 In 2006, she was appointed president of the National Defense University.On July 14, 2006, Wilson was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed her post as the 12th president of the university, succeeding U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael M. Dunn.In March 2009, she was awarded the French Legion of Honor in a ceremony presided by French Defense Minister Hervé Morin at the French embassy in Washington, DC.