2026 Distinguished Graduate Award Program

2026

DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD MEDAL CEREMONY

U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY • ALUMNI HALL • 3 SEPTEMBER 2026

2026 AWARD RECIPIENTS The 2026 Distinguished Graduate Award medal ceremony marks the 28th 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 for their demonstrated and unselfish commitment to a lifetime of service, their personal character, the significant contributions they have made to the Navy and Marine Corps, and as leaders in industry and government. They are the embodiment of fulfilling the Academy’s mission to develop leaders to “assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.”

We honor these four individuals for the principles they stand for—today and always.

ADMIRAL PATRICK M. WALSH ’77, USN (RET.) VICE ADMIRAL MARK I. FOX ’78, USN (RET.) LIEUTENANT GENERAL WILLIAM D. BEYDLER ’81, USMC (RET.) CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER J. CASSIDY ’93, USN (RET.)

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SELECTION PANEL DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD SELECTION PANEL CHAIR Admiral John M. Richardson ’82, USN (Ret.)

UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AND FOUNDATION PRESIDENT AND CEO Jeff R. Webb ’95

PANEL MEMBERS Steven S. Reinemund ’70 Captain Kevin F. Stone ’76, USNR (Ret.) Sharon L. Disher ’80 Vice Admiral DeWolfe H. Miller III ’81, USN (Ret.) David P. Dawson ’88 Darryl L. Smith ’88 Lieutenant General Michael J. Borgschulte ’91, USMC 66th Superintendent Admiral Mark E. Ferguson III ’78, USN (Ret.)*

*Alumni Association Board of Trustees Chair, non-voting member

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CHAIR’S MESSAGE The Distinguished Graduate Award Selection Panel proudly congratulates this year’s honorees.

Today we recognize a remarkable group of graduates whose lives embody the very best of our U.S. Naval Academy. Their service to the nation, leadership in their professions, commitment to their communities and dedication to causes larger than themselves built a legacy that inspires us all.

The distinguished graduates all remind us that the Naval Academy’s greatest strength is its people. Stories of courage, innovation, perseverance and selfless service across a remarkable range of endeavors energize us and bring us together. Their stories both challenge us and humble us in equal measure.

What unites today’s honorees is not a common career path, but a common foundation. Each embodied the values they learned here and carried them forward in service to others. Their achievements prove that leadership isn’t measured by position or title, but by the positive and lasting impact we make on individuals, organizations and the nation.

We’re overcome with gratitude for their service.

Our thanks extend beyond the individual honorees. We must also thank the families, friends, shipmates, colleagues and mentors who stood behind these awardees throughout their journeys. No one achieves anything significant alone, and today we celebrate those who shared in and enabled their success.

Thanks also to the members of the selection panel and to the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation staff, whose dedication made this event possible.

And finally, thanks to the Brigade of Midshipmen, our alumni and our guests, for joining us as we honor these distinguished graduates.

May their example remind us all of the enduring power of character, competence and commitment to service, and may their stories inspire future generations of Naval Academy leaders.

Admiral John M. Richardson ’82, USN (Ret.) Chair, Distinguished Graduate Award Selection Panel

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PROGRAM ARRIVAL OF THE OFFICIAL PARTY PRESENTATION OF COLORS AND NATIONAL ANTHEM INTRODUCTION OF THE 2026 DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES NARRATOR Midshipman Dalton Sand ’27, USN Class President IN MEMORIAM AND INVOCATION Captain Robert Johnson, CHC, USN U.S. Naval Academy Command Chaplain WELCOME AND REMARKS Lieutenant General Michael J. Borgschulte ’91, USMC Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy PRESENTATION OF DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD MEDALS Lieutenant General Michael J. Borgschulte ’91, USMC Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy Admiral Mark E. Ferguson III ’78, USN (Ret.) Chair, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Board of Trustees Midshipman Brooklyn Guan ’27, USN Brigade Commander REMARKS Distinguished Graduate Award Recipients “NAVY BLUE AND GOLD” 4

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WALSH ADMIRAL PATRICK M. WALSH ’77, USN (RET.), was raised in Dallas, TX, and attended Jesuit College Preparatory as a varsity athlete, team captain and student council president.

He held leadership positions over a 34-year career as a strike-fighter pilot who flew 77 combat/combat support missions and a former slot pilot for the Blue Angels, where he led the transition to the F/A-18 aircraft. He had command of a strike/fighter squadron that won the Battle E for three consecutive years, a Carrier Air Wing, a Carrier Strike Group, NAVCENT/U.S. Fifth Fleet, which led the evacuation of 15,000 U.S. citizens from Lebanon. As vice chief of Naval Operations he was tasked by the White House to evaluate the conditions of detention at Guantanamo Bay, and U.S. Pacific Fleet, where he led the U.S. military response to the Great Eastern Japan earthquake, tsunami and radiation catastrophes.

Post Navy, he held corporate leadership positions for 10 years. He is president of Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep, providing students from limited economic means with a college preparatory education to become men and women of purpose and service.

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FOX VICE ADMIRAL MARK I. FOX ’78, USN (RET.), was the most decorated naval aviator and Naval Academy graduate since Vietnam. For his exceptional airmanship and performance in the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom, Fox was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat “V,” the Legion of Merit and numerous individual Air Medals with Combat “V.” Fox served with the Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs, the White House Military Office and as senior naval officer and chief spokesman for Multi-National Force–Iraq.

He was commanding officer of the first F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron and later of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, commander of Carrier Strike Group 10 and later U.S. Fifth Fleet, deputy CNO for operations, plans and strategy, and ultimately deputy commander of U.S. Central Command.

Following his Navy career, Fox served as corporate vice president at Huntington Ingalls Industries, directly contributing to the first two-carrier procurement since the Reagan administration and the block buy of 10 Virginia-class Block V submarines.

He has served on the board of the National Defense University Foundation, as a trustee on the National Museum of Naval Aviation Foundation and various service and philanthropic boards.

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BEYDLER

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LIEUTENANT GENERAL WILLIAM D. BEYDLER ’81, USMC (RET.), is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Instructor course. He accumulated approximately 4,000 flight hours in tactical jet aircraft, with more than 3,000 in the F/A-18. He has commanded at the Marine fighter squadron, Marine aircraft group, Marine aircraft wing, Marine expeditionary force, Marine Corps forces and joint force levels, totaling seven commands, five as a general officer. Five of his last six and a half years on active duty were as a general officer. Beydler worked in U.S. Central Command, first as director of strategy, plans and policy and later as commander, Marine Corps Forces Central Command, leading all Marines in the Middle East.

His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal.

Upon retirement, Beydler joined Raytheon Intelligence and Space, leading their Maritime Dominance team, and focused his subsequent consulting work on unmanned aerospace systems. He is the Marine Corps representative on the board of directors for the Association of Naval Aviation. In May 2026, Beydler completed six years as the vice chair of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Board of Trustees.

CASSIDY CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER J. CASSIDY ’93, USN (RET.), served 11 years in the SEAL Teams before his selection as a NASA astronaut in 2004. He graduated as Honor Man of BUD/S Class 192 and earned two Bronze Stars— including one with Combat “V”—as well as a Presidential Unit Citation for commanding a high-profile mission along the Afghanistan– Pakistan border in the aftermath of 9/11.

Over three spaceflights, Cassidy spent 377 days in orbit and completed 10 spacewalks, flying aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the Russian Soyuz. From 2015 to 2017, he served as NASA’s 14th chief astronaut, overseeing astronaut training, crew assignments and operations during a period of major organizational change.

In 2021, Cassidy became president and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, where he led the successful effort to build the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, TX, and launch a national leadership institute and monument on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Cassidy’s contributions have been recognized with some of the nation’s highest honors, including NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal (twice), the Great American Patriot Award and the Living Legends of Aviation Award.

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PAST RECIPIENTS 1999 Admiral Thomas H. Moorer ’33, USN (Ret.) (1912-2004)

2000 Dr. John J. McMullen ’40 (1918-2005)

Admiral James L. Holloway III ’43, USN (Ret.) (1922-2019)

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

Major General William A. Anders ’55, USAFR (Ret.) (1933-2024)

Roger T. Staubach ’65 2001 Captain John W. Crawford Jr. ’42, USN (Ret.) (1919-2022)

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.) (1927-2012)

Captain James A. Lovell ’52, USN (Ret.) (1928-2025)

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2002 Vice Admiral Charles S. Minter Jr. ’37, USN (Ret.) (1915-2008)

President James E. Carter Jr. ’47 (1924-2024)

Admiral Carlisle A.H. Trost ’53, USN (Ret.) (1930-2020)

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

2003 Ambassador 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.) (1915-2012)

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

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2004 Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak ’34, USMC (Ret.) (1913-2008)

Vice Admiral Gerald E. Miller ’42, USN (Ret.) (1919-2014)

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)

2005 Captain Slade D. Cutter ’35, USN (Ret.) (1911-2005)

Rear Admiral Robert H. Wertheim ’46, USN (Ret.) (1922-2020)

Admiral Ronald J. Hays ’50, USN (Ret.) (1928-2021)

H. Ross Perot ’53 (1930-2019)

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2006 Captain Thomas J. Hudner ’47, USN (Ret.) (1924-2017)

Admiral Kinnaird R. McKee ’51, USN (Ret.) (1929-2013)

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

Admiral Charles R. Larson ’58, USN (Ret.) (1936-2014)

2007 Rear Admiral Maurice H. Rindskopf ’38, USN (Ret.) (1917-2011)

Admiral Thomas B. Hayward ’48, USN (Ret.) (1924-2022)

Ralph W. Hooper ’51 (1928-2020)

Admiral Leighton W. Smith Jr. ’62, USN (Ret.) (1939-2023)

2008 James W. Kinnear III ’50 Admiral Frank B. Kelso II ’56, USN (Ret.) (1933-2013)

Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Montoya ’58, CEC, USN (Ret.) (1935-2015)

Lieutenant General William M. Keys ’60, USMC (Ret.) (1937-2026)

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

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2009 John E. Nolan ’50 (1927-2017)

Admiral Bruce DeMars ’57, USN (Ret.) (1935-2024)

J. Ronald Terwilliger ’63 Admiral Joseph W. Prueher ’64, USN (Ret.) General Peter Pace ’67, USMC (Ret.) 2010 David J. Dunn ’55 (1930-2021)

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.) 2011 Rear Admiral Robert H. Shumaker ’56, USN (Ret.) Dr. Bradford W. Parkinson ’57 Lieutenant General Matthew T. Cooper ’58, USMC (Ret.) Corbin A. McNeill Jr. ’62

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2012 Admiral Sylvester R. Foley Jr. ’50, USN (Ret.) (1928-2019)

The Honorable Daniel L. Cooper ’57 Captain Bruce McCandless II ’58, USN (Ret.) (1937-2017)

Vice Admiral John R. Ryan ’67, USN (Ret.) Daniel F. Akerson ’70 2013 Roger E. Tetrault ’63 (1941-2020)

The Honorable John Scott Redd ’66 Ambassador Richard L. Armitage ’67 (1945-2025)

Admiral Thomas B. Fargo ’70, USN (Ret.) 2014 Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford ’52, USAF (Ret.) (1930-2024)

Rear Admiral William C. Miller ’62, USN (Ret.) Admiral Steve Abbot ’66, USN (Ret.) Admiral Michael G. Mullen ’68, USN (Ret.) Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. ’70, USN (Ret.)

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2015 Admiral Henry H. Mauz Jr. ’59, USN (Ret.) Admiral Richard W. Mies ’67, USN (Ret.) Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. ’69, USN (Ret.) David M. Robinson ’87 2016 Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn ’51, USN (Ret.) The Honorable John H. Dalton ’64 Captain Carl H. June ’75, MC, USN (Ret.) 2017 Admiral Harry D. Train II ’49, USN (Ret.) (1927-2026)

Milledge A. Hart III ’56 Vice Admiral Cutler Dawson Jr. ’70, USN (Ret.) Admiral Eric T. Olson ’73, USN (Ret.) 2018 Rear Admiral Lawrence C. Chambers ’52, USN (Ret.) Admiral James R. Hogg ’56, USN (Ret.) (1934-2025)

Senator John S. McCain III ’58 (1936-2018)

Major General Charles F. Bolden Jr. ’68, USMC (Ret.) Steven S. Reinemund ’70 16

Admiral Timothy J. Keating ’71, USN (Ret.)

PAST RECIPIENTS 2019 Dr. J. Phillip London ’59 (1937-2021)

Admiral Robert J. Natter ’67, USN (Ret.) Colonel Walter P. Havenstein ’71, USMCR (Ret.) Admiral Robert F. Willard ’73, USN (Ret.) Captain Wendy B. Lawrence ’81, USN (Ret.) 2020 Vice Admiral Edward M. Straw ’61, SC, USN (Ret.) Colonel Robert D. Cabana ’71, USMC (Ret.) Admiral Kirkland H. Donald ’75, USN (Ret.) The Honorable Sean J. Stackley ’79 2021 Kevin W. Sharer ’70 General John R. Allen ’76, USMC (Ret.) Vice Admiral Derwood Curtis ’76, USN (Ret.) Janie L. Mines ’80 Lieutenant Bradley W. Snyder ’06, USN (Ret.)

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PAST RECIPIENTS 2022 Peter F. de Vos ’71 Vice Admiral William D. Crowder ’74, USN (Ret.) J. Michael Yeager ’76 Vice Admiral Walter E. Carter ’81, USN (Ret.) Rear Admiral Margaret D. Klein ’81, USN (Ret.) 2023 Major General Leo V. Williams III ’70, USMCR (Ret.) Ronald L. Nicol ’75 Admiral James G. Stavridis ’76, USN (Ret.) Rear Admiral Julius S. Caesar ’77, USNR (Ret.) Admiral Cecil D. Haney ’78, USN (Ret.) 2024 Admiral Dennis C. Blair ’68, USN (Ret.) Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III ’77, USN (Ret.) Jerrold L. Miller ’77 John F. Young ’78 2025 Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert ’75, USN (Ret.) Vice Admiral Anthony L. Winns ’78, USN (Ret.) Captain Sunita L. Williams ’87, USN (Ret.) JoAnna L. Sohovich ’93 18

NAVY BLUE AND GOLD NAVY BLUE AND GOLD 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.​ So hoist our colors, hoist them high,​ And vow allegiance true,​​ So long as sunset gilds the sky Above the ocean blue,​ Unlowered shall those colors be Whatever fate they meet,​ So glorious in victory,​ Triumphant in defeat.​ Four years together by the Bay,​ Where Severn joins the tide,​ Then by the service called away,​ We’re scattered far and wide;​ But still when two or three shall meet,​ And old tales be retold,​ From low to highest in the fleet,​ We’ll pledge the Blue and Gold.​

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MISSIONS UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY MISSION To develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MISSION We strengthen our MEMBERS’ BONDS to the Academy and to each other, to help them THRIVE AS LEADERS in and out of uniform, and reach their FULL POTENTIAL.

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