"Gen. Petraeus, as commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq and now as commander of the U.S. Central Command, has been at the forefront of the war on terrorism," said Charles Reagan, chair of the Landon Lecture Series, which has a long history of bringing some of the most distinguished national and world leaders and policymakers to K-State.

As commander of the Central Command, Petraeus oversees U.S. forces in East Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. He assumed the post in October 2008 after serving more than 19 months as commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.