USMMA Parents Association

We are pleased to advise that Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN, Commander,
United States Southern Command, has accepted our invitation
to deliver the address at the Commencement Ceremonies for the Class of 2008. 
Admiral Stavridis is a very highly respected officer within both the Navy
and the defense community.  He is a distinguished author, and a powerful speaker.   
Biography

As background, from the Navy website: 

Admiral James Stavridis assumed command of the United States Southern Command on
October 19, 2006. Admiral Stavridis is a 1976 distinguished graduate of the
U.S. Naval Academy and a native of South Florida. A Surface Warfare Officer,
Admiral Stavridis commanded the Destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) from 1993-1995,
completing deployments to Haiti, Bosnia and the Arabian Gulf. Barry won the
Battenberg Cup as the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet under his command. In 1998,
he commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Arabian Gulf,
winning the Navy League’s John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership.

From 2002-2004, Adm. Stavridis commanded Enterprise Carrier Strike Group,
conducting combat operations in the Arabian Gulf in support of both
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Ashore, the Admiral has served
as a strategic and long-range planner on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations
and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the start of the global war on terrorism,
he was selected as the Director of the Navy Operations Group, DEEP BLUE.
He has also served as the Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy
and the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.

Adm. Stavridis earned a PhD and MALD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
at Tufts University in International Relations in 1984, where he won the
Gullion Prize as outstanding student. He is also a distinguished graduate
of both the National and Naval War Colleges. He holds various decorations
and awards, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the
Defense Superior Service Medal and five awards of the Legion of Merit.
He is author or co-author of several books on naval ship
handling and leadership, including Command at Sea.
 

 A couple of articles about him:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0703/p01s03-usmi.html?page=1

http://www.defenselink.mil/News/newsarticle.aspx?id=1705

USMMA ACADEMY ALERT SYSTEM FOR PARENTS

The United States Merchant Marine Academy has established a cell phone and email alert
system for parents to inform you of any developing campus emergencies.  This system will
supplement a separate on-campus system for midshipmen, faculty and staff. 
Please read the letter from the Superintendent here. 
You can register for the system by clicking here.
After registering for your cell phone OR email alert option,
if you want both email and cell phone,
go to http://www.e2campus.com/my/usmma2/index.htm,
 Login using your newly created Username and Password then ADD
the additional contact info under services (second tab on the top of page)