Retired Gen. James Mattis to be first-ever recipient of WSU Thomas Foley award
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense and retired Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis is the inaugural recipient of the Thomas S. Foley Award for Distinguished Public Service.
The award will be given annually by the Foley Institute at Washington State University to an individual who has demonstrated integrity, courage, commitment to democratic values in public service and whose body of work has had a lasting impact.
Mattis, born in Pullman and raised in Richland, will accept the award in person.
“Mattis’ life of service to country in both military and civilian roles truly embodies the values of courageous leadership and integrity that define Tom Foley’s legacy,” said Cornell Clayton, the institute’s director said in a news release.
After retiring from active military service, Mattis was appointed to serve as President Donald Trump’s first secretary of defense. He served in that role from 2017 until he resigned in 2019.
The Foley Institute is named for the late U.S. Rep. Tom Foley, the Spokane Republican who served as the 49th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and later, as U.S. ambassador to Japan. He is the highest elected official ever to hail from Washington state.
Mattis will be honored at a ceremony on April 9 at the John J. Hemmingson Center on the Gonzaga University campus in Spokane. The event dinner will raise money for the Foley Institute. The event features a question-and-answer session as well as a book signing of “Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead,” a memoir that Mattis wrote with Bing West in 2021.
Tickets are available via email tsfoley@wsu.edu or by calling 509-355-3477.
