Connecting local and global Communities

Dr. Robert H. Latiff, U.S. Air Force Major General (retired) and Adjunct Faculty Member with the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values at the University of Notre Dame, and Research Professor at George Mason University.  Major General Latiff is also a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Intelligence Community Studies Board.

PROGRAM ABSTRACT: An urgent, prescient, and expert look at how future technology will change virtually every aspect of war as we know it and how we can respond to the serious national security challenges ahead.

Future war is almost here: battles fought in cyberspace; biologically enhanced soldiers; autonomous systems that can process information and strike violently before a human being can blink.  At its best, advanced technology acts faster than ever to save the lives of soldiers; at its worst, the deployment of insufficiently considered new technology can have devastating unintended or long-term consequences. The question of whether we can is followed, all too infrequently, by the question of whether we should.

The evolving, complex world of conflict and technology demands that we pay more attention to the issues that will confront us, before it is too late to control them.  Dr. Lafitt expounds on the “broken” relationship between the military and the public it serves, and the issues confronting military planners and weapons technologists, decision makers, and the nation as a whole as we prepare for a very different future.

SPREAKER BIOGRAPHY:  Dr. Robert H. Latiff retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Major General in 2006.  He is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values at the University of Notre Dame.  He is also a Research Professor at George Mason University School of Engineering. Dr. Latiff is also a private consultant, providing advice on advanced technology matters to corporate and government clients and to universities.  He is a member of the board of several high-technology companies. Immediately after his retirement from the Air Force, Dr. Latiff was Chief Technology Officer of Science Applications International Corporation’s space and geospatial intelligence business.   

Major General Latiff’s last active duty assignment was at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) where he directed advanced research, development, and engineering.  He has also served as the commander of the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center.  

He is a graduate of the National Security Fellows Program at Harvard’s JFK School of Government.  Major General Latiff received his Ph.D. and his M.S. in materials science and his B.S. in Physics from the University of Notre Dame.  General Latiff is a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.