in the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
McMaster holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy from 1994 to 1996. He is author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World and the award-winning Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam. He was a contributing editor for Survival: Global Politics and Strategy from 2010 to 2017.
Thanks to longtime World Affairs Council corporate supporters Amway and Bank of America for sponsoring this event.
He will receive the Vandenberg Prize on Tuesday, April 7th, from 12:00-1:45, at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park (Huizenga Grand Room). The Vandenberg Prize is named after Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenberg (1881-1951) who was the inspiration for founding the Council in 1949 by Grand Rapids attorney (and later Federal Judge) Douglas Hillman and businessman Edgar Orr.
In addition, the Council will present the annual Hillman-Orr Award to a West Michigan individual or institution that mirrors the intent of the Council’s founding leaders to bring global awareness and international understanding to the West Michigan community.
Hillman and Orr were inspired by the life and work of Senator Vandenberg, an isolationist who became a strong advocate of internationalism in the wake of World War II. Vandenberg forged bipartisan support for the Marshall Plan and NATO and was appointed one of the first U.S. delegates to the brand-new United Nations. Senator Vandenberg has always been considered the “patron saint” of the Council.
Note on Parking
The event will take place at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. Guest parking is free and plentiful next to the visitor’s entrance.
Tickets
Tickets available below. Individual tickets cost $175 and sponsored tables of 8 cost $2,500.
