William Robert Van Cleave (August 27, 1935 – March 15, 2013) was a former advisor to President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, the

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, and

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as well as Emeritus Professor, former head, and the founder of

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

's Department of Defense and Strategic Studies (DSS). The DSS program is now located in

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, 10 miles from

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Department of Defense and Strategic Studies
Missouri State University He was also advisory council member of the

Center for Security Policy The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The organization's founder and current president is Frank Gaffney Jr. who is known for promoting falsehoods about former U.S. President B ...

, board advisor of the

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an
National Institute for Public Policy
As a strategic thinker, he is remembered as a leading

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and long-standing hawkish policy advocate.William Van Cleave
Right Web

Academic background and military service

Van Cleave received a B.A. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

as well as his M.A. and Ph.D. (1967) from the Claremont Graduate School (now

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

). His dissertation was titled "Nuclear Proliferation: The Interaction of Politics and Technology," and supervised by Harold W. Rood. He was Senior Research Fellow in National Security Affairs at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

on War, Revolution and Peace at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

.CGU Alumni Hall of Fame
/ref> Van Cleave was Professor and Director of the Defense and Strategic Studies Program at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

from 1967-87. Under his leadership, the DSS program started in 1971 in the School of International Relations at USC. The primary objective of the program was to provide graduate level education and training for students planning careers in national and international security affairs, policy-making, and teaching at the university-level. The program moved to Southwest Missouri State University (now MSU) in 1987 where DSS became a Department offering specialized Master of Science degree. In 2005, the University moved the Department physically to Fairfax, VA to take advantage of the many opportunities that are unique to the D.C. metropolitan area.

Military service

Van Cleave enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

at the age of 17, and became a

Marine Security Guard A Marine Security Guard (MSG), also known as a Marine Embassy Guard, is a member of the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group (formerly Marine Security Guard Battalion), a brigade-sized organization of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) whose de ...

at the American embassy in

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during the time of the

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following

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. In 1957, he transferred to the

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, and became an officer.

Governmental and Professional Services

Van Cleave's past professional experience included being a member of the U.S. Delegation to the

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds of ta ...

with the

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, Chairman-Designate of General Advisory Committee on

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, Special Assistant for Strategic Policy and Planning in the

Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out aut ...

, member of the

Team B Team B was a competitive analysis exercise commissioned by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to analyze threats the Soviet Union posed to the security of the United States. It was created, in part, due to a 1974 publication by Albert Wohlstett ...

effort to review national intelligence on the USSR and to produce a competitive

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. From 1979 to 1981 he was Senior Advisor and Defense Policy Coordinator to

and Director of the

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Transition Team between the administrations of President Carter and President Reagan. He was also a former officer at the U.S. Marine Corps. He was the Director of the Division for Research in Strategy at the

Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS) was an Israel-based think tank with an affiliated office in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1984 by its president, Professor Robert Loewenberg. Political stance In the US, IASPS ...

(IASPS)Strategic Fellowships
IASPS Trustee member of the

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, and Board Member of the

Committee on the Present Danger The Committee on the Present Danger (CPD) is the name used by a succession of United States, American neoconservative and Anti-communism, anti-communist foreign policy interest groups. Throughout its four iterations—in the 1950s, the 1970s, the ...

. Professor Van Cleave has approximately 200 professional publications, and has received numerous awards for his outstanding work as a teacher and faculty member. He was the 1979

Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient. Professor Van Cleave died on March 15, 2013Obituary for William R. "Bill" VanCleave

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, March 26 to March 28, 2013 and is buried in Hemet, California.

References

External links

The Department of Defense and Strategic Studies in Washington D.C., Missouri State UniversitySchool of Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate UniversityInstitute for Advanced Strategic and Political StudiesCommittee on the Present Danger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Cleave, William 1935 births 2013 deaths California State University, Long Beach alumni Claremont Graduate University alumni University of Southern California faculty United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps reservists

Academic background and military service

Military service

Governmental and Professional Services

See also

References

External links