General David H. Petraeus (US Army, ret.) is a partner in the global investment firm KKR and chair of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in mid-2013. He is also a member of the boards of Optiv and OneStream, a strategic advisor for Semperis, and the chair of the international advisory board for Advanced Navigation. In addition, he is a personal venture investor, engaged in various academic endeavors, and coauthor with Andrew Roberts of the forthcoming book Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.

Prior to joining KKR, General Petraeus served over 37 years in the US military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat, including command of the 2007 troop surge in Iraq, command of US Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. Following retirement from the military, and after confirmation by the Senate in a vote of 94-0, he served as the director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the war on terror.

General Petraeus graduated with distinction from the US Military Academy at West Point and later earned a PhD from Princeton University. He is the only individual to have been the top graduate of both the year-long command and general staff college course and the demanding US Army Ranger School. He has held academic appointments with the US Military Academy, the University of Southern California, Harvard, Georgetown, and the City University of New York Honors College. He is currently a senior fellow and lecturer at Yale, an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham (UK), a member of both the Trilateral Commission and the Aspen Strategy Group, co-chair of the global advisory council of The Wilson Center, senior vice president of the Royal United Services Institute, and an executive advisory board member of World.Minds.

Over the past 15 years, General Petraeus has been named one of America’s 25 Best Leaders by US News and World Report, a runner-up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, The Daily Telegraph Man of the Year, twice a Time 100 selectee, Princeton University’s Madison Medalist, Prospect Magazine’s Public Intellectual of the Year, three times one of Foreign Policy magazine’s top 100 public intellectuals, and a LinkedIn Top Voice.

General Petraeus has earned numerous awards and decorations, including four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, two NATO Meritorious Service Medals, the Combat Action Badge, Master Parachutist Wings, and the Ranger Tab. He has also been decorated by 14 foreign countries and sanctioned by Russia, and he is believed to be the only person who, while in uniform, threw out the first pitch of a baseball World Series Game and did the coin toss at a Super Bowl.