LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — University of Nebraska system president Ted Carter received the US Naval Academy's Distinguished Graduate Award over the weekend — one of the youngest alumni to ever be selected for the award.
The award celebrates those who served in the Navy and are recognized for leadership, character and service.
Carter was nominated by a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation and was selected by a distinguished panel of Navy alumni.
“This honor confirms that Ted Carter is a leader of the very highest caliber,” said NU Board of Regents Chairman Bob Phares of North Platte. “To have even been nominated is a big deal. To be selected and join a list of some of America’s great public servants is an extraordinary achievement. I am reminded yet again of how fortunate we are to have attracted President Carter to Nebraska to lead our university.”
Carter is a retired Vice Admiral who graduated from the Naval Academy in 1981. After graduating, Carter served over three decades as a Naval Flight Officer where he amassed over 6,300 flying hours and the most carrier-arrested landings in American history.
A graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun), Carter's military service includes serving as commander for the Carrier Strike Group Twelve, in which he commanded 20 ships, two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and two carrier air wings that were deployed to Afghanistan and the Arabian Gulf.
He served as president of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. and eventually became the Naval Academy's 62nd superintendent from 2014 to 2019.
He was among five other alumni honored over the weekend in an Annapolis ceremony.
“‘Humbled’ doesn’t begin to describe the emotions that Lynda and I are feeling,” Carter said. “Public service has been our life’s calling. In anything that we’ve done, we have tried our best to give back some small measure of the opportunities that have been given to us. We are grateful to the Naval Academy family, and to Nebraskans, whose suppose for members of the military is second to none and who have welcomed us so warmly over the past several years.”
Carter has been the University of Nebraska system president since 2020.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage.
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox.
