Naval Postgraduate School

Naval Postgraduate School
Established	1909
Type	Graduate school
Endowment	$2.2 million[1]
President	Vice Admiral Daniel T. Oliver (Ret.), USN
Location	Monterey, California, USA
Website	www.nps.edu

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is an accredited research university operated by the United States Navy. Located in Monterey, California, it grants master's degrees, Engineer's degrees and doctoral degrees. The school also offers research fellowship opportunities at the postdoctoral level through the National Research Council research associateship program.^[2]

The NPS student population is mostly active-duty officers from all branches of the U.S. Military, although U.S. Government civilians and members of foreign militaries can also matriculate under a variety of programs. Most of the faculty are civilians.

The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) serves a similar purpose. The United States Army does not have a similar institution, choosing instead to send its members to either NPS, AFIT or civilian institutions.

NPS and AFIT should not be confused with military Staff college or War College. The functions are significantly different. NPS and AFIT concentrate on topics traditionally associated with civilian graduate schools, focusing on their application to the military where as Staff Colleges and War Colleges concentrate instead on staff functions, civil-military affairs, tactics and strategy.

Under a recent joint agreement between the Air Force and Navy, and codified by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, AFIT and the Naval Postgraduate School have realigned their academic programs to reduce duplication, and both schools will be under the oversight of a common oversight panel. As an example of the consolidation, Navy officers are sent to learn aeronautical engineering at AFIT, while the Air Force officers learn meteorology at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Prior to being purchased by the U.S. Government, the school's campus was operated as the Del Monte Hotel. Some NPS buildings and the cactus garden date from that time.

Academic structure

NPS offers graduate programs through four graduate schools and 12 departments. The different schools and departments each offer various PhD and M.S. level degrees:

• Graduate School of Business & Public Policy Web page, includes the following departments:

1. Acquisition Management
2. Enterprise Management
3. Financial Management
4. Management
5. Manpower and Economics
6. Operations and Logistics Management

• Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Sciences Web page, includes the following departments:

1. Applied Mathematics Department Web page
2. Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Web Page
3. Mechanical and Astronautical Engineering Department Web page
4. Meteorology Department Web page
5. Oceanography Department Web page
6. Physics Department Web page
7. Systems Engineering Department Web page
8. Space Systems Academic Group Web page
9. Navigation Systems Engineering Institute Web page
10. Under Sea Warfare Systems Academic Committee Web page
11. Remote Sensing Center Web page
12. Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory Web page

• Graduate School of Operational & Information Sciences Web page, includes the following departments:

1. Computer Sciences Department
2. Defense Analysis Department
3. Information Sciences Department
4. Operations Research Department

• School of International Graduate Studies Web page, operates multiple centers, including:

1. National Security Affairs Academic Program
2. Defense Resource Management Institute
3. Center for Contemporary Conflict
4. Center for Civil Military Relations Web page
5. Center for Stabilization Reconstruction and Studies Web page
6. Leadership Development and Education for Sustained Peace Web page
7. International Defense and Acquisition Resource Management Web page
8. Center for Homeland Defense and Security Web page
9. International Graduate Program Office
10. Program for Culture & Conflict Studies Web page

• Center for Homeland Defense & Security

NPS also operates an active Distributed Learning Program and Executive Education Programs for US warfighters and Civilian Government employees.

History

On 9 June 1909, Secretary of the Navy George von L. Meyer signed General Order No. 27, establishing a school of marine engineering at Annapolis, Maryland.

On 31 October 1912, Meyer signed Navy General Order No. 233, which renamed the school the Postgraduate Department of the United States Naval Academy. The order established courses of study in ordnance and gunnery, electrical engineering, radio telegraphy, naval construction, and civil engineering as well as continuing the original program in marine engineering.

During World War II, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, chief of naval operations and commander-in-chief of both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, established a commission to review the role of graduate education in the Navy. In 1945, Congress passed legislation to make the school a fully accredited, degree-granting graduate institution. Two years later, Congress adopted legislation authorizing the purchase of an independent campus for the school.

Herrmann Hall

A post-war review team, which had examined 25 sites nationwide, had recommended the old Hotel Del Monte in Monterey as a new home for the Postgraduate School. Negotiations with the Del Monte Properties Company led to the purchase of the hotel and 627 acres (2.5 km²) of surrounding land for $2.13 million.

In December 1951, the Postgraduate School moved across the nation, establishing its current campus in Monterey. Today, the school has over 40 programs of study including highly regarded M.S and PhD programs in electrical and computer engineering (NRC Ranking 68,^[3][4]), mechanical and astronautical engineering (NRC Ranking 30^[5]), systems engineering, space systems and satellite engineering, physics, oceanography (NRC Ranking 22^[6]), meteorology, applied mathematics,^[7] computer science (NRC Ranking 83^[8]), operations research, business and public policy (AACSB and NASPAA accredited, US News ranking 45^[9]), international relations, and other disciplines, all with an emphasis on military applications. The Space Systems Academic Group of NPS has graduated thirty-three astronauts, more than any other graduate school in the country.^[10][11] NPS is home to the Center for Information Systems Security Studies and Research (CISR)^[12] and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS).^[13] CISR is America's foremost center for defense-related research and education in Information Assurance (IA), Inherently Trustworthy Systems (ITC), and defensive information warfare; and CHDS provides the first homeland security master's degree in the United States.

See also

• America's Army, a training video game developed at the MOVES Institute at NPS
• Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center
• Richard Hamming
• Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Asymmetric Warfare (CAW)
• Official NPS Academic Calendar

References

1. ^ As of 30 June 2009. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2009 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2008 to FY 2009" (PDF). 2009 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2009_NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values.pdf. Retrieved 2 February 2010. 
2. ^ Research Associateship Programs. Sites.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
3. ^ NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas. Stat.tamu.edu. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
4. ^ Electrical & Computer Engineering Rankings. GRE Guide. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
5. ^ NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas. Stat.tamu.edu. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
6. ^ NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas. Stat.tamu.edu. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
7. ^ Naval Postgraduate School – Applied Math. Nps.edu (13 May 2011). Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
8. ^ NRC Rankings in Each of 41 Areas. Stat.tamu.edu. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
9. ^ Best Graduate Schools | Top Graduate Programs | US News Education. Grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
10. ^ http://www.npsfoundation.org/news.php
11. ^ http://www.nps.edu/Academics/GSEAS/SpaceSystems/PDF/NPS_Astronauts.pdf
12. ^ http://cisr.nps.edu/
13. ^ Center for Homeland Defense & Security. Chds.us. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.

External links

• Naval Postgraduate School

Coordinates: 36°35′52″N 121°52′24″W / 36.597889°N 121.873312°W / 36.597889; -121.873312