Ashton Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter ( born September 14 , 1954 ) is a United States national security professional serving as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense . Prior to that , he served as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology , and Logistics ( AT & L ) for President Barack Obama . He is currently on leave from his post as Co - Director ( with former Secretary of Defense William J . Perry ) of the Preventive Defense Project , a research collaboration of Harvard and Stanford universities . He is also on leave from the International Relations , Security , and Science faculty at Harvard ' s John F . Kennedy School of Government . He is a member of the guiding coalition of the Project on National Security Reform . On August 2 , 2011 , President Obama nominated Carter to be the new Deputy Secretary of Defense , and on September 23 , 2011 the United States Senate confirmed him by unanimous consent . He assumed his office as Deputy Secretary of Defense on October 6 , 2011 . Carter served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy in the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1996 , and was nominated to join the Obama Administration on March 18 , 2009 . Carter served as a member of the Defense Science Board from 1991 – 1993 and 1997 – 2001 , the Defense Policy Board from 1997 – 2001 , and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ' s International Security Advisory Board from 2006 - 2008 . In 1997 , Carter co - chaired the Catastrophic Terrorism Study Group with former CIA Director John M . Deutch , which urged greater attention to terrorism . From 1998 to 2000 , he was deputy to former Secretary of Defense William J . Perry in the North Korea Policy Review and traveled with him to Pyongyang . In 2001 - 2002 , he served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism and advised on the creation of the Department of Homeland Security . Education . Carter received bachelor ' s degrees in physics and in medieval history from Yale University , summa cum laude , Phi Beta Kappa . He received his doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford , where he was a Rhodes Scholar . In 1972 , Carter graduated from Abington High School in Abington , PA where he had been President of the Honor Society . Department of Defense career . Carter served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during President Clinton ' s first term . His Pentagon responsibilities encompassed : countering weapons of mass destruction worldwide , oversight of the U . S . nuclear arsenal and missile defense programs , policy regarding the collapse of the former Soviet Union ( including its nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction ) , control over sensitive U . S . exports , and chairmanship of NATO ' s High Level Group . Carter directed military planning during the 1994 crisis over North Korea ' s nuclear weapons program ; was instrumental in removing all nuclear weapon s from the territories of Ukraine , Kazakhstan , and Belarus ; directed the establishment of defense and intelligence relationships with the countries of the former Soviet Union when the Cold War ended ; and participated in the negotiations that led to the deployment of Russia n troops as part of the Bosnia Peace Plan Implementation Force . Carter managed the multi - billion dollar Nunn - Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program to support elimination of nuclear , chemical , and biological weapons of the former Soviet Union , including the secret removal of 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan in the operation code - named Project Sapphire . He also directed the Nuclear Posture Review and oversaw the Department of Defense ' s ( DOD ' s ) Counterproliferation Initiative . He directed the reform of DOD ' s national security export controls . His arms control responsibilities included the Agreed Framework which froze North Korea ' s plutonium producing nuclear reactor program , the extension of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty , the negotiation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty , and matters involving the START II , ABM , CFE , and other arms control treaties . In an April 4 , 2013 speech at Center for Strategic and International Studies the Secretary affirmed that the ' Shift to Asia ' initiative of President Obama was a priority that would not be affected by the Budget sequestration of 2013 as the Pentagon and other departments scaled down spending . The Secretary responded to a Reuters reporters question that China was suspicious of the refocusing of American foreign policy to Asia as a military targeting of China by stating that the Chinese should ask the North Koreans to lower their military posturing and resolve to use diplomacy and dialogue to solve their problems . Carter noted that China was a central economic partner and that ' The Shift to Asia ' is principally an economic matter with new security implications . India , Australia , and New Zealand were mentioned as forthcoming security partners . Other roles . Carter had been a longtime member of the Defense Science Board and the Defense Policy Board , the principal advisory bodies to the Secretary of Defense . During the Bush administration , he was also a member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ' s International Security Advisory Board , co - chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ' s Policy Advisory Group , a consultant to the Defense Science Board , a member of the National Missile Defense White Team , and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control . In 1997 Carter co - chaired the Catastrophic Terrorism Study Group with former CIA Director John M . Deutch , which urged greater attention to terrorism . From 1998 to 2000 , he was deputy to William J . Perry in the North Korea Policy Review and traveled with him to Pyongyang . In 2001 - 2002 , he served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism and advised on the creation of the Department of Homeland Security . He has testified frequently before the armed services , foreign relations , and homeland security committees of both houses of Congress . In addition to his public service , Carter was a Senior Partner at Global Technology Partners and a member of the Board of Trustees of the MITRE Corporation , and the Advisory Boards of MIT ' s Lincoln Laboratory and the Draper Laboratory . He has been a consultant to Goldman Sachs and Mitretek Systems on international affairs and technology matters , and speaks frequently to business and policy audiences . Carter was also a member of the Aspen Strategy Group , the Council on Foreign Relations , the American Physical Society , the International Institute for Strategic Studies , and the National Committee on U . S . - China Relations . Carter was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . Carter ' s research focuses on the Preventive Defense Project , which designs and promotes security policies aimed at preventing the emergence of major new threats to the United States . From 1990 - 1993 , Carter was Director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University ' s John F . Kennedy School of Government , and Chairman of the Editorial Board of " International Security " . Previously , he held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment , and Rockefeller University . Recognition . Carter was twice awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal , the highest award given by the Department . For his contributions to intelligence , he was awarded the Defense Intelligence Medal . In 1987 Carter was named one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans by the United States Jaycees . He received the American Physical Society ' s Forum Award for his contributions to physics and public policy . In November 2011 , Carter was included on " The New Republic ' s " list of Washington ' s most powerful , least famous people . Works . In addition to authoring numerous articles , scientific publications , government studies , and Congressional testimonies , Carter co - edited and co - authored eleven books , including :