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GGC commencement speaker has broad, distinguished service
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) will give the keynote address to Georgia Gwinnett College students who graduate in May. Sixty-nine students are expected to receive their diplomas at 7 p.m., May 28, on a stage encircled by the college's signature building.
Reed's broad, distinguished service spans more than 25 years at the state and national levels, after first serving his country in the United States Army.
A native of Cranston, Rhode Island, Reed earned an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he earned a bachelor's degree in science in 1971. After receiving an active duty commission in the U.S. Army, Reed attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he received a master's degree in public policy.
An Army Ranger and a paratrooper, Reed served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an infantry platoon leader, a company commander and a battalion staff officer.
Reed returned to West Point in 1978 as an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences. He resigned from the U.S. Army as a captain in 1979 and enrolled at Harvard Law School, graduating in 1982. He spent a year as an associate with a law firm in Washington, D.C. before returning to Rhode Island to join the Providence law firm of Edwards and Angell.
Beginning in 1984, Reed served three terms in the Rhode Island State Senate. He then served three terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from his state's 2nd Congressional District. During his tenure in the House, Reed championed national defense, child health care, public libraries and campaign finance reform.
Elected to the United States Senate in 1996, Reed is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee. He helped pass legislation to put more police officers on the streets, and led an effort in Congress to increase the size of our Armed Forces.
As a senior member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Reed's key economic priorities include promoting responsible budgets and strengthening the national economy.