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Dan McCarthy

Presidential Honorary Degree

Dan McCarthy completed a 38-year career in the United States Navy in 2007. Retiring as a vice admiral, his final assignment was as deputy chief of naval operations, fleet readiness and logistics, during which he was responsible for Navy-wide policy, programming and resourcing for fleet readiness, logistics, strategic sealift, Navy installations and environmental programs.

McCarthy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Oakland University and is both a distinguished graduate and distinguished alumni of the Naval Postgraduate School, where he earned a Master of Science degree in management.

A lifelong Scouter leader, McCarthy served more than 50 years as a volunteer at unit, district, council, regional and national levels. He was selected to head the development and operation of Scouting’s new high-adventure base in West Virginia, a site bordering on the New River Gorge National Park. In April 2012, McCarthy became the group director of the Boy Scouts of America’s Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, where he oversaw the development and operations of a 14,000-acre recreational facility that will become a centerpiece of scouting for the next century.

The new site incorporates extreme high adventure activities, a training center, a Scout Camp and year-round adventures for Scouts and other youth groups from all over the country. The National Scout Jamboree in the summer of 2013 was the opening event of The Summit. National Jamborees will be held on the site every four years thereafter, as will the World Scout Jamboree in 2019.