2012 distinguished graduate award program

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Program Guide 2012 SEPHIA_Q8.qxp_Layout 1 3/12/12 12:32 PM

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The 2012 Distinguished Graduate Award medal ceremony

marks the 14th year of honoring and celebrating the lives of

alumni through the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association

Distinguished Graduate Award program.

Each year, distinguished graduates are honored because of

their demonstrated and unselfish commitment to a lifetime of

service, their personal character and the significant contributions

they have made to the Navy and Marine Corps or as leaders in

industry or government. They are the living embodiment of

the Academy’s mission to develop leaders to “assume the highest

responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.”

We honor these five individuals for the principles they stand

for—today and always.

Admiral Sylvester R. Foley Jr. ’50, USN (Ret.)

The Honorable Daniel L. Cooper ’57

Captain Bruce McCandless II ’58, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral John R. Ryan ’67, USN (Ret.)

Mr. Daniel F. Akerson ’70

FOLEY COOPER McCANDLESS RYAN AKERSON

2012 DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD RECIPIENTS


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It is my great honor and privilege to welcome

you to the 14th annual U.S. Naval Academy

Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate

Award Ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy.

I am very pleased to personally welcome

the 2012 Distinguished Graduate Award

recipients into an elite group of alumni who

have served the Naval Academy and the

nation with distinction.

Today, you, the 2012 Distinguished

Graduates, become part of a proud tradition

of honoring alumni who exemplify the

values and missions of the Naval Academy.

Today you join the ranks of men who have

selflessly contributed to our alma mater and

the nation. You serve as an inspiration to your

families, your classmates, fellow alumni and

the Brigade of Midshipmen who have

gathered with you today to recognize your

accomplishments. I offer to each of you my

most sincere and heartfelt congratulations.

While there are many people involved

in making the Distinguished Graduate Award

medal ceremony a signature event at the

Academy, I want to take this opportunity to

express my sincere gratitude to the Selection

Committee. These individuals come together

and embrace the enviable yet arduous challenge

2012 U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association

Distinguished Graduate Award

Selection Committee

Rear Admiral Thomas Lynch ’64, USN (Ret.)

Admiral Joseph Prueher ’64, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral Norbert Ryan Jr. ’67, USN (Ret.)

Rear Admiral John B. Padgett ’69, USN (Ret.)

Major General Leo Williams ’70, USMCR (Ret.)

Colonel Arthur Athens ’78, USMCR (Ret.)

Mr. Byron Marchant ’78

Captain Maureen Cragin ’85, USNR (Ret.)

of selecting distinguished graduates from a

long list of many deserving alumni. I am

proud to chair the committee and continue

to be impressed with the level of dedication

from the group.

Please enjoy today’s ceremony celebrating

the life and accomplishments of these

remarkable alumni. Congratulations again,

and thank you for all you have done—and

continue to do—for the Naval Academy, the

naval service and the country.

Admiral Ed Giambastiani ’70, USN (Ret.)

Chairman, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association

Distinguished Graduate Award Selection Committee

“Today, you, the 2012 Distinguished Graduates, become

part of a proud tradition of honoring alumni who exemplify

the values and missions of the Naval Academy.”

—Admiral Ed Giambaastiani ’70, USN (Ret.)


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MEDAL PRESENTATION4:30 p.m.

INTRODUCTION OFDISTINGUISHED GRADUATES FOR 2012

INVOCATIONCaptain Michael Parisi, USN

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

WELCOME AND REMARKSVice Admiral Michael H. Miller ’74, USN

Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy

PRESENTATION OFDISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD MEDALS

Admiral Steve Abbot ’66, USN (Ret.)

Chairman, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Board of Trustees

and Midshipman Jordan Foley ’12

Brigade Commander

REMARKSDistinguished Graduate Award Recipients

NAVY BLUE & GOLD

DEPARTURE OF THE OFFICIAL PARTY

Midshipmen gather in Alumni Hall prior to the

13th U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association

Distinguished Graduate Award Medal Ceremony.


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Admiral Sylvester “Bob” Foley Jr. ’50,

USN (Ret.), has been part of the Navy

community his entire life. His father, a Navy

hospital corpsman in World War I and later

assigned to the Fleet Marines, served

throughout the Pacific. The family followed,

including stints in Guam and the Philippines.

Admiral Foley’s three combat deployments

to Southeast Asia included command of

Attack Squadron 106 and Air Wing Eleven.

He also commanded CORONADO. He

planned and carried out the home porting

of his ship, MIDWAY, in Japan, a first for a

U.S. carrier. He developed the concept of

language and customs indoctrination

courses and helped settle dependents in

off-base housing. For his leadership, Admiral

Foley received the Legion of Merit.

Admiral Foley reported to the Pentagon

as deputy director of Navy Strategic Planning.

He returned to sea as commander of Carrier

Group Seven, followed by command of the

Seventh Fleet, earning him the first of his

three Distinguished Service Medals. He

went back to the Pentagon as deputy Chief

of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy and

Operations before commanding the Pacific

Fleet from 1982 until his retirement in 1985.

“Taking command of the U.S. Pacific

Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with my

father in attendance was my proudest career

moment,” Admiral Foley said. “He was

stationed at Pearl Harbor on 7 December

1941, and seeing his son, a four-star admiral,

take command of the Pacific Fleet more

than 40 years later was the culmination of

a lifetime of Navy service for both of us.”

Admiral Foley was appointed by President

Ronald Reagan to serve as U.S. assistant

secretary of energy for Defense Programs.

That work earned him a medal for

distinguished service. Admiral Foley began

a decade-long venture with Raytheon

in 1991. While working as president of

Raytheon Japan, he helped grow its annual

business to more than $400 million. Admiral

Foley is a recipient of Japan’s highest honor,

the Order of the Rising Sun.

After chairing advisory groups reviewing

national laboratories at Berkeley, Los Alamos

and Lawrence Livermore, Admiral Foley

was asked to serve as vice president for

laboratory management in the office of the

University of California president to oversee

management of the labs. He is credited with

correcting safety and security problems and

overseeing 12,000 people and a $5 billion

annual budget.

Admiral Foley, a resident of Oakland,

CA, and his late wife, Kathleen, have four

children. Two of their children and two

grandchildren have served in the Navy and

Marines, with three of them graduating

from the Academy.

ADMIRAL

SYLVESTER R. FOLEY JR. ’50, USN (RET.)

“Knowing that the Alumni Association and Foundation

are in the forefront of support efforts for the U.S. Naval

Academy, I look forward to helping in any way I can.”


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The tireless efforts of the Honorable Daniel L.

Cooper ’57 vastly improved the nation’s

veterans disability compensation processes.

As the under secretary for benefits at the

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Cooper

instituted extensive changes to improve the

delivery of those benefits. He also had

direct oversight of the very successful Veterans

Loan Guaranty Service, with foreclosure

rates well below the national average; the

improved and increased Servicemen’s Group

Life Insurance Program; and the modernization

of the GI Education Bill.

That vital work was accomplished well

after Cooper’s retirement as vice admiral

from a Navy career capped with service as

commander of the Submarine Force, Atlantic

Fleet, during which he worked closely with

submarine and strategic commanders of

NATO nations to improve water space

management, submarine safety and classified

operations execution during the Cold War.

Cooper, who also served as assistant

Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea

Warfare, was commanding officer of PUFFER

(SSN 652) as it successfully tested the new

Mk 48 ADCAP torpedo. Then in 1973,

during transit home from a six-month

deployment, PUFFER was directed to

immediately return to WestPac to execute

a highly classified mission reporting directly

to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

After retirement from the Navy in 1991,

Cooper became the vice president and general

manager of the Nuclear Services Division for

Gilbert Associates Inc. He also served as a

director and vice chairman of the board for

USAA, president of the Naval Submarine

League and on the advisory boards for the

Applied Research Lab of Penn State University

and the Applied Physics Laboratory of The

Johns Hopkins University.

In 2001, the secretary of the Department

of Veterans Affairs asked Cooper to chair a

task force studying ways to improve the

veterans disability claims process. Upon

completion of that study, he was nominated

by President George W. Bush and confirmed

by the Senate to serve as under secretary for

benefits and was subsequently granted the

title of The Honorable Daniel L. Cooper.

In April 2002, he was sworn in. He served

six years, longer than any predecessor in

the position.

Cooper’s awards include the Department

of Veterans Affairs Exceptional Service

Award, three Distinguished Service Medals,

two Legion of Merit Medals and four

Meritorious Service Medals.

He currently is working to develop the

America’s Heroes First Foundation. He and

his wife, Betty, live in Wyomissing, PA. They

have two children and six grandchildren.

Daughter Amy is married to Captain Jeff

Hughes ’83, USN. Their son, Ensign

Stephen Hughes, USN, graduated from the

Naval Academy in 2010. Daughter Cynthia

is married to Captain Donald Rose, USCG.

THE HONORABLE

DANIEL L. COOPER ’57

“The Distinguished Graduate Award speaks to the

exceptional leaders whom I have attempted to follow

and to emulate.”


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Captain Bruce McCandless II ’58, USN

(Ret.), the first human to fly untethered

in space, led the way to on-orbit servicing

of satellites such as the Solar Maximum

Mission, the Hubble Space Telescope and,

ultimately, the International Space Station.

McCandless was born in Boston to

a well-known Navy family. Two ships,

BRADLEY and MCCANDLESS, are named

in honor of his grandfathers and father.

The third generation to attend the Naval

Academy, he graduated at the top of his

class academically.

He served in Fighter Squadron 102

from 1960 to 1964 in three deployments

with the Sixth Fleet, including the Cuban

Missile Crisis naval blockade, during which

he flew night missions off Cuba to protect

U.S. efforts to verify the presence of Soviet

long-range missiles.

Captain McCandless earned a master’s

in electrical engineering from Stanford,

where his doctoral work ended with his

selection as an astronaut in 1966. Captain

McCandless provided ground support to

APOLLO missions 10, 11 and 14. For APOLLO 11,

he was given the critical task of controlling

the communications voice link between

Mission Control and the astronauts during

Buzz Aldrin’s and Neil Armstrong’s

exploration of the lunar surface.

Captain McCandless made his historic

space flight as a mission specialist on

CHALLENGER STS 41-B in February 1984,

during which he made the first untethered

solo flight. This earned him the Department

of Defense Superior Service Medal and

the NASA Exceptional Engineering

Achievement Award. In 1985, he received

the National Aeronautic Association Collier

Trophy and the first Smithsonian National

Air and Space Museum Trophy. He was

inducted into the NASA Astronaut Hall

of Fame in 2005.

He served a leadership role in the design

and development of the Hubble Space

Telescope and was a member of the space

shuttle crew that deployed the telescope

into orbit in 1990. Captain McCandless

also holds a patent for a “drop-proof” tool

tethering system still used in space today.

After a 32-year career with the Navy and

NASA, he worked in the aerospace industry,

retiring from Lockheed Martin in 2005. A

lifetime member of the Alumni Association,

his support of the Academy continues

with his recent submittal of an unsolicited

proposal to the Academic Dean for a

midshipmen project to design, build and

operate a remotely operated underwater

vehicle as part of a national competition

among universities. Captain McCandless is

providing mentoring and advising services

pro bono for the duration of the project.

Captain McCandless now lives in

Conifer, CO. He and his wife, Bernice, have

two children and two grandchildren.

CAPTAIN

BRUCE McCANDLESS II ’58, USN (RET.)

“I am deeply moved by my classmates’ efforts in

nominating me and advancing my nomination for the

Distinguished Graduate Award.”


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Vice Admiral John R. Ryan ’67, USN (Ret.),

is as devoted to the Naval Academy in

retirement from active duty as he was

during his stellar tour as Superintendent.

During his four-year tour as the 56th

Superintendent, which began in 1998,

Admiral Ryan developed a strategic plan

that was used as the framework for the

Academy’s monumental $254 million

Leaders to Serve the Nation campaign. He

was also instrumental in the consolidation

of several supporting entities into the U.S.

Naval Academy Foundation.

The capital campaign was designed

to raise the Academy’s margin of excellence

in academics, character development,

leadership, admissions, athletics and

unrestricted support. The campaign paved

the way for endowed chairs, academic and

professional programs, new facilities and

renovations to existing ones, including the

dramatic upgrading of the Navy-Marine

Corps Memorial Stadium.

During his tour as Superintendent,

the Faculty Senate unanimously passed a

resolution requesting that Admiral Ryan

remain for another four-year tour—a first

in Naval Academy history.

After retirement from the Navy,Admiral

Ryan joined the Naval Academy Foundation

Board of Directors and in 2009 became

chairman. He also launched a private sector

career in higher education, serving as the

president of State University of New York

Maritime, interim president of the University

at Albany and finally as chancellor of

State University of New York, the largest

comprehensive university in the United

States with 64 colleges and universities,

more than 80,000 faculty and staff and

425,000 students.

Admiral Ryan first arrived at the Naval

Academy as a plebe from Mountainhome,

PA, with his twin brother, Norb. He was

designated as a naval aviator in 1968 and

assigned to fly the P-3 Orion. The first in

his class to be promoted to flag officer,

Admiral Ryan, who earned a master’s

degree in Administration from George

Washington University, went on to serve as

commander of the Maritime Surveillance

and Reconnaissance Force, U.S. Sixth Fleet;

commander of Fleet Air Mediterranean;

and commander of Maritime Air Forces,

Mediterranean, headquartered in Naples, Italy,

where he was responsible for operational

control of six naval bases in three countries,

three military hospitals and all U.S. Maritime

Surveillance and Reconnaissance forces in

the Mediterranean.

Today Admiral Ryan is president and

CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership,

a nonprofit organization founded in 1970

and headquartered in Greensboro, NC, that

is a global provider of executive education.

He also writes for Bloomberg Businessweek

and The Washington Post.

Admiral Ryan and his wife, Diane,

have three daughters and five grandchildren.

They live in Greensboro, NC.

VICE ADMIRAL

JOHN R. RYAN ’67, USN (RET.)

“Knowing who has received this award previously and

all those talented graduates who deserve future recognition

makes the Distinguished Graduate Award a humbling

experience for me.”


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Crowning a remarkable career spanning

military service, the telecommunications

industry and the private equity world,

Daniel F. Akerson ’70 now has guided

General Motors (GM) from bankruptcy

to the largest initial public offering in

history and back onto a winning path as

its Chairman and CEO.

Born in California and reared in Mankato,

MN, the son of a Navy World War II and

Korean War veteran, Akerson served aboard

the destroyer DUPONT. Upon completing

his service, Akerson earned a master’s degree

from the London School of Economics

while working for Phillips Petroleum,

for which he played a critical role in the

development of the first oil fields in the

North Sea.

Akerson later rose through the ranks of

MCI Communications to become president

and chief operating officer and led the fight

to bring competition to consumers after the

Justice Department’s breakup of the AT&T

monopoly. Under his leadership, MCI

doubled its market share.

As chairman and CEO of General

Instrument Corporation, Akerson helped

usher in the high-definition television era

after the company won the U.S. standard

for HDTV service and then commercially

developed it.

He then took the helm of Nextel

Communications as its chairman and CEO

and turned the company into a national

competitor in the digital wireless market.

In the late 1990s, Akerson restructured

XO Communications and transitioned it

into a competitive position as well.

In 2003, Akerson joined The Carlyle

Group, a leading private equity firm, as

co-head of U.S. Buyout Group. He became

head of Global Buyout Group and managed

more than $50 billion in assets and more

than 200 portfolio companies with 600,000

employees around the world. He left that

job to answer the federal government’s call

to turn GM around.

The Treasury Department appointed

Akerson to the GM board as it emerged

from bankruptcy. When the CEO resigned

in 2010, Akerson was tapped to take the

reins. Today GM is solidly profitable.

Akerson received the 2010 McKenna

Humanitarian of the Year Award from

So Others Might Eat for his funding of

Marguerite’s Place, a Washington, DC-based

community center named for his mother.

He co-chaired with Roger Staubach ’65

the hugely successful 2001 Leaders to Serve

the Nation campaign. Akerson also served

on the advisory board of the College of

William and Mary Graduate School of

Business from 1995 to 2002, when he

received the Clarke Business Medallion.

He and his wife, Karin, have three

children and three grandchildren. They live

in Detroit, MI and McLean, VA.

MR.

DANIEL F. AKERSON ’70

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award from

the alumni, men and women whom I hold in the

highest regard.”


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Each Distinguished Graduate receives a medal to

commemorate the award.

PAST RECIPIENTS 1999-2011

1999Admiral Thomas H. Moorer ’33, USN (Ret.)

(1912-2004)

2000Dr. John J. McMullen ’40

(1918-2005)

Admiral James L. Holloway III ’43, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence ’51, USN (Ret.)(1930-2005)

Major General William A. Anders ’55, USAFR (Ret.)

Mr. Roger T. Staubach ’65

2001Captain John W. Crawford Jr. ’42, USN (Ret.)

Admiral William J. Crowe Jr. ’47, USN (Ret.)(1925-2007)

Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale ’47, USN (Ret.)(1923-2005)

Admiral James D. Watkins ’49, USN (Ret.)

Captain James A. Lovell ’52, USN (Ret.)

2002Vice Admiral Charles S. Minter Jr. ’37, USN (Ret.)

(1915-2008)

The Honorable James E. Carter Jr. ’47

Admiral Carlisle A.H. Trost ’53, USN (Ret.)

Colonel John W. Ripley ’62, USMC (Ret.)(1939-2008)

2003Ambassador William H.G. FitzGerald ’31

(1909-2006)

Rear Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey ’35, USN (Ret.)(1913-2007)

Rear Admiral Robert W. McNitt ’38, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral William D. Houser ’42, USN (Ret.)(1921-2012)

2004Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak ’34, USMC (Ret.)

(1913-2008)

Vice Admiral Gerald E. Miller ’42, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral James F. Calvert ’43, USN (Ret.)(1920-2009)

Lieutenant General Charles G. Cooper ’50, USMC (Ret.)(1927-2009)

Rear Admiral Ronald F. Marryott ’57, USN (Ret.)(1934-2005)

2005Captain Slade D. Cutter ’35, USN (Ret.)

(1911-2005)

Rear Admiral Robert H. Wertheim ’46, USN (Ret.)

Admiral Ronald J. Hays ’50, USN (Ret.)

Mr. H. Ross Perot ’53


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For more information on the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association’s

Distinguished Graduate Award program and recipients, visit www.usna.com/dga.

2006Captain Thomas J. Hudner ’47, USN (Ret.)

Admiral Kinnaird R. McKee ’51, USN (Ret.)

General Robert T. Herres ’54, USAF (Ret.)(1932-2008)

Admiral Charles R. Larson ’58, USN (Ret.)

2007Rear Admiral Maurice H. Rindskopf ’38, USN (Ret.)

(1917-2011)

Admiral Thomas B. Hayward ’48, USN (Ret.)

Mr. Ralph W. Hooper ’51

Admiral Leighton W. Smith Jr. ’62, USN (Ret.)

2008Mr. James W. Kinnear III ’50

Admiral Frank B. Kelso II ’56, USN (Ret.)

Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Montoya ’58, CEC, USN (Ret.)

Lieutenant General William M. Keys ’60, USMC (Ret.)

Admiral Henry G. Chiles Jr. ’60, USN (Ret.)

2009Mr. John E. Nolan ’50

Admiral Bruce DeMars ’57, USN (Ret.)

Mr. J. Ronald Terwilliger ’63

Admiral Joseph W. Prueher ’64, USN (Ret.)

General Peter Pace ’67, USMC (Ret.)

2010Mr. David J. Dunn ’55

Admiral Leon A. Edney ’57, USN (Ret.)

Rear Admiral Thomas C. Lynch ’64, USN (Ret.)

Admiral Joseph Paul Reason ’65, USN (Ret.)

General Carlton W. Fulford Jr. ’66, USMC (Ret.)

2011Rear Admiral Robert H. Shumaker ’56, USN (Ret.)

Dr. Bradford N. Parkinson ’57

Lieutenant General Matthew T. Cooper ’58, USMC (Ret.)

Mr. Corbin A. McNeill Jr ’62


Now colleges from sea to sea, may sing of colors true,

But who has better right than we, to hoist a symbol hue?

For Sailors brave in battle fair, since fighting days of old

Have proved the Sailor’s right to wear, the Navy Blue and Gold.

NAVY BLUE & GOLD

To serve and support the United States, the Naval Service, the Naval Academy

and its Alumni; By furthering the highest standards at the Naval Academy;

By seeking out, informing, encouraging and assisting outstanding,

qualified young men and women to pursue careers as officers in the

Navy and Marine Corps through the Naval Academy; and, By initiating

and sponsoring activities which will perpetuate the history, traditions,

memories and growth of the Naval Academy and bind Alumni together in

support of the highest ideals of command, citizenship and government.

Serving the Alma Mater and its Alumni since 1886

USNA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MISSION


2012 distinguished graduate award program

Documents

distinguished graduates

remarkable alumni

deserving alumni

admiral sylvester

vice admiral john

rear admiral john

vice admiral norbert

admiral joseph prueher