New trustees bring a diverse background of military and industry expertise to the NWCF Board.

The Naval War College Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of six new members to its Board of Trustees. This brings the number of trustees to 31.

Joining the NWCF Board are ​​RADM Julius Caesar, USN (Ret.), RDML A.B. Cruz III, USN (Ret.), Ralph Isham, Byron Marchant, Doug Matthews, and Howard Morgan.

This will be the third term on the board for Admiral Caesar, who previously served from 2010-2016. A career Surface Warfare Officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Admiral Caesar has had a distinguished career in the military and industry. He currently serves as a technology executive at NetApp, a Fortune 500 global leader in hybrid cloud data services, artificial intelligence and primary data storage. Admiral Caesar is a trustee with the Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, was the President & Executive Director of the U.S. Naval Academy Minority Association, and sits on the Advisory Board for Academy Securities in La Jolla, CA.

Admiral Cruz served in the U.S. Navy for over 33 years before transitioning to the private sector, where he has worked with companies such as USAA, BET, and ARINC. Admiral Cruz currently serves on the boards of Graf Acquisition Corps II/ Diversity, Inclusion & Equity III/IV, Inc. and is a Senior Advisor at BarkerGilmore LLC where he provides executive coaching, leadership development and executive search services to legal leaders, CEOs and corporate boards. He is also the President of the Board of Governors for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Mr. Isham is Managing Partner at GH Ventures, a financial advisory and investment firm that focuses their investments in clean tech, telecommunications, aerospace, new space, and satellites. Mr. Isham is the U.S. Chair of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and is a co-founder of the Brain Trauma Foundation. He formerly served on the President’s Council for International Activities at Yale, as well as on the Board of the East West Institute.

Mr. Marchant is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and currently serves as the President and CEO of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, a position he has held for 12 years. A lawyer by training, Mr. Marchant served as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Administrative Officer for Black Entertainment Television, Washington, DC. He was a partner with the law firm Patton Boggs, LLP, and previously served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Annapolis-based Telecommunications Systems Inc. Mr. Marchant has considerable nonprofit experience, and he currently serves on the board of directors of The Y in Central Maryland, Baltimore Community Foundation, the Board of Trustees for the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association; is a board member of the U. S. Naval Academy Foundation and an honorary trustee for The Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Mr. Matthews is Chairman of the Board and CEO of Interlease, Inc., a company that finances, trades and leases airliners and business jets. A U.S. Naval aviator who served two tours in Vietnam where he earned a Bronze Star with the “V” for heroism, Mr. Matthews pioneered the concept of Commercial Air Services (CAS) for the world’s militaries. At the height of its CAS Operations, Matthews’ company Flight International Inc. operated 65 Learjets, 12 Mitsubishi MU-2 propjet aircraft, a Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter and 24 Kfir Fighters.

Mr. Morgan is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of the private equity firm Argand, as well as a member of its Management Committee and Investment Committee. With over 30 years of private equity experience, Mr. Morgan has also worked extensively with foundations and nonprofits, having served as Director and past Chairman of the Harvard Business School Club of New York, Chairman of the Parkinson’s Foundation, a Director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute and the World Press Institute, and as a Director and Treasurer of the Friends of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

NWCF Trustee Phil Dunmire, chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, commented, “In coordinating the nomination of these six individuals, I saw that a common characteristic was their abiding enthusiasm for joining the efforts of the Foundation in supporting the Naval War College.” He continued, “It is gratifying to have the already impressive Board of Trustees be enhanced with these highly successful and committed new members. Their varied skills and accomplishments will clearly enhance the work of the Foundation in significant ways. They have already signed on to and are engaged in the work of several committees of the Board.”