Brigadier General Gwen McMillon Bingham will be the featured speaker at the Student Government Association’s Citizenship Program at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 at Wagoner Hall at Charles Henderson High School. The public is invited to attend.

Bingham, a 1977 graduate of CHHS, is the 51st Quartermaster General of the United States Army and the Commandant of the United States Army Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia.

She is the first female officer to hold these positions.

Betty Wagoner, SGA advisor, said it is an honor to have Bingham return to CHHS.

“She was a outstanding student at CHHS and I think everyone expected great things form her,” Wagoner said.

“She is a good example of what a person can accomplish with hard work and dedication. Gwen McMillon Bingham has excelled in all that she has done. We are extremely proud to have her speak to our students. She is a outstanding role model.”

Bingham graduated from Army ROTC as a Distinguished Military Graduate from the University of Alabama in August 1981 with a bachelor of science degree in general business management.

She was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps. Bingham has a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a master’s degree in national security strategy and resources from the National Defense University.

Bingham has attended numerous training schools commensurate with her rank and is the recipient of numerous military and civic awards and decorations. She has served in many staff and leadership positions throughout her career in both the Continental United States and overseas.

She recently returned from deployment in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom while serving as special assistant to the Commanding General, 1st Theater Sustainment Command Camp Arifjan, Kuwait; Kabul, Afghanistan and Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Bingham is married to Dr. Patrick J. Bingham.

They are the parents of two children, Tava Michelle, a May 2010 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a graduate student at the University of Central Florida, and Phillip Jamal, a sophomore at Virginia Tech University.