Admiral William H. McRaven
Admiral William H. McRaven, is a retired U.S. Navy Four-Star admiral and the former Chancellor of the University of Texas System. During his time in the military, he commanded special operations forces at every level, eventually taking charge of the U.S. Special Operations Command. His career included combat during Desert Storm and both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He commanded the troops that captured Saddam Hussein and rescued Captain Phillips. McRaven is also credited with developing the plan and leading the Osama bin Laden mission in 2011.
As the Chancellor of the UT System he led one of the nation’s largest and most respected systems of higher education. McRaven is a recognized national authority on U.S. foreign policy and has advised Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and other U.S. leaders on defense issues. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Lazard Financial Advisory, as a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Football Foundation, the International Crisis Group, The Mission Continues, The 9/11 Memorial & Museum Board, and ConocoPhillips. He was first runner-up for TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2011, was named to the list of “Top 10 Foreign Policy Experts” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2014, and received the Intrepid Freedom Award for his distinguished service in defending the values of democracy in 2015, among many other awards and honors.
McRaven grew up in San Antonio and graduated from UT Austin in 1977 with a degree in Journalism, and received his master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey in 1991. McRaven is the author of SPEC OPS: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare, and New York Times Best Sellers, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life and Maybe the World, Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations, and The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived. He met his wife, Georgeann, while they were students at UT Austin, and they have three grown children.
As the Chancellor of the UT System he led one of the nation’s largest and most respected systems of higher education. McRaven is a recognized national authority on U.S. foreign policy and has advised Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and other U.S. leaders on defense issues. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Lazard Financial Advisory, as a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Football Foundation, the International Crisis Group, The Mission Continues, The 9/11 Memorial & Museum Board, and ConocoPhillips. He was first runner-up for TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2011, was named to the list of “Top 10 Foreign Policy Experts” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2014, and received the Intrepid Freedom Award for his distinguished service in defending the values of democracy in 2015, among many other awards and honors.
McRaven grew up in San Antonio and graduated from UT Austin in 1977 with a degree in Journalism, and received his master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey in 1991. McRaven is the author of SPEC OPS: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare, and New York Times Best Sellers, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life and Maybe the World, Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations, and The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived. He met his wife, Georgeann, while they were students at UT Austin, and they have three grown children.