2012 Distinguished Graduate Award Program

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2012 DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD RECIPIENTS 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

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McCANDLESS

RYAN

he 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.

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AKERSON

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“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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t 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

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

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.)

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Midshipmen gather in Alumni Hall prior to the 13th U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award Medal Ceremony.

MEDAL PRESENTATION 4:30 p.m.

INTRODUCTION OF DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES FOR 2012 INVOCATION

Captain Michael Parisi, USN

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM WELCOME AND REMARKS

Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller ’74, USN Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy

PRESENTATION OF DISTINGUISHED 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

REMARKS

Distinguished Graduate Award Recipients

NAVY BLUE & GOLD DEPARTURE OF THE OFFICIAL PARTY

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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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dmiral 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.

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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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he 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 6

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.

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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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aptain 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.

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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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ice 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 8

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.

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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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rowning 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.

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Each Distinguished Graduate receives a medal to commemorate the award.

PAST RECIPIENTS 1999-2011 1999

2003

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

Ambassador William H.G. FitzGerald ’31

(1912-2004)

(1909-2006)

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

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

Admiral James L. Holloway III ’43, USN (Ret.) Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence ’51, USN (Ret.)

(1913-2007)

Rear Admiral Robert W. McNitt ’38, USN (Ret.) Vice Admiral William D. Houser ’42, USN (Ret.) (1921-2012)

(1930-2005)

2004

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

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

Mr. Roger T. Staubach ’65

2001 Captain 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.)

(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)

(1923-2005)

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

2005

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

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

2002 Vice 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)

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(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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2006

2009

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

Mr. John E. Nolan ’50

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

Admiral Bruce DeMars ’57, USN (Ret.)

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

Mr. J. Ronald Terwilliger ’63

(1932-2008)

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

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

Admiral Joseph W. Prueher ’64, USN (Ret.) General Peter Pace ’67, USMC (Ret.)

2010

(1917-2011)

Mr. David J. Dunn ’55

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

Admiral Leon A. Edney ’57, USN (Ret.)

Mr. Ralph W. Hooper ’51

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

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

Admiral Joseph Paul Reason ’65, USN (Ret.) General Carlton W. Fulford Jr. ’66, USMC (Ret.)

2008 Mr. James W. Kinnear III ’50

2011

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

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

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

Dr. Bradford N. Parkinson ’57

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

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

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

Mr. Corbin A. McNeill Jr ’62

For more information on the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association’s Distinguished Graduate Award program and recipients, visit www.usna.com/dga.

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USNA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MISSION 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

NAVY BLUE & 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.