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List of academicians educated at the United States Military Academy

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The United States Military Academy (USMA) is an undergraduate college in West Point, New York that educates and commissions officers for the United States Army. This list is drawn from alumni of the academy who became university educators or administrators, such as Dennis Hart Mahan (class of 1824), George Washington Custis Lee (class of 1854), Dwight D. Eisenhower (class of 1915), and Wesley Posvar (class of 1946).

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Academics

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Note: "Class year" refers to the alumni's class year, which usually is the same year they graduated. However, in times of war, classes often graduate early.
Name Class year Notability References
Horace Webster 1818 Lieutenant; mathematics professor at the Academy (1818–1825); professor of mathematics, professor of intellectual philosophy, and president at Geneva College (1828–1830, 1835–1836); president Free Academy of New York (1848–1869) [1]
Dennis Hart Mahan 1824 Lieutenant; military theorist, educator, author, and engineer; founding member of National Academy of Sciences; father of American naval historian and theorist Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan; of his other four children, son Frederick August Mahan graduated from the Academy in 1867 [2]
Alexander Dallas Bache 1825 Lieutenant; founding president of the National Academy of Sciences; member of the Scientific Lazzaroni and the Royal Society; professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania (1828–1843) [3]
Leonidas Polk 1827 Second lieutenant USA, lieutenant general in Confederate States Army; resigned his commission soon after graduating from the academy to enter Virginia Theological Seminary; founder of University of the South; killed in combat during the Battle of Marietta; Fort Polk named in his honor [4]
Andrew A. Humphreys 1831 Major General; American Civil War; topographical and hydrological surveyor of the Mississippi River Delta; Chief of Engineers (1866–1875); an incorporator of the United States National Academy of Sciences [5]
William Augustus Norton 1831 Lieutenant; Black Hawk War; professor of natural philosophy and civil engineering (1831–1883); member of the United States National Academy of Sciences [6]
Benjamin Stoddert Ewell 1832 Colonel in Confederate States Army; professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Hampden-Sydney College (1839–1846); president of The College of William & Mary (1854–1888); brother Richard S. Ewell, class of 1840, was a lieutenant general in Confederate States Army [7]
Francis Henney Smith 1833 Major General in Confederate States Army; first and longest-serving superintendent of Virginia Military Institute (1839–1889) [8]
Montgomery C. Meigs 1836 Major General; Quartermaster General during American Civil War; river and civil engineer; early member of National Academy of Sciences; General Montgomery Meigs, class of 1967, is his descendant [9]
William Gilham 1840 Colonel in Confederate States Army; Seminole War and Mexican–American War; professor at Virginia Military Institute; author of Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States, which was in use for over 145 years [10]
Bushrod Johnson 1840 Major General in Confederate States Army; Seminole War and Mexican–American War; served with distinction in many key battles such as the Battle of Chickamauga and Siege of Petersburg; professor of philosophy, chemistry, and engineering; co-chancellor of the University of Nashville (1870–1875) [11]
Josiah Gorgas 1841 Captain USA, brigadier general in Confederate States Army; Mexican–American War; chief of ordnance for the Confederacy; president of University of Alabama (1878-1883); son William C. Gorgas became Surgeon General of the United States Army [b][12]
Henry L. Eustis 1842 Brigadier General; American Civil War; founded the Lawrence Scientific School, later the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences [13]
Daniel Harvey Hill 1842 Lieutenant General in Confederate States Army; professor at Washington and Lee University and Davidson College; later the first president of the University of Arkansas (1877–1884) [14]
Edmund Kirby Smith 1845 Major USA, General CSA; Mexican–American War; Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department; president of University of Nashville (1870-1875); professor of mathematics at Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee (1875-1893) [b][15][16]
Stonewall Jackson 1846 Major in United States Army, lieutenant general in Confederate States Army; Mexican–American War; professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery at Virginia Military Institute (1851–1861); excelled in several battles during the American Civil War, including the First Battle of Bull Run where he received his nickname; accidentally shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville and died of complications from pneumonia eight days later [17]
Oliver Otis Howard 1854 Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Seven Pines despite wound which resulted in the loss of his right arm; led the campaign against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe; founder of Howard University; Superintendent of the Academy (1881–1882) [b][18][19]
George Washington Custis Lee 1854 First Lieutenant US Army, Major General CSA; graduated first in his class at the Academy; father Robert E. Lee, class of 1829, graduated second in his class; President, Washington and Lee University (1871–1897) [a][20]
Stephen D. Lee 1854 First Lieutenant USA, Lieutenant General CSA; Seminole Wars, American Indian Wars; youngest Lieutenant General in the Confederate States Army; first president of Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi (1880-1899) [b][21][22]
Alexander S. Webb 1855 Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg for personal bravery and leadership repulsing Pickett's Charge; president of the City College of New York (1869–1902) [23][24]
Winfield Scott Chaplin 1870 Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1891-1907); Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University; Faculty member at Maine State College, Imperial University in Tokyo, and Union College [25]
John Wilson Ruckman 1883 Major General; a founder of the Journal of the United States Artillery; invented several artillery devices used during World War I; instructor at School of Submarine Defense [26]
Dwight D. Eisenhower 1915 General of the Army; trained tank crews in Pennsylvania during World War I; World War II; commander of European Theater of Operations and Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (1942–1945); 1st Military Governor of American Occupation Zone in Germany (1945); President of Columbia University (1948–1950, 1952–1953); 1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952); 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) [27]
Robert F. McDermott 1943 Brigadier General; World War II fighter pilot; executive of United Services Automobile Association (USAA); first Dean of Faculty at the United States Air Force Academy [28]
Wesley Posvar 1946 Brigadier General in the Air Force; first US Air Force officer to be granted a Rhodes Scholarship; 15th chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh (1967–1991), where Posvar Hall is named in his honor [29]
James R. Allen 1948 General in the Air Force; fighter pilot in Korean War and Vietnam War; superintendent of United States Air Force Academy (1974–1977) [30]
Charles R. Hamm 1956 Lieutenant General in the Air Force; fighter pilot in Vietnam War; member of the Air Force air demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds (1964–1966); superintendent of United States Air Force Academy (1987–1991) [31]
Robert Ivany 1970 Major General; Vietnam War and Gulf War veteran; former president of the U.S. Army War College (2001–2004); president of University of Saint Thomas (2004–present) [32]
John Mearsheimer 1970 Served five years as an Air Force officer; political science professor at University of Chicago (1982–present), where he is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy; proponent of offensive realism [33]
Dennis Hart Mahan
Daniel H. Hill
Custis Lee
Robert McDermott
James Allen
Charles Hamm

References

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General

^ a: Special Collections: Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy. West Point, NY: United States Military Academy Library. 1950.

Inline citations
  1. ^ "Prof. Horace Webster" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 July 1871. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Dennis Hart Mahan". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  3. ^ C., J. (1868). "Obituary: Alexander Dallas Bache". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 28 (1). Royal Astronomical Society: 72–75. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  4. ^ Dupuy, Trevor N.; Johnson, Curt; Bongard, David L. (1992). Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography (1 ed.). Castle Books. p. 601. ISBN 0-7858-0437-4.
  5. ^ "Commanders of the Corps of Engineers". United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  6. ^ Trowbridge, W. P. (2005). Memoir of William A. Norton 1810–1883. National Academies Press. pp. 191–199.
  7. ^ "Benjamin Stoddert Ewell". The New York Times. 21 June 1894. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  8. ^ "West Point Fifty Years Ago". University of Chicago. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  9. ^ "Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs". Army Quartermaster Corps. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  10. ^ Wise, Jennings Cropper (1915). The Military History of the Virginia Military Institute from 1839 to 1865. Lynchburg, VA: J. P. Bell Company, Inc. pp. 55–56. Retrieved 13 June 2009. William Gilham vmi.
  11. ^ "Bushrod Johnson". National Park Service. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  12. ^ "Josiah Gorgas (1818-1883)". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  13. ^ "About Us". Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Archived from the original on 14 July 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  14. ^ "Daniel Harvey Hill". Civil War Home. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  15. ^ Eicher, John H.; Eicher, David J. (2001). Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press. pp. 493–494. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
  16. ^ Nofi, Albert A. (1995). A Civil War Treasury: Being a Miscellany of Arms and Artillery, Facts and Figures, Legends and Lore, Muses and Minstrels, Personalities and People. Da Capo Press. pp. 347–348. ISBN 0-306-80622-3.
  17. ^ Eicher, John H.; Eicher, David J. (2001). Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press. pp. 316, 517. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
  18. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients, Civil War (A–L)". Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  19. ^ "Civil War Medal of Honor Citations Last names starting with "H" and "I"". American Civil War. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  20. ^ Gordon, William (1914). Major-General George Washington Custis Lee. Richmond, VA: Virginia Historical Society. p. 8. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  21. ^ Wakelyn, Jon L. (1977). Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 282. ISBN 0-8371-6124-X.
  22. ^ Warner, Ezra J. (1959). Baton Rouge, LA (ed.). Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Louisiana State University Press. pp. 183–184, 345. ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.
  23. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients Civil War (M–Z)". Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  24. ^ Tagg, Larry (1998). The Generals of Gettysburg. New York City: Savas Publishing: Da Capo Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 1-882810-30-9. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  25. ^ "Prof. Chaplin's New Post; He will be Chancellor of the Washington University", New York Times, 30 August 1891.
  26. ^ "John Wilson Ruckman". University of Illinois Alumni Association at Urbana. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  27. ^ "Biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower". The White House. The White House. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  28. ^ Bernstein, Adam (29 August 2006). "Robert McDermott; Air Force Academy Dean". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  29. ^ "Schenly Plaza, Schenley Park & Environs" (PDF). University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  30. ^ "General James R. Allen". United States Air Force. 1983. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  31. ^ "Lieutenant General Charles R. Hamm". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  32. ^ Roch, Jessica (1 September 2005). "ST president speaks candidly". Cauldron Online. University of St. Thomas. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  33. ^ "John Mearsheimer". The Globalist. Archived from the original on 14 July 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.

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