Fall Graduation Awards Ceremony Honors Top NPS Students, Faculty

Capt. Kathryn Hobbs, the Dean of Students at NPS, takes a look at the First Leadership Award, which was given to her by student vote and was her first NPS award received, during the final moments of the 2008 Fall Graduation Awards Ceremony held in the King Hall Auditorium at NPS Dec. 9, 2008. A total of 51 members of the student body, faculty and staff were named for awards during the ceremony. U.S. Navy photo by MCSN John Fischer. Full story

‘84 Classmates Receive Distinguished Alumnus Awards in Dual Ceremony 

Chief of Naval Personnel and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education) Vice Adm. Mark E. Ferguson III (right) and U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) Commanding General Lt. Gen. Thomas R. Turner (left), both graduates of the Naval Postgraduate School Class of December 1984, received Distinguished Alumnus Awards from NPS President Daniel Oliver in a dual ceremony in the Barbara McNitt Ballroom, Dec. 19.  Ferguson had just delivered the keynote address at the Fall 2008 graduation ceremonies, and Turner flew in from Fort Sam Houston to support Army North graduate, retired Air Fore Lt. Col. Vincent Sharp, who earned a Master of Arts in Homeland Security.  Both alums graduated with distinction – Ferguson with a master’s degree in computer science and Turner with a master’s in systems technology (command, control and communications) – but had not met until returning to their alma mater after nearly two and a half decades.  U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Kellie Arakawa.  Full story

Chief of Naval Personnel Rallies Record Fall Graduating Class

Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson III challenged one of the largest graduating classes in Naval Postgraduate School history to foster a "culture of mentorship" in their future commands, at Fall 2008 commencement ceremonies, Dec. 19. “Vice Admiral Ferguson is one of the strongest supporters of the Naval Postgraduate School we have in Navy leadership today,” said NPS President Daniel Oliver as he introduced Ferguson to just under 400 graduates including members from all the U.S. military services, DoD civilians and international officers.  U.S. Navy photo by MCSN John R. Fischer.  Full story

CSRS Initiates Cross-Community Effort to Prevent Conflict in Arctic Region

Dr. Wieslaw Maslowski, a research professor from the Oceanography Department at the Naval Postgraduate School, discusses the alarming effects of climate change at the “On Thin Ice” conference Dec. 8. The two-day conference, co-hosted by the NPS Center for Stabilization and Reconstruction Studies, addressed the political, cultural, economic and scientific implications of climate change in the Arctic region. Photo by Nico Mavris. Full story

Distinguished Professor Agrawal Elected AIAA Fellow

Well, sometimes it does take a rocket scientist.  That’s what the Naval Postgraduate School has realized upon learning that Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Brij Agrawal -- a world leader in satellite communications, relay mirror spacecraft and adaptive space optics -- has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the highest distinction conferred by the global professional society.  Agrawal, who directs the NPS Spacecraft Research and Design Center and joins such aviation and aerospace greats as Orville Wright and NPS’ own Space Technology Chair retired Rear Adm. Thomas Betterton, was hailed as “a national asset in aeronautics” in the nominating statement signed by half a dozen AIAA Fellows.  U.S. Navy photo by Javier Chagoya. Full story.

Panetta Awarded Bronze Star for Afghanistan Intel Mission

Naval Reserve Lt. James Panetta, left, receives the Bronze Star Medal from Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) President and retired Vice Adm. Daniel Oliver at a special ceremony attended by fellow officers and family members, including proud parents Leon and Sylvia Panetta, Dec. 9 at NPS.  Panetta was awarded the honor for exceptionally meritorious achievement as an intelligence analyst serving with a joint special operations task force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan covering the six-month period beginning Oct. 15, 2007.  "It's a true honor to receive this award, but it's also very humbling because the people I served and worked with in Afghanistan are the real heroes," Panetta said in remarks after the pinning in the NPS President's Conference Room.  U.S. Navy photo by MCSN John Fischer.  Full story 

Military Faculty Member Gains New Insight From Tour With Gen. Petraeus

(From top) Operations Research Professors Javier Salmeron, Kevin Wood, and Lt. Col. Lee Ewing are spotlighted by a road network map of Iraq, which consists of unclassified data used in their improvised explosive device (IED) interdiction model. Ewing, who spent much of the past year working for the Commander’s Initiative Group in Iraq, had an opportunity to present the team’s research efforts to Gen. David Petraeus, then commanding general of Multi-National Force-Iraq. U.S. Navy photo by Javier Chagoya. Full story

DRMI Helps Partner Nations Get More Bang for the Buck

For 43 years, the Defense Resources Management Institute (DRMI) at the Naval Postgraduate School has helped partner nations get more bang for their defense dollar. “Since 1965, we’ve provided defense resources management education to over 30,000 senior officers and defense professionals from the U.S. and 162 foreign countries,” said DRMI Executive Director Prof. C.J. LaCivita. Many DRMI senior course graduates have been elevated to the highest-ranking positions in their home countries, including Jordan’s King Abdullah and the Defense Ministers of six nations.  Latvia’s Minister of Defense told a DRMI seminar that his country was successful in being accepted into NATO “because of what I learned here in this room.”  Participants in the current International Defense Management Course from 24 nations gathered in front of the White House during a field trip, Oct. 28.  Photo courtesy of the Defense Resources Management Institute.  Full story.

ONR Director Rallies Students to "Sustain the Edge"

Office of Naval Research (ONR) Executive Director Dr. Walter Jones rallied Naval Postgraduate School students with his Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture, "Sustaining the Edge: Serving the Next Generation Warfighter Now," Nov. 25.  "This is my third visit to NPS in the year I've been with ONR, and every time I see something important and interesting," the Navy's top science and technology innovator said.  "You're very lucky to be here.  This is a wonderful place and a critical part of the Navy's Science and Technology Enterprise."  As part of his brief on ONR's history, mission and plans, Jones noted the longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship between his agency and NPS.  "Nothing better exemplifies that special relationship than my soon-to-be replacement as Executive Director, Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, Jr., who's an NPS Operations Research graduate [1987] and whose thesis advisor just introduced me: [Chairman of the Department of Information Sciences, outgoing Interim Dean of Research and Executive Director of the National Security Institute] Dan Boger."  U.S. Navy photo by Javier Chagoya. Full story.