Yesterday marked Richard A. “Dick” Chilcoat’s 100th day as dean of the Texas A&M George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Chilcoat’s position as permanent dean began on July 1, 2001 after the intense search for a permanent dean began in January. Chilcoat succeeded the interim dean, Robert Gates.
Chilcoat moved from the east coast and retired from the military, after 42 years of service, to become an integral part of A&M.
“When my wife and I moved here, it was a big decision to move from the east coast to a southern town. But we love the community and A&M and have not regretted a second of it,” Chilcoat said.
Chilcoat received his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy and went on to earn his master of business degree from Harvard University. He then served as an assistant to the dean of the United States Military Academy and as assistant professor of Social Sciences at West Point.
During his extensive military career he earned the title of Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army, now retired (LTG, U.S. Army (Ret.)). He fought in the Vietnam War and served in several infantry units, holding various positions including a helicopter pilot, a planner and a strategist. He also served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“One of the greatest experiences I had was serving as executive assistant to Colin Powell when I was chairman,” Chilcoat said.
In 1994, Chilcoat became resident of the U.S. Army War College, and in 1997, he was appointed to president of the National Defense University.
His experience in Higher Education made him a prominent candidate for dean of the Bush School. Chilcoat said he was very excited to take the position.
“One of the reasons I came to A&M was the compelling vision of the Bush School and A&M’s Vision 2020,” Chilcoat said.
Chilcoat hopes to contribute to Vision 2020 by linking the Bush School’s vision to Vision 2020.
“After much discussion with students, faculty and administrators, it’s clear we wanted to build a great school and begin to craft a vision with a strategic plan to implement that vision,” Chilcoat said. “My leadership and guiding theme is `Building the Bush School for the future.’ ”
Chilcoat said he wants to contribute by making the Bush School a pier institute of government similar to other top national programs at Harvard and Princeton.
“We have a five year history and three graduated classes with 20 students each, with research in sciences and technology, political policy, presidential studies, and governance,” Chilcoat said.
“This summer we also implemented a permanent core faculty and in the future we want to introduce an executive education program and a distance learning program.”