In the 179 years (180 come October) since its founding, the United States Naval Academy has educated thousands upon thousands of young officers-to-be, instilling in them vital skills, values, and knowledge they need to one day lead Sailors and Marines. The midshipmen fortunate enough to get into, attend, and graduate from the academy and receive commissions as ensigns or second lieutenants spend four years absorbing the important truth of the school’s motto: Ex Scientia Tridens. From Knowledge, Seapower.
The people who’ve taught there over the decades, both civilians and military personnel, included great scholars, legendary heroes, and some people who were both. And the role of overseeing those educators, those midshipmen, and the institution itself has fallen to the men and women who fulfilled the role of Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.
Functioning as essentially a combination of a commanding officer and a college president, the position of superintendent has existed as long as the academy. The list of 64 sailors who bore that title over the years includes those who commanded massive fleets, fought in famed engagements, and introduced indispensable innovations in the world of maritime warfare.
But the newest person to take on the job is wholly different from all of them. Not because he’s not as impressive or dedicated to service as they were, but because he’s simply not a sailor. As of August 15th, for the first time in its history, the Superintendent of the US Naval Academy is a Marine: Lieutenant General Michael J. Borgschulte.
A Brief History of the United States Naval Academy
The US Naval Academy began with the founding of the Naval School on October 10th, 1845, on the grounds of a former US Army post, Fort Severn, in Annapolis, Maryland. Proposals for the establishment of a naval academy date back decades before then, but the decision to actually establish one came about in part as a result of the disastrous 1842 voyage of the USS Somers.
While on a training cruise with a crew mostly made up of teenage midshipmen, the captain arrested and hanged three alleged mutineers including their supposed leader, Midshipman Philip Spencer, the nineteen-year-old son of the Secretary of War.
The hangings and subsequent naval inquiry which exonerated the captain and his officers, dubbed the “Somers Affair,” led to a fair amount of bad press for the Navy. The incident made the need for an organized system and dedicated facility for educating future officers abundantly clear. (And if you’re looking to learn more about this fascinating footnote in military history, check out historian Richard Snow’s Sailing the Graveyard Sea).
In 1850, five years after its founding, the school’s name was changed to the United States Naval Academy. That same year, the school adopted the timeline for its students’ curriculum that is still in effect today: four years of study with summers spent and training at sea. The campus size increased over the following years, and the first granite buildings began to replace the wooden structures of Fort Severn (Interesting History Fact: the only physical structure that remains from the academy’s early years is the Mexican War Midshipmen's Monument, which honors the four US Navy midshipmen who died during the 1846-1848 Mexican American War, two of whom perished when their ship capsized in a sudden storm. The ship? The USS Somers. Yes, that USS Somers).
During the American Civil War, out of concern that the academy could fall into Confederate hands, the teaching of midshipmen moved to Newport Rhode Island until the war’s end in 1865. In September of 1872, James Conyers became the first African-American midshipman to attend, but incessant racial discrimination and physical abuse caused him to resign the following year. The first ever Army-Navy football game, held at the US Military Academy at West Point on November 29th, 1890 ended in a 24-0 Navy victory and included the introduction of the USNA’s iconic goat mascot, stylized “N” logo, and official color scheme of Navy blue and gold.
During WWI (and again in WWII) the curriculum was reduced to three years in order to place more officers on active duty faster. In 1933, graduates began to receive bachelor’s degrees in addition to commissions (all previous alumni still living at the time received degrees as well).
As the 20th century progressed after the Second World War, the academy added more and more new, necessary courses on things like nuclear physics, jet engines, advanced communications systems, and so on. In 1949 Wesley Brown became the USNA’s first African-American graduate and Doctor Samuel P. Massie, a chemist who worked for the Manhattan Project during WWII, became the school’s first African-American teacher in 1966. In 1976, the first 81 female midshipmen to attend the academy were inducted. Four years later, Elizabeth Belzer (later Rowe) and Janie Mines became the first woman and first African-American woman, respectively, to graduate.
With the dawn of the 21st century, facilities and curriculum continued to modernize. The first graduates to leave with degrees in cyber operations did so in 2016. And throughout all of these milestones and adaptations, the US Naval Academy produced thousands upon thousands of Navy and Marine officers who went on to serve their country to the utmost.
Notable Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy
Over the decades the not-all-that-brief above paragraphs summarized, over five dozen sailors of all sorts served as Superintendent of the USNA.
While all deserve recognition for their years of dedication and service, these are a few of the most notable former superintendents:
- Captain Franklin Buchanan: 1st Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and the only one to turn his back on the country he served. He went on to become the only full admiral in the ranks of the Confederate Navy.
- Rear Admiral Louis Goldsborough: 4th Superintendent, Veteran of the Aegean Anti-Piracy Campaign, the Seminole Wars, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War. Was the first officer in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments, which later became the United States Hydrographic Office.
- Admiral David Dixon Porter: 6th Superintendent, son of naval hero David Porter who served in the navies of the United States and Mexico. He began his naval career at age 10 as a midshipman in the Mexican Navy under his father. He joined the US Navy in 1829 and served in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Porter became the second person to reach the rank of admiral in the US Navy on August 15th, 1870 (the first was his adopted brother, Admiral David G. Farragut).
- Rear Admiral John Worden: 7th Superintendent, Veteran of the Mexican-American War and Civil War. He commanded the Navy’s first ironclad, the USS Monitor, during its fight with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
- Rear Admiral Christopher R. P. Rodgers: 8th and 11th Superintendent and the only person to have fulfilled the role twice. Veteran of the Second Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War.
- Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright: 17th Superintendent, great-great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, and veteran of the Spanish-American War and Banana Wars. Was serving as the executive officer of the USS Maine when she exploded in Havana Harbor, setting off the Spanish-American War.
- Admiral Edward Eberle: 24th Superintendent, Veteran of the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and World War I. Went on to become 3rd Chief of Naval Operations.
- Admiral James Holloway Jr.: 35th Superintendent, Veteran of World War I, World War II, and the 1958 Lebanon Crisis. Led the group that devised the Holloway Plan, the basis of the modern Navy ROTC program. Father of Admiral James Holloway III, 20th Chief of Naval Operations.
- Rear Admiral Draper Kaufman: 44th Superintendent, World War II Veteran and recipient of two Navy Crosses. Organized the first Navy Combat Demolition Units, which later developed into the forerunners of the Navy SEALS.
- Vice Admiral William Lawrence: 49th Superintendent and Veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During the latter conflict, he was shot down, captured, and spent six years as a POW in North Vietnam. During that time, he developed a code of wall tapping that allowed others imprisoned with him (including Vice Admiral and Medal of Honor winner James Stockdale and future Arizona Senator John McCain) to communicate. Author of the official State Poem of Tennessee, which he composed in captivity.
- Vice Admiral Walter “Ted” Carter: 62nd Superintendent, Veteran of Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Allied Force. As a Naval Flight Officer, set the still unbeaten record for taking part in the most carrier landings of any naval aviator (over 2,000).
- Vice Admiral Yvette Davids: 65th Superintendent and first female to hold the job. Veteran of the Gulf War and the Second Iraq War.
Who is the New Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy?
Lt. Gen Borgschulte, someone “who his fellow Marines describe as a military hybrid of modern tactics and ancient attitudes” according to the current Secretary of the Navy, graduated from the USNA and received his commission as a Marine second lieutenant in 1991.
After attending flight school at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Borgschulte trained to fly AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters. Over the next decade he served with a number of units all over the world as both an aviator and in a variety of other capacities: as a Forward Air Controller and operations officer with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, the Tactics & Future Operations Officer for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and as the air officer and operations officer for I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). He also attended the Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course in 1998.
Borgschulte deployed to Iraq twice and commanded Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367 during a 7-month deployment to Afghanistan where his Marines and Sailors participated in the Battles of Marjah and Now Zad. After that, he attended the Naval War College to earn an MA in National Security & Strategic Studies. He then took on a role as Division Chief, Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) before being selected to command Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 39 then as the air warfare coordinator for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW).
Two years later he joined the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J-3 as Deputy Director for Operations in the National Military Command Center. Next, he served as Director, Manpower Management, Manpower & Reserve Affairs before becoming commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing aboard MCAS Miramar. In 2024 the Corps promoted him to his current rank and made him Deputy Commandant, Manpower & Reserve Affairs.
News of Lt. Gen Borschulte’s selection as next USNA Superintendent reached the public in mid-July. And on Friday the 15th of August, 2025 at a change of command ceremony attended by, among others, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric Smith, and Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral. James Kilby (also an academy grad), the first woman to serve as superintendent, handed the title over to the first Marine to do so.
Why the Change & What Comes Next
There has been much speculation in the military press as to why General Borgschulte replaced Admiral Davis, particularly after her relatively brief tenure of 17 months compared to the typical three to five years. The Department of Defense has so far offered no explanation for the change of command. But some have wondered if the removal of Davis was a move similar to the firings of Admirals Linda Lee Fagan and Lisa Franchetti (the first female Commandant of the Coast Guard and Chief of Naval Operations, respectively) which occurred (depending on who you ask) either implicitly or explicitly in part due to an ongoing backlash against DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) within the federal government.
However, that seems unlikely in Davis’s case. Officers who serve as USNA Superintendent are required to retire at the end of their tenure unless the Secretary of Defense submits a waiver to Congress to allow them to remain in service. But Davis has already been reaffirmed to retain her rank of vice admiral and been assigned to the position of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, Strategy and Warfighting Development. Ergo, it seems the DoD unquestionably (and justifiably, given her credentials and service record) continues to value the service of Admiral Davis.
So, will this historic change in command lead to big changes at the USNA? Probably not. After all, Borgschulte is himself a graduate of the hallowed institution.
And while this is the first time a man in the uniform of a leatherneck will preside over the classes of midshipmen clad in Navy whites, there have been Marines present on the ground of the Naval Academy in a variety of roles since the 1860s. The two services have been inseparably tied together since their respective founding in the autumn of 1775, and the appointment of a Devil Dog to the top post at the Naval Academy is likely nothing more than a reflection of those ties.
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