Patrick J. Murphy announced as 2025 McMaster Series Keynote Speaker

Valley Forge Military College is pleased to announce that the Honorable Patrick J. Murphy, an accomplished attorney, politician, media personality, and the Executive Director of Hilco Global’s Geopolitical Unit, will be the keynote speaker for the 2025 McMaster Speaker Series.

The event, sponsored by the H.R. McMaster Center for National & Cyber Security, will take place Thursday, November, 13, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. in the Chapel of St. Cornelius the Centurion, located on the Wayne, PA campus of Valley Forge Military College. The event is open to the public.

The McMaster Speaker Series began in 2021, connecting cadets with both academics and practitioners in national security. Previous speakers included:

• Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster ’80A ’17C(H) U.S. Army (Ret)

• General Gustave F. Perna ’81 U.S. Army (Ret.)

• Major Adam Theil, Managing Director, City of Philadelphia

• Special Agent Charlene Hennessey, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
  

Murphy is a nationally recognized leader in enterprise strategy, public service, and innovation. As Executive Director of the Hilco Global Geopolitical Unit, Murphy leads the firm’s efforts to provide clients with actionable geopolitical intelligence and strategic insight. The geopolitical unit helps organizations navigate risk, unlock opportunity, and strengthen their competitive position in an increasingly complex global landscape. 

Before joining Hilco Global, Murphy built a distinguished career across government, business, and media. He made history as America’s first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, where he served on the Appropriations Committee and authored bipartisan legislation such as the IMPROVE Act and Improper Payments Act, saving taxpayers tens of billions of dollars by reducing fraud, waste, and abuse. 

From 2015 to 2017, he served as the 32nd Under Secretary and Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army, leading a Fortune 2-sized organization of 1.3 million personnel with an annual budget exceeding $185 billion. His leadership expanded the Soldier for Life initiative, building over $250 million in public-private partnerships, and successfully recruited more than 120,000 Gen Z Americans into the Army. 

In addition to his leadership at Hilco Global, Secretary Murphy serves as a Nonresident Fellow at the Penn Wharton Budget Model and a lecturer at the Wharton School of Business, where he focuses on leadership, innovation, and policy. He has previously held positions as Distinguished Chair of Innovation at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago. 

An Emmy Award-winning media professional, Murphy hosts Warrior Money on Yahoo Finance, the world’s largest business media platform. Deeply committed to veteran well-being, he chairs the $50 million “Face the Fight” initiative to combat veteran suicide, an epidemic that has claimed over 120,000 lives since 9/11. 

Please RSVP here if you are interested in attending the event.