# NDU Graduates 686 Students, Including 80 at iCollege

/ Published June 19, 2015
On Thursday, June 18, 2015, the National Defense University conferred Master's Degrees on 686 students.   Among these were 80 NDU Information Resources Management College (iCollege) graduates from the school's Master of Science in Government Information Leadership Degree.  Read below for the full story and visit www.ndu.edu for more information about NDU.  
From the NDU Website -  The National Defense University’s (NDU) main campus graduation was held on Thursday, June 18, at 10:00 a.m., in front of historic Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin E. Dempsey (U.S. Army) was the graduation speaker.General Dempsey became the 18th Chairman in 2011, after serving as the Army’s 37th Chief of Staff. In this capacity, he serves as the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council. Dempsey is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, is a 1974 graduate of the United States Military Academy and holds Master's degrees from Duke University, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and NDU’s National War College. 

During this graduation ceremony, NDU colleges will award 686 degrees:  
      - The  College of International Security Affairs  (CISA) will award 89 Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies degrees with a Concentration in Combating Terrorism
      - The  Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy  (Eisenhower School) will award 309 Master of Science in National Resource Strategy degrees.
      - The  Information Resources Management College  (iCollege) will award 80 Master of Science in Government Information Leadership degrees.
      - The  National War College  (NWC) will award 208 Master of Science in National Security Strategy degrees.

Degrees will be conferred by NDU President, Maj. Gen. Frederick M. Padilla (U.S. Marine Corps); NDU Provost, Dr. John W. Yaeger; and the commandants and chancellors of the colleges:
      - Eisenhower School Commandant,  Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Gorry  (U.S. Marine Corps)
      - CISA Chancellor,  Dr. Michael S. Bell  (Col., U.S. Army, Ret.)
      - National War College Commandant,  Brig. Gen. Guy T. Cosentino  (U.S. Army)
      - iCollege Chancellor,  Rear Admiral Janice M. Hamby  (U.S. Navy)

Officers from the joint force (ArmyNavy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard) comprise more than 50% of this graduating class. Twenty-six percent of this class is composed of civilians from the Department of Defense, Department of State, and many other federal agencies. Additionally, this class also includes 102 international officers from 62 countries, all of which adds tremendous value to the diversity and learning throughout the year.

On June 11, NDU's Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) held the first graduation of its satellite program for the Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) in Tampa, Florida. During this ceremony, Maj. Gen. Padilla conferred degrees to 40 graduates.

Also on June 11, JFSC held a graduation ceremony at NSA Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia. Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser (U.S. Marine Corps), Director for Joint Force Development and an alumnus of NDU’s National War College, was the speaker for JFSC's Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) graduation. In this ceremony, 38 graduates, including 4 international officers, received Master of Science in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy degrees. The next day, on June 12, JFSC’s Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) graduated 243 students, including 10 international officers. Admiral Bill Gortney (U.S. Navy) was the graduation speaker. He is the 6th commander of U.S. Northern Command and the 23rd commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command.

In addition to these graduation ceremonies, 34 CISA-Special Operations Command students graduated on June 4 from the CISA program at the U.S. Army's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) at Fort Bragg, N.C. The graduation speaker was LTG Bennet Sacolick (U.S. Army), director of the strategic operational planning directorate at the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., and former commander of SWCS. Maj. Gen. Padilla and Dr. Bell conferred the students' degrees.