Navy Secretary Ray Mabus relieved Nov. 27, the two top leaders of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) after a Navy investigation revealed evidence of mismanagement and failure to comply with federal statutes and Department of the Navy regulations.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Dan Oliver will step down immediately as the school’s president. Also to be replaced is the school’s provost, Dr. Leonard A. Ferrari .
Navy inspection and investigations into management practices at the prestigious school determined that the school’s leadership fostered an “atmosphere of defiance of statutory requirements and Department of the Navy rules and regulations.”
The investigation found that Oliver misused standard contracting procedures to circumvent federal hiring and compensation authorities. The investigation also found that Oliver and Ferrari inappropriately accepted gifts from an independent private foundation organized to support the school. The inspection determined that school leadership consistently failed to solicit and consider the advice of the school’s technical experts, including its attorneys.
The inspection found a solid institutional commitment to academic integrity at NPS and a strong academic curriculum.
Mabus directed the formation of a working group to be led by Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Mr. Juan M. Garcia . The working group will report directly to Under Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Robert O. Work , and the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mark Ferguson . The group will be charged with directly and indirectly implementing the recommendations of the inspection and investigation reports.
The Naval Postgraduate School is located in Monterey, Calif. Oliver has been serving as the school’s president since April 2007. Ferrari had been provost since July 2006.
Mabus appointed Rear Adm. Jan Tighe as interim NPS President until a permanent president is appointed. Her most recent assignment was on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations as the Director, Decision Superiority. Tighe was awarded a doctorate in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from NPS in 2001. Dr. O. Douglas Moses, who is currently Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, will serve as Acting Provost during the transition.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff,November 29, 2012