George M . Seignious Lieutenant General George Marion Seignious U . S . Army ( June 21 , 1921 – July 3 , 2005 ) was a distinguished military leader , diplomat and college president . Biography . Seignious was born and raised in Orangeburg , South Carolina but attended high school in Kingstree ; he was a 1942 graduate of The Citadel , The Military College of South Carolina where he held the rank of Cadet Major and served as a battalion commander , his classmates included eventual South Carolina Governors John C . West and Ernest Hollings who was also a long time U . S . senator . He was commissioned as an infantry officer in the U . S . Army and won the Silver Star while serving as a Platoon Leader with the 10th Armored Division in the European Theater of Operations during World War II . Postwar assignments included attending the Army Armor School at Ft Knox , Kentucky ; training officer with the Military Assistance Group in Brazil and as a staff officer with the Caribbean Command in Panama . During the 1950s he served as Assistant Executive Secretary to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon , attended the Joint Services Staff College in England and served with the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Spain . From 1957 - 60 he was the Military Assistant to Secretary of the Army Wilber Marion Brucker , in 1961 he graduated from The National War College ; he then returned to Europe to assume command of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment followed by tours on the staff of U . S . Army , Europe and as Chief of Staff of the 3d Infantry Division . In 1964 he became one of the youngest generals in Army history at the age of 42 . Returning to Washington , DC he was assigned as Director of Policy Plans for the Assistant Secretary of Defense and served as a military advisor to the delegation of Secretary of State Dean Rusk at the ANZUS and SEATO treaty negotiations followed by duty as Deputy Director for Policy and Plans ( J - 5 ) for the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In June 1968 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Seignious to the critical and sensitive role of Military Advisor to the Paris Peace Talks , the following year he was promoted to major general and became Commanding General of the 3d Infantry Division in Germany , in 1970 he assumed command of U . S . Army , Berlin where he also served as a military advisor to Ambassador Kenneth Rush during the Quadripartite Negotiations on Berlin . Returning to the Pentagon he served concurrently as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and Director , Defense Security Assistance Agency . Promoted to lieutenant general in 1972 he was appointed as the first Director of the Joint Staff for the Joint Chiefs of Staff ; he retired in July , 1974 after being selected as the 14th President of his alma mater The Citadel . During his tenure enrollment soared after suffering from the anti - military sentiment of the Vietnam War ; endowments and scholarships were increased , a new physical education building was completed and major renovations were made to the barracks , mess hall and main academic building . He resigned as President in March , 1979 when President Jimmy Carter appointed him as Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency where he had a major role in the delicate negotiations with the Soviet Union over the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty . In 1981 President Ronald Reagan made him Delegate - at - Large for Arms Control Negotiations with the rank of Ambassador ; after retiring from public service in 1984 he served as President of the Atlantic Council , a foreign policy think tank . He was later chairman of the board for a high tech telecommunications company and also served as a trade representative for the state of South Carolina . General Seignious died in Charleston on July 3 , 2005 ; his funeral service took place in Summerall Chapel at The Citadel and he was buried with full military honors at the National Cemetery in Beaufort . In addition to the Silver Star his military awards included 3 awards of the Distinguished Service Medal and Bronze Star Medal , 4 awards of the Legion of Merit and the Joint Service Commendation Medal . Seignious Hall , the football facility at The Citadel is named in his honor .