YOUR AD HERE »

Ex-White House liaison to speak

Amy Hamilton

Warren Rustand will try to give Craig residents a clearer picture of terrorism and its impact on the world in a presentation next week.

Rustand, a long-time White House liaison, will speak at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn. He is the first guest in a distinguished speaker series sponsored by the Craig Daily Press and the Craig Chamber of Commerce.

“I want to engage audiences as much as possible to help them gain a better understanding of what terrorism is,” Rustand said.



Rustand said he will present a map of the world pinpointing the multiple areas of terrorist activity. He said the map will show how much more geographically diverse terrorism is beyond the boundaries of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The Western world’s re—-sponse to terrorism is evolving,” he said. “We need to know and understand major elements of terrorism to be able to respond to it.”



Annette Gianinetti, director of the Craig Chamber of Commerce, said Rustand’s speech will be interesting to individuals who are politically and socially minded.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for us,” Gianinetti said. “He’s an awesome man with a very interesting background — a been-there, done-that, kind of thing.”

Rustand was selected as a White House Fellow in 1973. He served as a special assistant to the Secretary of Commerce and co-led the first executive-level trade mission to the Soviet Union. He has been a staff member of Vice President Gerald Ford’s administration. When Ford became president in 1974, Rustand was asked to join the president as his appointments secretary, creating the president’s schedules. In the Ford administration, Rustand worked with current Vice President Dick Cheney and current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Rustand has received many honors including The Visionary Leadership Award, the Distinguished Citizen Award, the 25th Year Achievement Award, the Sports Hall of Fame Award, the Centennial Award and a White House Fellow–ship.

Rustand received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arizona, where he was president of the student body and was an All-America player basketball player. He was good enough to be drafted by the San Francisco Warriors in the fourth round of the 1965 NBA draft.

Today, Rustand serves as the chief executive officer of Summit Capital Consulting Inc., which specializes in the development of small to mid-size companies. He lives in Tucson, Ariz.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Craig and Moffat County make the Craig Press’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.