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Notable USMA Graduates

The United States Military Academy ranks fourth among the nation's colleges and universities in number of Rhodes Scholars with 70. Since 1973, 32 cadets have won Hertz Foundation fellowships in Applied Physical Science disciplines, and 11 cadets since 1983 have been awarded Marshall Scholarships to attend a British university.

West Point History

A Timeline of History
1802 through 1849 1850 through 1899 1900 through 1949 1950 through Present


GRADUATES


RELATED ITEMS:

Women of 1980
Distinguished Hispanic graduates honored at 2001 dinner


DID YOU KNOW?

An Academy Divided
Of 60 battles fought in the Civil War, 55 saw West Point graduates on both sides of the conflict. In the remaining battles, a West Point graduate commanded on one of the two sides.

Three Stars graphic
The Class the Stars Fell On
Of the 164 graduates of the Class of 1915, 59 achieved the rank of brigadier general or higher, the most ever in a class.




CLASS OF 1808
Sylvanus Thayer
Preeminent educator, "Father of the Military Academy"; originated technical education in America and established the educational philosophy and discipline still followed at the Military Academy.

CLASS OF 1815

Benjamin L.E. Bonneville
Explored and mapped the Great Salt Lake and the Green, Snake, Salmon and Yellowstone Rivers, venturing into the unknown American West. His explorations were memorialized.

CLASS OF 1819

George Washington Whistler
Eminent civil engineer; chosen by the Czar of Russia to build a railroad from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

CLASS OF 1824

Dennis Hart Mahan - distinguished educator and writer; world renowned scholar taught the science of war to numerous Army officers.

CLASS OF 1827

Leonidas Polk
Episcopal bishop of Louisana; served as lieutenant general of the Confederate States of America; honorary degree of Sacred Theology from Columbia University; founded the University of the South at Sewanee in 1857.

CLASS OF 1828

Jefferson Davis
Member of Congress from Mississippi 1845-461; senator from Mississippi 1847-51, 1857-61; Secretary of War from 1853-57; President of the Confederate States of America.

CLASS OF 1829

Robert E. Lee
Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy 1852-55; General in Chief, Confederate Armies; president of Washington & Lee University 1865-70.

CLASS OF 1832

Benjamin S. Ewell
President of the College of William & Mary 1854-88.

CLASS OF 1835

George G. Meade
v Commander of the Army of the Potomac; victorious in the Battle of Gettysburg

CLASS OF 1837

John Sedgwick
Commander of Union VI Corps, killed at Spotsylvania.

CLASS OF 1840

George Henry Thomas
The "Rock of Chickamauga."

William Tecumseh Sherman - president of Louisiana State University; "March to the Sea" Civil War campaign; commander of the Armies of the United States.

 
CLASS OF 1843

Ulysses S. Grant
General in Chief, Armies of the United States; President of the United States, 1869-77.

CLASS OF 1846

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
Lieutenant general and a corps commander of the Confederate Army; killed at Chancellorsville

CLASS OF 1854

Oliver O. Howard
Founder and president of Howard University.

CLASS OF 1877

Cadet Henry O. Flipper, Class of 1877 Henry O. Flipper
Civil and mining engineer in Southwest U.S. and Mexico; first African-American graduate of the Military Academy.

CLASS OF 1880

George Washington Goethals
Architect and builder of the Panama Canal.

CLASS OF 1886

John J. Pershing
Commander-in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force in World War I; General of the Armies 1919.

CLASS OF 1903

Douglas MacArthur
Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy 1919-22; Army Chief of Staff 1930-35; Supreme Commander of the Pacific 1941-45; Supreme Commander, UN Forces Korea 1950-51.

CLASS OF 1907

Henry H. "Hap" Arnold
pioneer of Army Aviation; General of the Air Force 1949.

CLASS OF 1909

Cadet George S. Patton, Jr., Class of 1909 George S. Patton, Jr. - member of the 1912 U.S. Olympic Team; commanding general of the 7th Army 1942-44, commander of the 3rd Army European Theater 1944-45.

CLASS OF 1915

Omar N. Bradley
Commanding general, lst Army, 12th Army Group European Theater in World War II; Army Chief of Staff 1948-49; first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1949-53; chairman of the board of Bulova Watch Company 1958.

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme Commander Allied Forces Europe 1943-45; Army Chief of Staff 1945-48; president of Columbia University 1948; President of the United States 1953-61.

CLASS OF 1941

William T. Seawell
commandant of cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy 1961-63; former chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Pan Am World Airways.

CLASS OF 1946

Cadet Wesley W. Posvar, Class of 1946 Wesley W. Posvar
Rhodes Scholar; chancellor, University of Pittsburgh.

Cadet Reuben Pomerantz, Class of 1946 Reuben Pomerantz
Former president, Holiday Inns of America.

 
CLASS OF 1947

Cadet Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Class of 1947 Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
Chief of Staff to the president 1973-74; Supreme Allied Commander in Europe 1974-79; president, United Technologies Corporation 1980-81; Secretary of State 1981-82.

Cadet Brent Scowcroft, Class of 1947 Brent Scowcroft
Military assistant to the President, 1972; National Security Advisor, Bush Administration.

CLASS OF 1949

Cadet John G. Hayes, Jr., Class of 1949 John G. Hayes
Former president, Coca-Cola Bottling Co.


CLASS OF 1950

Frank Borman
Astronaut 1962-70; commander of the first circumlunar flight; president of Eastern Airlines.

CLASS OF 1951

Cadet Roscoe Robinson, Jr., Class of 1951 Roscoe Robinson, Jr.
Commanding general, 82nd Airborne Division 1976-78; commanding general, U.S. Army Japan 1980-82; U.S. Representative to NATO Military Committee, 1982-85; first African American four-star general in the Army, 1982.

Cadet Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., Class of 1951, track photo Apollo 11 Crew, May 1 1969- NASA photo Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin
Astronaut 1963-72; participated in the first manned lunar landing. (Read NASA's bio Non-USMA website, opens new window)

CLASS OF 1952

Cadet Thoralf M. Sundt, Class of 1952 Thoralf M. Sundt
Doctor of Neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic.

Cadet Edward White II, Class of 1952 Astronaut Edward White during first EVA performed during Gemini 4 flight- NASA photo Edward White II
Astronaut 1962-67; first American to walk in space, 1965; died in Apollo spacecraft fire, 1967. (Read NASA's bio Non-USMA website, opens new window)

Cadet Michael Collins, Class of 1952 Apollo 11 Crew, May 1 1969- NASA photo Michael Collins
Astronaut 1964-70; command module pilot, first manned lunar landing; director of the National Air & Space Museum. (Read NASA's bio Non-USMA website, opens new window)

CLASS OF 1953

Randolph Araskog
President and chairman of IT&T.

CLASS OF 1956

H. Norman Schwarzkopf
Commander-in-Chief, Central Command, Operation Desert Storm.

CLASS OF 1957

John Block
Secretary of Agriculture, Reagan Administration, 1981-86.

CLASS OF 1959

Pete Dawkins
Rhodes Scholar, Heisman Trophy Winner, Chairman and CEO Primerica.

CLASS OF 1980

Andrea Lee Hollen
Rhodes Scholar. First woman graduate of USMA.

CLASS OF 1990

Kristin Baker
First woman Brigade Commander, U.S. Corps of Cadets.