John E. Endicott

Endicott was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in August 1936. He attended Carson Elementary School and Western Hills High School for all years of his secondary schooling except the academic year 1950-1951 when he attended Paddington Technical School in London, England. Returning to the U.S., he completed high school in 1954 and was admitted to the Ohio State University where he earned a B.A.(cum laude) in political science—graduating in March 1958, and was elected to the academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation he was commissioned a 2nd. Lt. in the U.S. Air Force and entered active service in May of that year. He continued his studies during his career, receiving an M.A. in European History from the University of Omaha in 1968, followed by M.A. degrees in International Relations and Law and Diplomacy in 1973 and a Ph.D. in International Relations in 1974, all from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in cooperation with Harvard.

After 31 years in government service, 28 in the Air Force and three as a senior civilian in the Senior Executive Service as an SES-4, he joined the Faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology as a full professor in The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. In 2008 he was awarded the title, Professor Emeritus after action of the Georgia Tech Faculty. During his military career he served as the Deputy Air Force Representative to the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations, was Associate Dean of the National War College, and Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies of Washington, D.C. Dr. Endicott started at Georgia Tech in 1989, founding the Center for International Strategy, Technology and Policy and was among the first members of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, also of Georgia Tech. In 1991 he first proposed a concept that became known as the Limited Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone for Northeast Asia. While still not realized, research and dialog continues on this concept through an organization of retired generals, admirals, academics and peace activists. Endicott heads the Interim Secretariat for that body and the 12th plenary meeting was held in Daejeon, South Korea in October 2008. Participants attended from China, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia and the United States. Observers from Argentina, Finland and France also attended. In October 2010 the 13th Plenary was held in Toulouse, France. In August 2007, Endicott retired from Georgia Tech and became the Co-President of Woosong University and Vice Chancellor of the SolBridge International School of Business, an all-English college, one of the seven colleges of Woosong University. In January 2009, Endicott became the President of Woosong University and continues in that post; in 2017 the Endicott College of International Studies was opened honoring his leadership contributions to Woosong University.

On the 8th of October 2010, Endicott was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France, in a ceremony held at that university which dates to 1229. The Doctorate was awarded to mark the many years dedicated to the development of a cooperative security system for Northeast Asia, especially the concept for a Limited Nuclear Weapons Free Zone for Northeast Asia which was first introduced in 1991. On the 21st of February 2019, Dankook University of Yongin, South Korea, awarded Endicott an Honorary Doctorate in Political Science for "his contributions to the enhancement of world peace through the movement for Limited Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in Northeast Asia."

He is married to the former Mitsuyo Kobayashi; they have two children, Charlene Noble and John and four grand children. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in August 2019.