Biography
Lee H. Hamilton serves as the director of the Center on Congress, which he founded at Indiana University. He was the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and before that served 34 years as a representative for Indiana to the U.S. Congress. He is a member of the advisory council for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in 2002 was appointed vice-chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission).
While in Congress, Hamilton chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (now the Committee on International Relations), the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, and the Joint Economic Committee. He served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century (the Hart-Rudman Commission), and co-chaired the Baker-Hamilton Commission to Investigate Certain Security Issues at Los Alamos.
Hamilton’s many honors include the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Paul H. Nitze Award for Distinguished Authority on National Security Affairs (both 1999); the American Political Science Association Hubert H. Humphrey Award, American Bar Association CEELI Award, Center for Civic Education Civitas Award, and Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service (all 1998); the Center for National Policy Edmund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service Award and American Political Science Association Outstanding Legislator Award (both 1997); IU President’s Medal for Excellence (1996); IU Institute for Advanced Study Distinguished Citizen Fellow (1994); Central Intelligence Agency Medallion (1988); Defense Intelligence Agency Medallion (1987); Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1985); and the Knight of the French Legion of Honor (1984).
Hamilton studied at DePauw University, Indiana, and at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He graduated from the IU Maurer School of Law in 1956.