U.S. Secretary of the Navy to deliver commencement address

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus

GREENVILLE, N.C.  —   United States Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the spring 2011 commencement address at East Carolina University May 6 in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

As the nation’s 75th secretary, Mabus leads the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, managing an annual budget that exceeds $150 billion. Mabus is responsible for recruiting, organizing, supplying equipping, training and mobilizing the Department of the Navy. He formulates and implements policies and programs consistent with policies established by the nation’s president and secretary of defense.

As the former governor of Mississippi, Mabus focused on education and job creation and was named one of Fortune Magazine’s top 10 education governors. Under the Clinton administration, he served as ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and during his tenure, successfully defused a situation that would have led to a Saudi boycott of U.S. businesses trading with Israel. He has served as Mississippi’s state auditor and as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, aboard the USS Little Rock.

A native of Ackerman, Miss., Mabus holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, the U.S. Army’s Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Martin Luther King Social Responsibility Award from the King Center in Atlanta, the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award, the King Abdul Aziz Award from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Mississippi Association of Educators’ Friend of Education Award.

The ECU spring commencement ceremony is scheduled to begin with a processional at 9 a.m. For additional information on the commencement ceremony, visit http://www.ecu.edu/commencement/.