Event to honor distinguished Vietnam POW, CLAS alumnus
LAWRENCE — The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will honor one of its 2013-2014 Distinguished Alumni in a reception and panel discussion at the University of Kansas Dole Institute of Politics.
Gen. Charles G. Boyd, a combat pilot in Vietnam, was shot down on his 105th mission and survived nearly seven years as a prisoner of war. The only POW from that war to achieve four-star rank, Boyd’s final military assignment was as deputy commander in chief of U.S. forces in Europe.
Boyd will discuss his career and receive the Distinguished Alumni Award at the Dole Institute, on KU’s west campus, at an event from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. To RSVP for the event, click here.
Boyd is a retired general of the U.S. Air Force and Starr Distinguished National Security Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, a nonpartisan public policy institution established by former President Richard Nixon.
His military decorations include Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters.
Boyd received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from KU in Latin American Studies in 1975 and 1976 after his time in Vietnam. He had gained an interest in Latin American studies as a POW when another prisoner taught him Spanish through a secret tapping code.
Boyd learned with fervor at KU and applied himself as an exceptional student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which prepared him for the rest of his military career.
“The process of educating a man or a woman is one in which the specifics of what they learn is less important than the process by which they learn and then to act upon what they’ve learned,” Boyd said.
To learn more about Boyd’s story and military career, read his profile on the College blog.
The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor given to alumni by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College encourages learning without boundaries in its more than 50 departments, programs and centers. Through innovative research and teaching, the College emphasizes interdisciplinary education, global awareness and experiential learning. The College is KU's broadest, most diverse academic unit.