Howard D . Graves Howard Dwayne Graves ( August 15 , 1939 – September 13 , 2003 ) was a former United States Army Lieutenant General , Superintendent of the United States Military Academy ( 1991 – 1996 ) , and Chancellor of Texas A & M University ( 1999 – 2003 ) . A 1961 graduate of West Point , he was a Rhodes Scholar , earning three degrees from Oxford during his army career . During his service in the Army , he was the personal aide to two Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ; Admiral William J . Crowe and General Colin L . Powell . Early life and education . Graves was born in Roaring Springs , Texas to Tommy J . and Velma Lee Clifton Graves . He almost drowned trying to baptise a cat in a pond behind their home but was revived at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was close to their rural home . After spending his youth in Amarillo , Texas and graduating from Amarillo High School in 1957 , Graves received an appointment to West Point as a member of the class of 1961 . Upon graduation , he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Engineer branch in 1961 . He earned a Rhodes Scholar ship and spent the first three years of his military career at Oxford , earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964 . He was advanced to Master of Arts in 1968 and gained a Master of Letters degree in 1971 . Early military career . Upon returning to the United States from his first tour at Oxford , he joined the 82nd Airborne Division where he commanded an Engineer company in the Dominican Republic in 1965 . He saw combat in Vietnam , 1968 – 1969 , where he was an Engineer Battalion S - 3 and Assistant Division Engineer for the First Cavalry Division . After his second tour at Oxford , Graves returned to West Point in 1970 , assigned to the Department of Social Sciences , where he taught International Relations and Comparative Foreign Governments . Senior military career . In 1974 , Graves was appointed Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense , James Schlesinger . His duties included coordinating Schlesinger ' s travel and public appearances , preparing briefings and speeches for Congressional hearings , and providing counsel on matters affecting the Army . In 1976 , Graves took command of the 54th Engineer Battalion in Germany , returning to the United States in 1978 to attend the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania . After graduation , he served on the faculty of the War College for the next two years . In 1980 , Graves took command of the 20th Engineer Brigade . He was then promoted to Brigadier General , after which he joined the First Cavalry Division in 1982 as the Assistant Division Commander . The next year , Graves was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff , Engineer , U . S . Army Forces Command . In 1984 , Graves became Deputy Director for Strategy , Plans , and Policy , of the Army Staff . The next year he was promoted to Vice Director of the Joint Staff . In 1987 , Graves was appointed Commandant of the Army War College . Lieutenant General Graves then returned to Washington , D . C . to become Assistant to the Chairman , Joint Chiefs of Staff . In 1991 , Graves was appointed the 54th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy , a position he held until his retirement in 1996 . Post military . Graves later joined the Harry Guggenheim Foundation as a Director and in 1998 was visiting Professor , Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Service at the University of Texas . In 1999 , He was selected to be the 11th Chancellor of the Texas A & M University System . During his tenure as chancellor , Texas A & M added three new universities to its system , Texas A & M University – San Antonio , Tarleton State University - Central Texas in Killeen , West Texas A & M University in Canyon , Texas . Graves battled cancer for several years , finally succumbing at his home in College Station , Texas on September 13 , 2003 . He is survived by his wife , Gracie Newman Graves , son , Colonel Gregory Howard Graves who is also graduate of West Point ( class of 1988 ) and wife Wya Graves , daughter Gigi Graves Kail and husband the late Colonel Eric Kail who was an Army officer , sister Dwanelle Graves van Dyk . He is interred at the West Point Cemetery