MILITARY ALUMNI

Distinguished Alumni

Senior Navy Graduates

Rear Admiral Frank M. Dirren JR., USN (RET) ('81)

Rear Admiral Frank "Skip" Dirren Jr., former Vice Chief of Naval Education and Training and former Commander of the Naval Safety Center, received a master's degree in American literature from ODU in 1981. Dirren currently serves as vice president of Battelle Corporation's Naval Institute's Navy Market Sector.

Rear Admiral Michael D. Hardee, USN ('76)

Admiral  William J. Fallon, USN ('82)

Admiral William Fallon commands the joint U.S. Pacific Command, headquartered in Hawaii. A former Vice Chief of Naval Operations and Commander, Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Admiral Fallon obtained one of the first master's degrees in ODU's international studies program.

Rear Admiral Donald P. Loren, USN (RET) '83

Rear Admiral Donald P. Loren is the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Homeland Security Integration.  He retired from the Navy as rear admiral following a distinguished 31-year career as a Surface Warfare Officer. In addition to a Master of Science (Educational Administration) from Old Dominion, Loren has studied international management and public policy topics at Harvard, MIT, Syracuse, Maryland and Northwestern universities.

Admiral Robert F. Willard, USN (' 05)

Admiral Robert F. Willard, is the 32 nd and current Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. He previously served as the 34 th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from March 18, 2005 to April 2007. He assumed his current assigment on May 8, 2007. Admiral Willard possesses a master's in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University.

Senior Marine Graduate

Lt. General Henry Osman, USMC ('69)

Lieutenant General Henry "Pete" Osman graduated from ODU in 1969 with a degree in chemistry. Prior to his present assignment as Deputy Commandant for Management and Reserve Affairs at the Marine Corps headquarters, General Osman served as Commanding General of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Forces Atlantic, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Senior Air Force Graduate

Colonel Michael J. Bloomfield, USAF('93,'01H)

U.S. Air Force Colonel Michael Bloomfield piloted the space shuttle Atlantis on its mission to the Mir space station in 1997 and again on a subsequent mission in 2002. He also piloted the space shuttle Endeavor to help repair the international space station Alpha in 2000. Currently NASA's chief astronaut instructor, Bloomfield earned a master's degree in ODU's engineering management program in 1993.

Senior Army Graduates

Brigadier General John M. Bednarek, USA ('75)

Brigadier General John M. Bednarek is a product of the Old Dominion University Army ROTC Battalion. Graduating in 1975 with a bachelor of science degree in biology, he later completed a master's degree in personnel management from Troy State University and has attended the Army War College. He was promoted to major general in September 2008 and is presently serving at Fort Meade, Md., as commanding general of the First Army Division East.

Lt. General Kathleen Gainey, USA ('78)

Lt. General Kathleen Gainey graduated in 1978 from ODU with a bachelor's degree in special education, via the ROTC program. She was Director of Army Force Projection and Distribution prior to her duty as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Multi-National Force, Iraq.

General Benjamin Griffin, USA (RET) ('69)

A 1969 ODU graduate with a degree in business management, General Benjamin Griffin served as the director of Force Program Integration in the Pentagon prior to assignment as Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Fort Belvoir, Va.

Colonel Mary Maniscalco-Theberge, USA ('78)

Colonel Mary Maniscalco-Theberge graduated with distinction and Magna Cum Laude through the ODU Army ROTC program in 1978. She is the first female Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C.