Gen. Shelton to deliver ECU commencement address

(Apr. 15, 2002)   —   Gen. Hugh Shelton, a native of Tarboro and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the featured address at East Carolina University’s 93rd spring commencement on May 11.

Shelton, who retired from the U.S. Army last year after serving four years as the nation’s top military officer, also will be awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree by ECU. About 2,300 degree candidates will be recognized at the ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The public is invited, and no tickets are required. Chancellor William V. Muse said, “I have had the good fortune to know Gen. Shelton for a number of years, and he embodies the highest ideals of leadership and service. In addition, he is a native son of eastern North Carolina, and both his mother and one of his sons hold degrees from ECU. We are proud and honored that he will help send our graduates into the world this spring.”

Shelton, who earned degrees from North Carolina State and Auburn universities, is a decorated combat veteran who served two tours in Vietnam and was assistant commander for operations of the 101st Airborne Division during the Gulf War. He is a former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, and while serving as commander of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps in 1994, he headed the Joint Task Force that conducted Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.

In his role as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he was the principal military adviser to the President, the secretary of defense and the National Security Council.