U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to Speak
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| John Ashcroft 79th Attorney General |
John David Ashcroft, the 79th Attorney General of the United States, will deliver the Commencement Address at the 69th Commencement Ceremonies for Northwest University, to be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond.
Ashcroft served in the first administration of President George W. Bush, from 2001 until 2005. As the nation’s chief law enforcement official, he headed the U.S. Department of Justice during four difficult years, a period that included the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the subsequent implementation of the Patriot Act.
This Commencement will be the first for Northwest University since changing both its name and its status from Northwest College on January 1, 2005. A total of 292 students will receive degrees, including 50 Master’s Degrees. The University, which was founded in 1934, has been located in Kirkland, Wash., since 1958.
Northwest University offers more than 50 academic programs, including business, nursing, education, and ministry. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God.
Ashcroft himself has a long relationship with Assemblies of God higher education. His father, J. Robert Ashcroft, served as the President of Evangel University, an Assemblies of God liberal arts college in Springfield, Mo., from 1958 to 1974. Ashcroft is a longtime friend of Northwest University’s President, Dr. Donald Argue, who served with Ashcroft’s father at Evangel.
Ashcroft was educated in Springfield, Mo., and graduated from Yale University in 1964. He received a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago in 1967, and briefly taught business law at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield.
He began his career in Missouri government in 1973. He was Governor of Missouri from 1985 to 1993. In 1994 he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri.
He was defeated in his bid for reelection in 2000 and was subsequently nominated and confirmed as U.S. Attorney General.
In March 2005, Ashcroft was appointed the Distinguished Professor of Law and Government at Regent University. He has authored multiple editions of two college law textbooks. He and his wife Janet have three children.