General Myatt is Commencement Speaker
With the war in Iraq in the forefront of the
nation's consciousness, a Sam Houston State University graduate who is no
stranger to military action in the Middle East will be the speaker for commencement
exercises May 17.
 |
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Myatt
|
Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Mike Myatt, who graduated from Sam Houston State
University in 1963 and rose to the rank of brigadier general at the age of
only 46, will speak at ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Johnson Coliseum.
During the morning ceremony degrees will be conferred for the Colleges
of Education and Applied Science and Criminal Justice, and in the afternoon
for Business Administration and Arts and Sciences.
SHSU officials announced that a record number of guests are expected, as
preliminary indications are that there will be a record number of graduates.
Due to the numbers of students and their guests it is probable that there
will be more persons attending than can be seated in the Coliseum.
A live television feed will be available in the Lowman Student Center to
accommodate the possible overflow crowd. Officials said that for future commencements
three exercises may be scheduled instead of two.
In August 1990, in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Myatt was
deployed with his 1st Marine Division of 22,000 Marines to Saudi Arabia.
After six months of training, he led the division in Operation Desert Storm,
the 4-day ground war of February 1991. Myatt's division defeated seven Iraqi
army divisions, seized Kuwait International Airport and liberated Kuwait
City.
After the action in Kuwait, and prior to his retirement in 1995 to work
for the Bechtel Corporation, he served in Korea and at the Pentagon. Early
in his Marine Corps career, Myatt served in various command and staff positions
and completed two combat tours totaling 30 months in Vietnam.
His personal medals and decorations include two Distinguished Service Medals,
the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action, the Defense Superior Service
Medal with Gold Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for
heroism, and the Republic of Korea Distinguished Service Medal and the Vietnamese
Honor Medal, 1st Class.
In 1991 Myatt was presented Sam Houston State University's Distinguished
Alumni Award. His academic background also includes studies at the Naval
Postgraduate School in Monterey, California where he earned a Masters of
Science Degree in Engineering Electronics.
After working for Bechtel, Myatt was selected in September 2001 to be president
and chief executive officer of the Marines' Memorial Association.
- END -
SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
May 5, 2003
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
|
