Michael C. Halbig, Ph.D.

 

A native of Saginaw, Michigan, Mike Halbig attended Albion College and the University of Hamburg, Germany for his undergraduate education, and graduated from Albion with highest honors in 1968. He completed an M. Phil. (with distinction) in 1971 and Ph.D. at Yale University in Germanic Languages and Literatures in 1975.

Commissioned as an Ensign, USNR at the Yale NROTC unit in 1972, he served on active duty for four years as brigade officer and officer-instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy in both academic and professional departments.

Upon leaving active duty in 1976, Dr. Halbig joined the Naval Academy civilian faculty in the Language Studies Department. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1985. In addition to his duties as professor of German, he served as faculty chair of the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference 1981-1984, and in 1984 was appointed chair of the Language Studies Department. During his term as department chair, the Academy acquired one of the largest satellite ground stations of any American university and began efforts in interactive video technology, which culminated in the Naval Academy winning the international EDUCOM award for excellence in educational computing in 1991.

Dr. Halbig was appointed to his present position in 1989 with the responsibilities for all fiscal and personnel resources, military and civilian within the Naval Academy's Academic Program, and an annual budget, including military personnel costs, of approximately $60M. Dr. Halbig is author or co-editor of three books and several scholarly articles.

Dr. Halbig also served twenty-six years as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve. He has had four Naval Reserve Intelligence commands, including Commander, Naval Reserve Intelligence Area NINETEEN, where he oversaw 13 reserve units and 650 officer and enlisted personnel in Maryland, The District of Columbia and Virginia. His last major assignment prior to retiring from the Naval Reserve in 2002 was as National Chief of Staff of the Naval Reserve Intelligence Command, Fort Worth, TX.

Dr. Halbig is the recipient of the Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse of the Federal Republic of Germany and the U.S. Department of the Navy Meritorious and Superior Civilian Service Awards. His military awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), the Joint Services Commendation Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

He is married and has two sons.