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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Ash Carter, who served as the final Secretary of Defense for Former President Barrack Obama, has died at the age of 68.
Carter suffered a heart attack in Boston Monday, according to Havard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf. He served as President Obama's defense secretary from February 2015 to January 2017 and most recently, he served as the Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs with the Harvard Kennedy School
During his time with the Obama administration, Carter ordered that the military open all jobs to women, which allowed them to serve in any combat roles. Carter also ended the ban on transgender troops serving in the military.
Following his as defense secretary, Carter joined Harvard's Belfer Center and worked as a professor of technology and global affairs, where he had worked prior to his career in public service. Dean Elmendorf wrote in a statement that Carter's loss was "sudden and devastating" and that he was an important leader for not just the Kennedy School, but the world as a whole.
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"I want to offer my gratitude for his insight and wisdom, his unwavering commitment to trying to make the world better, his confidence that the Kennedy School can make an important difference in the world, his generous spirit toward his students and colleagues, and his warm and gracious friendship with me," Elmendorf said. "I will miss him so much."
Carter is survived by his wife Stephanie and his two children.
WBZ's Drew Moholland (@DrewWBZ) reports.
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