University of Nebraska System President Ted Carter has become one of the youngest recipients ever of the U-S Naval Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Award.
The award has been given since 1998 to recognize lifetime service, character, and leadership by alumni of the academy.
The 62-year old Carter is a retired Vice Admiral and former superintendent of the Naval Academy who was named president of the University of Nebraska two years ago. He was one of 5 Academy alumni presented with the award in ceremonies last month.
Nebraska Board of Regents Chairman Bob Phares calls the award “an extraordinary achievement” that confirms Carter is a leader “of the very highest caliber,” adding that it shows “how fortunate” the University of Nebraska is to have him as president.
Carter, a 1981 Academy graduate, says “humbled doesn’t begin to describe the emotions” he and his wife Lynda have felt since getting word he was receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award.
He says public service has been his life’s calling, and he’s tried his best in everything he’s done to “give back some small measure of the opportunities” he’s received,
Carter served for 38 years as a Naval Flight Officer, amassing more than 6,300 flying hours and the most carrier-arrested landings in American history, before becoming President of the Naval War College.
He was later the longest-continuously serving head of the Naval Academy by special request of the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations.
A graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School made famous in the Top Gun movies, he was also commander for the 20-ship Carrier Strike Group 12, which was deployed to Afghanistan and the Arabian Gulf.