Naval Postgraduate School

05/29/2026

Thank you for 25 years of honorable service! U.S. Navy Cmdr. Carl Liptak recently celebrated his retirement and the culmination of his impactful career as a naval aviator and more recently as the Naval Postgraduate School’s Deputy Dean of Students.

During a May 15 ceremony, NPS President retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau presented Liptak with the Meritorious Service Medal. From April 2024 to June 2026, his dedication to operational readiness and academic success directly supported more than 3,000 military, civilian, and international students. Liptak successfully orchestrated multiple graduations, incoming/outgoing classes, command-wide events, and significant administrative efforts to improve student services and the certifications of the school’s Twin Otter research aircraft.

Reflecting on his career and time at NPS, Liptak offered parting advice to the students he guided: “In the age of AI inference, those who have the disciplined curiosity to formulate great questions will be valuable. The world is full of doom and hype, so build a set of internal principles to evaluate the world and yourself against. Be uncompromising in assessment of performance, but compassionate with yourself and your teammates.”

Congratulations to Cmdr. Liptak and his family on a distinguished Navy career and we wish them "fair winds and following seas."

- Learn more about the NPS Dean of Students office: https://nps.edu/web/students

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Naval Aviation Enterprise

05/28/2026

The Dudley Knox Library at NPS plays a critical role in the school’s mission, tailored to defense education with unique security collections, classified materials, and a comprehensive research repository. The Library of Congress recently announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship, and the NPS Library team received the inaugural Project of the Year Award.

The award recognizes the success of the Institutional Repository Revitalization Project. By modernizing the Calhoun database—which archives more than 70,000 theses, dissertations and defense-focused research reports—the library team has enhanced the discovery and usability of critical information for researchers and students.

The modernization effort utilized automated content acquisition tools and workflow redesigns, reducing ticket resolution time by more than 66% and expanding the library’s ability to preserve digital scholarly materials.

"This project is not just a technical enhancement; it is an important investment in the future of NPS," said NPS Librarian Edward Corrado. "It stands as an innovative model within the federal library community, setting a benchmark for creativity, adaptability and mission-driven excellence."

Congratulations to the Digital Strategies and Technology team on this national achievement. The team is scheduled to be recognized at an awards ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., this July.

- Read the full story: https://nps.edu/-/library-of-congress-recognizes-nps-library-for-project-of-the-year
- More about the NPS Dudley Knox Library: https://library.nps.edu/about-us

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao | The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations | The Library of Congress United States Naval Academy U.S. Naval War College | Office of Naval Research

05/26/2026

Bravo Zulu! Earlier this month, the Monterey Bay Chapter of the Surface Navy Association (SNA) proudly presented the Stephen Decatur Jr. Award to Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) Cadet Senior Chief Pratik Manandhar and Cadet Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Marino at Monterey High School.

The Monterey Bay Chapter of SNA is led entirely by Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) students, and serves as the Wardroom for Surface Warfare Officers and Sailors assigned to NPS and in the Monterey area. They are committed to building strong ties with the local community, including other local commands, schools, and area organizations.

The Stephen Decatur, Jr. Award recognizes cadets who demonstrate exceptional leadership, academic excellence, and a strong commitment to the values of the Surface Warfare community. Congratulations to the awardees and the entire Monterey High School NJROTC unit on this outstanding achievement! The unit is led by their instructor and retired U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Robert Kerchner.

Pictured are the three U.S. Navy lieutenants from NPS: Yev Mizin, Kailah O’Brien, Steven Cleaves and awardees. Well done!

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Monterey Bay Surface Navy Association | Surface Warriors

05/25/2026

05/21/2026

Alumni in Action: U.S. Navy Lt. Jonathan Shepherd, an NPS ’21 graduate in Operations Research, was recognized by Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic (CNSL) for his innovative solution to speed prioritization of shipboard maintenance, called LOOKOUT AI, and is set to revolutionize how the surface fleet approaches this previously manual task. Shepherd’s invention was created in under six weeks using enterprise available tools at no extra cost to or contracts from the U.S. Government.

"LOOKOUT AI is designed to improve our shipboard maintenance process by making high-priority jobs within the Current Ship's Maintenance Projects (CSMP) immediately visible and easier to manage,” said Shepherd. “Commanders have so many responsibilities, so this tool allows them to easily see which jobs need more attention at any given time.”

Shepherd is currently embedded with CNSL for an intermediate stop before continuing to his next billet at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations’ Assessments Division (OPNAV N81) in Washington, D.C.

"For other Junior Officers and Sailors who have an idea to support the fleet, think outside the box and don’t stop at obstacles that present themselves,” Shepherd added. “Your contributions and efforts are so valuable to the Navy.”

While at NPS, Shepherd honed his skills in problem solving and applied research and stood out here amongst his peers, earning both the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) Tisdale Award and the Surface Navy Association Award for Excellence.

“I did my thesis research on the SPY-6 radar, the newest and most sophisticated Integrated Air and Missile Defense sensor in the fleet,” said Shepherd. “My research helps accurately and precisely quantify what factors affect new radar performance with the objective of enabling commanders and commanding officers the ability to accurately employ this new fleet capability against sophisticated threats to the Navy.”

As an NPS Meyer Scholar, a program devoted to solving the real-world challenges of air and missile defense, Shepherd says there is nothing like NPS when it comes to conducting the research he pioneered.

"At NPS, we have something that very few universities have, classified research capabilities," said Shepherd. “All the experts that I got to work with and learn from all while in a secret space has been an experience like no other. This is a place that is unique and there’s no other place that I could’ve conducted this research.”

- Read the full story: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/564643/navy-lieutenant-recognized-innovative-ai-maintenance-tool-lookout-ai
- More about Operations Research at NPS: https://nps.edu/web/or
- Learn about Meyer Scholars: https://nps.edu/web/meyer-scholars

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Commander Naval Surface Force Atlantic | The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations | Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao | Surface Warriors

05/20/2026

“Accelerating Warfighting Capabilities” was the theme of this year’s Acquisition Research Symposium at NPS, which drew a record number of registrants and was broadcast virtually to nearly 1,800 participants around the world.

The symposium featured keynote remarks from senior acquisition leaders in the Pentagon, including the Honorable Michael P. Duffey, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, and Jason L. Potter, performing the duties of Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition).

Potter used his keynote address to highlight the U.S. Navy’s establishment of key portfolio acquisition executives, as well as the new Rapid Capability Office, as part of a broader acquisition reform effort aimed at shortening development timelines and increasing accountability. “We’re moving Navy acquisition from a compliance-based bureaucracy to an outcome-focused warfighting enterprise,” Potter said.

In the day two keynote, Duffey outlined the department’s transformational efforts to improve acquisition, emphasizing the need to accelerate delivery of capability through a more agile approach that accepts greater program risk to reduce operational risk. “We must transition from a culture that rewards process over outcomes to one that is singularly focused on speed and ex*****on,” said Duffey.

“This symposium continues to provide an important venue for research that informs acquisition decision-making across the department,” said retired U.S. Army Col. Robert F. Mortlock, Ph.D. and professor of the practice at NPS for Defense Acquisition and Program Management. “The work presented here helps connect analysis, operational needs and acquisition outcomes in ways that support the warfighter.”

- Read the full story: https://nps.edu/-/annual-nps-symposium-explores-defense-acquisition-innovation
- Checkout this highlights video from the 2026 ARP Symposium:
- See all the ARP Symposium research papers:
- More about the NPS Department of Acquisition, Finance, and Manpower department: https://nps.edu/web/dafm

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao | The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations | Office of Naval Research |

05/19/2026

“Few individuals have had a greater impact on strengthening the connection between the fleet and advanced education, applied research, and mission-driven innovation at NPS than Jeff Kline,” said NPS president retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau.

A former surface warfare officer, commanding officer, and senior naval analyst, longtime NPS professor of the practice and retired U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Kline recently celebrated his second retirement — from a distinguished career in academia — bringing his combined service, on active duty and in teaching at NPS, to more than 47 years!

From NPS’ highly-respected Warfare Innovation Continuum to his leadership of the Systems Engineering Analysis program and thousands of students in between, Kline’s impact on the campus, and the naval profession, is immeasurable. Lyla Englehorn, concepts branch lead in NPS’ Office of Warfare Studies, has worked closely with Kline through the WIC’s ex*****on.

“Collaboration was key to the Warfare Innovation Continuum framework, as envisioned, designed and executed by Kline,” said Englehorn. “The vast variety of inputs from faculty and students resulted in a more robust analysis of a key operational challenge than one scholar or group could produce alone.”

“Through decades of service as a naval officer, scholar, mentor and innovator, he helped shape generations of warrior-scholars while ensuring NPS remained firmly connected to the real challenges facing the naval services,” Rondeau said. “His leadership of the Warfare Innovation Continuum and his commitment to students and rigorous analysis to operational problems leave a lasting legacy not only at NPS, but across the Navy and Marine Corps.”

• Check out the full story to learn more about Kline’s extraordinary impact on NPS and the naval services: https://nps.edu/-/longtime-nps-faculty-member-jeff-kline-retires-leaving-impactful-legacy-on-nps-u.s.-navy
• More about the Warfare Innovation Continuum: https://nps.edu/web/office-of-warfare-studies/warfare-innovation-workshops

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Surface Warriors

05/15/2026

Announced by the Library of Congress early this month, the Digital Strategies and Technology (DS&T) team at Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Dudley Knox Library has been awarded the first-ever FEDLINK Project of the Year Award for its work to advance the NPS institutional archive, Calhoun, improving access to the school’s academic and institutional knowledge while strengthening long-term digital preservation.

“We are honored to receive the first ever Project of the Year Award offered by FEDLINK and we are excited to continue this important work,” said Stacy DeMatteo, supervisory librarian for Dudley Knox Library’s DS&T team. “This multifaceted project engaged the entire team in collaborative innovation, resulting in improved workflows, greater operational efficiency, and expanded skill sets.”

Launched in fiscal year 2025, the project followed a major system upgrade and focused on redesigning Calhoun’s information architecture, introducing automated content acquisition tools, improving metadata standards, and strengthening integration with the library discovery layer.

These efforts improved access to more than 70,000 repository records for NPS researchers, while improving the library’s ability to identify and preserve newly emerging scholarly and historical materials.

A core objective of the Dudley Knox Library (DKL) is to “assure institutional memory through a centralized repository for the NPS scholarly record and archives,” as noted on DKL’s website. The initiative directly supported that mission through improved metadata consistency, automation and integration.

Since implementation, the DS&T team has recorded more than 46,000 record updates and more than 1,200 new submissions, while their workflow improvements reduced ticket resolution time by more than 65 percent.

FEDLINK, the Federal Library and Information Network, is an organization of federal libraries and agencies working together to achieve optimum use of the resources and facilities of federal libraries and information centers.

• Learn more about NPS' Dudley Knox Library: https://library.nps.edu/

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | The Library of Congress

05/13/2026

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) welcomed U.S. Navy Adm. William Houston, director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, for a visit to campus and closer look at key NPS education and research programs impacting the Naval Reactors enterprise. Houston was on the Monterey Peninsula to support the region’s recognition of the 126th anniversary of the Navy’s submarine force.

“It was an honor to celebrate the birthday of the submarine force with the men and women at NPS,” said Houston. “Throughout its history, NPS has played a crucial role in advancing the technologies, systems and tactics that define undersea warfare; sharpening the intelligence, toughness and discipline of the officers who lead it; and ultimately delivering a decisive warfighting advantage for our nation.”

Prior to serving as guest of honor for the region’s Submarine Birthday Ball, April 18, Houston spent a few hours at the NPS Lab Annex for a series of briefs by students and faculty helping advance Naval Nuclear Propulsion’s mission to power a global fleet for maritime dominance.

NPS’ long-standing support to the organization includes specialized programs in mechanical and electrical engineering specifically supporting active duty and civilian employees at Naval Reactors. The school has also developed new curricula in nuclear engineering, and is exploring additional tracks capitalizing on the school’s expertise in organizational leadership and engineering management, tailored specifically for nuclear trained officers.

In addition, several research efforts supporting Naval Reactors were briefed by the NPS warrior scholars leading the discovery, including students on campus through the long-standing Bowman Scholar program in coordination with the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as the new Deep-Sea Scholars program.

Similar to the successful Shoemaker Scholars program for Student Naval Aviators, the Deep-Sea Scholars program provides an accelerated one-year master’s in a range of NPS curricula for high-performing future submariners commissioning through the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program or through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps.

• More about Undersea Warfare at NPS: https://nps.edu/web/usw

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao | The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations | Naval Reactors | Commander, Submarine Forces | COMSUBPAC

05/12/2026

Congratulations! Dr. Dorothy Denning, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Department of Defense Analysis and a globally recognized pioneer in cybersecurity, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Class of 2026.

“I was completely surprised — I didn’t know I was even being considered,” Denning said. “Of course, it’s wonderful to be recognized for my contributions to cybersecurity, but what has always meant the most to me is hearing from a student that I made a difference in their life, whether through a class or as a thesis advisor. Being able to work with our students at NPS was a great honor.”

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional honors awarded to engineers and computer scientists worldwide, recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to research, practice, and education. Denning’s selection reflects a career of foundational impact on modern cybersecurity, including her development of the lattice model for secure authorization and early work in intrusion detection systems — innovations that continue to shape the field today.

A trailblazer in information security, Denning is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in cybersecurity, with her research helping define the fields of cryptology, data security, and information warfare. During her tenure at NPS from 2002 to 2016, she focused her research on cyber conflict and security while mentoring the next generation of military and civilian leaders in the field. She is the author of four books and more than 200 scholarly articles, and was among the first inductees into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame in 2012.

Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides expert advice to the U.S. government and advances the engineering profession. Operating under the same congressional charter as the National Academy of Sciences, the NAE plays a critical role in addressing complex national challenges through engineering leadership.

The NAE Class of 2026 will be formally inducted during the academy’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in October.

• More about Defense Analysis at NPS: https://nps.edu/web/da

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

05/08/2026

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is honored to mark a unique convergence of milestones. Today is the 100th anniversary of the reopening of the Hotel Del Monte following a destructive fire in 1924, as we also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Del Monte’s campus serving as the future home of NPS, beginning its move from the U.S. Naval Academy to its current location in Monterey in 1951.

On May 8, 1926, the iconic Spanish Revival reconstruction of the historic Hotel Del Monte was reopened following a devastating fire, marking the rebirth of one of California’s most celebrated landmarks. But during World War II, the hotel took on a new mission in service to the nation as a naval aviation training school — a foreshadowing of the campus’ enduring role in preparing military leaders for future challenges.

Following the war, the U.S. Navy began establishing its future in Monterey, with the General Line School relocating here in 1948. U.S. Navy Capt. Frank Watkins, head of the line school at the time, presented a check for $2.148 million to officials of the Del Monte Properties Company to complete the Navy’s acquisition of the property, formally beginning the next chapter in the Del Monte’s history.

To meet the unique needs of naval graduate education, NPS would soon establish its permanent home in Monterey, relocating in 1951 and transforming the remarkable campus into a center for advanced defense education, research, and innovation serving the Navy and national defense.

Today, the historic campus continues its enduring mission — preparing warfighters and leaders to confront the challenges of an increasingly complex world. From luxury resort, to wartime service, to a world-class defense-focused graduate university, the story of Herrmann Hall and NPS reflects the American spirit of resilience, adaptation, innovation, and purpose.

A century after the rebirth of the Hotel Del Monte, and 75 years following the arrival of NPS, the campus remains dedicated to its mission of service, preparing leaders for the future.

• More about the history of NPS: https://library.nps.edu/nps-history

U.S. Navy | U.S. Marine Corps | Naval History & Heritage Command

📸 - NPS Dudley Knox Library Special Collections & Archives