POPE LECTURE SERIES | ANNUAL SPEAKERS
Ambassador Nathaniel C. Fick is the inaugural U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy. He is a former technology executive, author, and former United States Marine Corps officer. A Maine resident, Fick is the author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, a memoir of his service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
POPE LECTURE SERIES | ANNUAL SPEAKERS
Admiral Gregory G. “Grog” Johnson (USN-Ret.) is a retired United States Navy Admiral and the former commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Allied Forces, Southern Europe. After graduating from the University of Maine, Admiral Johnson attended Aviation Officer Candidate School, was commissioned in 1969, and designated a Naval Aviator in 1970.
Over a 36-year career, Admiral Johnson commanded at every level — Squadron, Air Wing, Battle Group, Fleet, and Force. From 1970-1995, he held sea duty assignments, making multiple deployments in USS Independence, USS Nimitz, USS Forrestal, USS Eisenhower, and USS Theodore Roosevelt. He served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Head of the European and Central Command Branch of the Joint Operations Division (JOD) and subsequently as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin L. Powell.
As a Flag Officer, Admiral Johnson served as Commander, Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group: Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, William S. Cohen; Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet; and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe/Allied Forces, Southern Europe. Admiral Johnson graduated from the Naval War College Command and Staff Course with Highest Distinction. Upon his retirement in December 2004, Admiral Johnson started Snow Ridge Associates, a strategic advice and consulting firm. He has served on numerous civic, public, and private boards and resides in Harpswell, Maine with his wife, Ms. Carol Hancock.
Admiral Johnson is a member of the Everett P. Pope Lecture Sponsoring Committee and a long time Friend of the Bowdoin Marine Corps Society.
POPE LECTURE SERIES | ANNUAL SPEAKERS
Homeira Qaderi was born in Kabul, Afghanistan during Russian occupation and spent her early childhood sheltering from the Soviets. When the Taliban conquered Herat, she was prohibited from attending school. Dr. Qaderi later took refuge in Iran for seven years. Returning to Afghanistan in 2011, she began teaching as a professor at Kabul University and was active in achieving equal rights for Afghan women. During the 2021 fall of Kabul, Homeira Qaderi and her son were among the last to gain entrance through a secret gate on the north side of the airport to flee the country.Homera is the author of seven books and is currently a Radcliffe Institute Fellow.
POPE LECTURE SERIES | ANNUAL SPEAKERS
Lecture title: “Turning in My Card: American Identity and the Veteran Experience.”
Marine veteran, journalist and author Elliot Ackerman. is a National Book Award finalist and the author of four novels and one work of nonfiction. His latest book is 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. He is both a former White House Fellow and a Marine, and served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart.
POPE LECTURE SERIES | ANNUAL SPEAKERS
The Fighters: Reporting from the Front Lines of Our Forever Wars, with C.J. Chivers
C.J. Chivers is a correspondent for The New York Times and a writer-at-large for the New York Times Magazine. His magazine story “The Fighter” won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing. In 2009 he was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for coverage from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Chivers served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps in the Persian Gulf War and on peacekeeping duty during the Los Angeles riots. Mr. Chivers is the acclaimed author of The Fighters and The Gun.