Education 2025: KELLY, REAR ADM. WILLIAM G. (U.S. COAST GUARD, RET.)

After nearly four decades of service in the U.S. Coast Guard, Kelly became CNU’s sixth president in 2023.

Founded in 1960 as Christopher Newport College, a two-year branch of William & Mary, CNU is a four-year public university with about 5,000 students. The new Science and Engineering Research Center is under construction and expected to open in January 2026.

Before coming to CNU, Kelly served as the 42nd superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he is a 1987 alum.

Kelly has a master’s degree in instructional systems design from Florida State University and a certificate in human resource management.

His awards include the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal and the permanent Cutterman’s Pin.

Kelly was awarded the Federal Government Distance Learning Association Diamond Award and served as an adjunct professor at Florida State.

The New York native served as chair of the Coast Guard Academy’s board of trustees, president of the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance’s board of directors and as a member of the NCAA’s Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee.

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