Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Speak at Opening Plenary of NAFSA 2012 Annual Conference & Expo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  NAFSA: Association of International Educators is pleased to announce that former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will be the opening speaker at its 2012 Annual Conference and Expo in Houston, Texas. Gates will address the more than 8,000 international educators from more than 120 countries at the conference on Tuesday, May 29, 2012.

Gates possesses deep and distinguished experience in government, having served eight U.S. presidents in key leadership positions, including four-and-a-half years as secretary of defense under presidents from both political parties. He has also had sustained and crucial commitment to higher education. As president of Texas A&M University from 2002-2006, his was among the early voices to call for a measured, forward-looking approach to immigration and visa policy after the attacks of 9/11, speaking out specifically about the value of bringing international students to the United States. Gates has served on the board of directors of the American Council on Education and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and is currently chancellor of the College of William & Mary, his alma mater. Upon Gates' retirement from the Pentagon in June, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor.

NAFSA's annual conference is the world's largest gathering of professionals in international education. With dozens of pre-conference workshops and more than 200 sessions over four days, the conference offers a wide array of learning and networking opportunities for international educators, focusing on the most crucial topics in international education and exchange today, from study abroad and international student and scholar advising to global education trends and systems and international education policy. A major highlight of the conference is the International Education Expo Hall, which features exhibitors representing hundreds of organizations from around the world including colleges and universities, study abroad and intensive-English programs, embassies and government agencies, and more. The conference theme for 2012 is "Comprehensive Internationalization: Vision and Practice." Learn more at www.nafsa.org/houston.

With nearly 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. Visit us at www.nafsa.org. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on behalf of international education, visit www.ConnectingOurWorld.org.

SOURCE NAFSA: Association of International Educators