Join us Thursday, October 8th at 12:15pm for a Conversations Lunch at Garrett Hall with Colonel John Thomas (Ret.).

Col. Thomas finished his active-duty service as the Director of Public Affairs, U.S. Central Command, where he was the spokesperson and public affairs advisor to the 4-star commander, in charge of media relations, public messaging, enabling military and counter-terrorism operations with Coalition partners engaged across 20-nations. His Air Force career included deployments under Amb. Bremer in Bagdad, and to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was NATO spokesman. He also worked with FEMA running media operations for the Katrina response, and with the Joint Task Force in Panama, for a major humanitarian crisis. He’s run international press conferences from tents, from the battlefield, and from the Pentagon Press Briefing Room. He is one of a very few people who met both Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush. Currently, he is the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the Joint Staff, supporting the 4-star Chief, National Guard Bureau. Colonel Thomas has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia; and two master’s degrees from Air Force University. He and his wife Stephanie have six children and two grandchildren.

Please note this event is only for current UVA students, and registration is limited to 15 students.  We hope to see you there!