U. S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award Recipients Announced, Ceremony Set for March 21

ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Naval Academy Alumni Association will honor five Naval Academy graduates with the Association's Distinguished Graduate Award on March 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy. The ceremony will be attended by the Brigade of Midshipmen; Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller, USN, class of 1974, and Admiral Robert J. Natter, USN (Ret.), class of 1967; chairman of the Naval Academy Alumni Association.

Each recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Graduate Award has demonstrated commitment to a lifetime of service and has made significant contributions to the U.S. Naval Academy, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the nation.

The 2014 recipients are: Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford, USAF (Ret.), class of 1952; Rear Admiral William C. Miller, USN (Ret.), class of 1962; Admiral Steve Abbot, USN (Ret.), class of 1966; Admiral Michael G. Mullen, USN (Ret.), class of 1968; and Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., USN (Ret.), class of 1970.

"Our 2014 Distinguished Graduates join 15 years of prior Distinguished Graduate Award recipients as an elite group of leaders who are great role models for our Brigade of Midshipmen," said Byron Marchant, class of 1978, president and CEO, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation. "They are the embodiment of the Naval Academy mission and represent a range of achievement and service to the Naval Academy, their communities and our country."

• Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford, USAF (Ret.), class of 1952, served as a U.S. Air Force aviator upon graduating from the Academy. In September 1962, Stafford was selected among the second group of NASA astronauts to participate in Projects Gemini and Apollo. Stafford served as Pilot of Gemini 6, which performed the first rendezvous in space, and as Commander of Gemini 9, which performed three additional rendezvous. In 1969, Stafford commanded Apollo 10 in an exploratory mission to select a lunar landing site for Apollo 11 and set the all-time speed record of 24,791 mph.

• Rear Admiral William C. Miller, USN (Ret.), class of 1962, served as a surface warfare officer, commanding a destroyer, a frigate and the Naval Research Laboratory. Later he served as Deputy Director, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation on the Navy Staff and as Chief of Naval Research. After retiring from the Navy, he served as a professor of engineering and chief research officer at West Virginia University and as chair of the Avionics Committee on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. He subsequently returned to the Naval Academy as academic dean and provost in 1997, the first alumnus to serve in the position.

• Admiral Steve Abbot, USN (Ret.), class of 1966, the Naval Academy's 21st Rhodes Scholar, was involved in combat operations in Vietnam, first as a surface warfare officer and later as a naval aviator flying the A-7E. He commanded THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71) during combat operations in the Persian Gulf in the first Gulf War. He served as Commander, Joint Task Force 120 during the embargo of Haiti; Commander, Sixth Fleet during the Bosnian conflict; Commander, Operation Silver Wake (the non-combatant evacuation of Albania) and Deputy Commander in Chief of U.S. European Command during the Kosovo conflict. After retirement from the Navy, and following 9/11, he was appointed as the first Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President.

• Admiral Michael G. Mullen, USN (Ret.), class of 1968, served in the surface warfare community following graduation from the Academy. Before serving as the Navy's 28th Chief of Naval Operations, Mullen served as Commander, U.S. Naval Force Europe; Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples and as the 32nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations.  Selected to serve as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2007, Mullen was the highest ranking officer in the United States Armed Forces.

• Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., USN (Ret.), class of 1970, served as a career nuclear submarine officer with extensive operational experience, including command at the submarine, squadron and fleet levels. Follow-on tours included senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense; Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO's first Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. In his final assignment, he served as the seventh Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since retirement, he has served on numerous U.S. government advisory boards, investigations and task forces for the Secretaries of Defense, State and Interior and the Central Intelligence Agency.

For more information, please visit www.usna.com/dga.

Contact: Samantha Richer
Communications Specialist
U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association
[email protected]
410.295.4027

To attend the ceremony, please contact Samantha Richer (contact details above). The 2014 Distinguished Graduate Award recipients will be available for interviews prior to the ceremony from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. by appointment. Other interview times available by request.

SOURCE United States Naval Academy Alumni Association