USNA News Article

Naval Academy Lures Brightest Stars to Education

Feb 23, 2012

By Jessica Clark

Dr. John Nagl, president of the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C., joined the Naval Academy faculty this semester as a visiting professor in the History Department.

Nagl is one of many visiting professors who bring their expertise to augment the Naval Academy’s core curriculum.

“The enthusiasm and dedication of service academy students to national service and to making a real difference is tangible and contagious. I‘ve never enjoyed coming to work more,” said Nagl, who serves as the academy’s first Minerva Research Fellow.

Distinguished visiting professors enhance the exposure of midshipmen to special topics across of the Naval Academy curriculum. They teach classes, and also organize special lectures and research opportunities for students, said Vice Academic Dean Boyd Waite.

“It creates a margin of excellence. We have an excellent foundation, but this pushes the margins of exceptional study out in unique ways,” said Waite. “The visiting professors all bring an advanced quality or strength that gets exposed to the midshipmen for a couple of years.”

Visiting professors are helpful to the academy faculty as well, allowing them to collaborate on research and network with other experts in their chosen fields.

“People love coming here to be around the midshipmen and be part of the process,” said Waite.

Dr. Paula Dobriansky, who serves as the Class of 1960 Distinguishe Visiting Professor in National Security in the Political Science Department, agreed.

“The midshipmen are terrific,” said Dobriansky. “They represent the future of the U.S. Navy and are to be both commended and admired for having chosen service to our country.”

Dobriansky was the Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs from 2001 to 2009 and served for two years as special envoy to Northern Ireland.

The academy welcomes visiting professors in a wide range of disciplines. Other visiting faculty members include cyber warfare expert Martin Libicki, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence David Grompert, and Richard P. Fahey, an astrophysicist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who serves as the academy’s Space Chair.

In addition to visiting faculty, the academy seeks to enhance the education of midshipmen through special lectures such as recent presentations by GE CEO Jeff Immelt, former Apple executive Guy Kawasaki, and former Southwest Airlines CEO Howard Putnam.