Naval Postgraduate School

The mission of the Naval Postgraduate School is to provide relevant and unique advanced education and research programs to increase the combat effectiveness of commissioned officers of the Naval Service to enhance the security of the United States. In support of the foregoing, and to sustain academic excellence, NPS and the DON foster and encourage a program of relevant and meritorious research which both supports the needs of Navy and Department of Defense while building the intellectual capital of Naval Postgraduate School faculty. The idea for a graduate education program for naval officers first emerged in the late 19th century but, initially, the concept found few advocates. With Marconi's invention of the "wireless" in 1901, the Wright brothers' flight in 1903, and the global trek of the steam-powered White Fleet from 1907 to 1909, belief that advanced education for U.S naval officers could be intrinsically valuable to the Navy gained support. On June 9, 1909, less than four months after the completion of the record-setting world cruise of the Great White Fleet, Secretary of the Navy George von L. Meyer signed General Order No. 27, establishing a school of marine engineering at Annapolis.