April 29, 2023

Capt. Jerry Hendrix Will Deliver the 2023 Stephen and Jane Poss Distinguished Churchill Lecture to the International Churchill Conference in Edinburgh

Dr. Henry J. “Jerry” Hendrix, a retired US naval captain and naval flight officer, has been announced as the Stephen and Jane Poss Distinguished Churchill Lecturer for the 2023 International Churchill Conference, which will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland October 5–7. To find out more information about the conference and to register, please CLICK HERE.

Captain Hendrix served 26 years on active duty in the United States Navy during which time he earned a Ph.D. in war studies from Kings College, London. Following his commissioning he served in a variety of maritime patrol aviation squadrons as well as on supercarriers, including the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and light amphibious assault ships. He was deployed to the Mediterranean, Red Sea, North Atlantic, Caribbean, and Persian Gulf. Hendrix served as the Commander of Tactical Air Support Squadron 11, and  his shore duty assignments included serving as a strategist on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Secretary of the Navy, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and within the Office of Net Assessment.

Through these tours Dr. Hendrix established a reputation for using history to illuminate current strategic challenges and published numerous articles on rebuilding and modernizing the navy. Twice he has been named the Samuel Eliot Morison Scholar by the Naval Historical Center. After his retirement from the navy following a standout tour as the Director of the Navy History and Heritage Command, he has worked as a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and as a vice president at a Washington, D.C . defense consultancy.

In addition to his doctorate, Hendrix holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University in political science, a masters in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a masters in history from Harvard University. He is the author of numerous professional articles and essays as well as the 2009 book Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy and the 2020 book To Provide and Maintain a Navy—Why Naval Primacy Is America’s First, Best Strategy. He currently serves at the Sagamore Institute as a senior fellow, exploring the national security challenges facing the United States.

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The Poss Lecture was established in 2021 through the generous support of Stephen and Jane Poss as a regular feature of the annual conference of the International Churchill Society. Speakers look not only at historic aspects of the career of Winston Churchill but also how Churchill’s life and legacy continue to be vitally relevant for leaders and citizens in meeting the global challenges of today and the future. Previous speakers have been Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny, and Tim Bouverie, author of  Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War.