Walter B. Slocombe, a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Caplin & Drysdale, served from May-November of 2003 in Bagdad in the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq as Director for Security Affairs (National Security and Defense) and Senior advisor for National Security. During the Clinton Administration he served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 1994-2001, assuming that position from serving as Principal Under Secretary for Policy from June of 1993. As Under Secretary Walt was the principal adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on inter alia, international policy issues affecting the Department of Defense (DOD) and its activities. In the Carter administration Walt was Deputy Under Secretary for Policy Planning (1979-81), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs (1977-79), and Director of the DOD Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Task Force (1977-81).

He was a member of the Defense Policy Board from 2002-04; excluding his term serving in Iraq; and in 2004 Walt was appointed by President Bush to be a member of the Presidential Commission on Intelligence Capabilities Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Walt is currently Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee of the board of the Atlantic Council of the United States; a senior advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies; a director of the American Council for Germany; a member of the international Advisory Board of the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces; and a member of the Advisory Board of Our Military Kids. From 2001-04 Walt was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defense College's Center for Defense and Strategic Studies in Canberra.

He was educated at Princeton University (A.B. 1963), Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar; graduate research on Soviet Politics), and Harvard Law School (L.L.B. 1968).

Mr. Slocombe was a guest lecturer in 2007. Streaming video of his previous lecture is available.