MONTEREY, Calif. — The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) celebrated its 2026 Summer graduating class Sept. 25, awarding 179 degrees to 177 graduates prepared to apply their education to challenges facing the fleet, joint force, government and allied partners.
Retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Ann E. Rondeau, president of NPS, opened the commencement ceremony and emphasized how relationships built through experience represent an important outcome of an NPS education, particularly when graduates may later find themselves working together under pressure.
“What's core is trust,” Rondeau said. “Trust that we are competent, that we are confident, that we can lead the team to the best possible solution with information changing every second.”
Rondeau said trust is built through competence, experience and candid communication. In an environment where information can change rapidly and decisions carry significant consequences, those relationships can help leaders challenge assumptions, share information and act with confidence.
At NPS, those relationships develop among students from across the military, government, and allied and partner nations. Together, they learn, conduct research and solve problems together while bringing different experiences to the classroom.
The Summer class included 26 international graduates representing 14 countries.
Commencement speaker Hank Plain, board chair of the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation, reinforced the connection between people, technology and mission.
During his decade with the NPS Foundation, Plain has helped connect NPS students and faculty with industry expertise, resources and technologies intended to accelerate defense-focused education and research. He told graduates the value of those efforts ultimately depends on what they enable people to accomplish.
“Innovation's not just an abstract idea here, and NPS innovation is measured by whether a decision can be better made, whether a mission can be carried out more effectively, whether a service member can be protected, and whether conflict can be deterred,” Plain said.
Plain said the combination of operational experience and academic rigor distinguishes the NPS environment, placing people familiar with real-world problems alongside faculty, researchers and classmates who can challenge how those problems are understood and approached.
The relationships formed at NPS also extend beyond individual services and national boundaries. Plain told graduates that classmates sitting beside them today could become leaders they turn to later in their careers, giving them an established foundation of trust before a crisis or conflict occurs.
As the graduates leave Monterey for their next assignments, Plain challenged them to carry forward more than the technical knowledge represented by their degrees.
“Your NPS education has given you more than technical knowledge,” Plain said. “It's strengthened your ability to think critically, to question assumptions, to work across disciplines, and to make sound decisions when the facts are incomplete and the stakes are high.”
The ceremony marked the end of the graduates’ formal studies at NPS, but also the point at which that education returns to the organizations and nations they serve. Their impact will ultimately be measured not only by what they learned, but by how they apply that knowledge, exercise judgment and use the relationships built at NPS when the mission demands it.
NPS, located in Monterey, California, provides warfighting-focused graduate education, including classified studies and interdisciplinary research, to advance the operational effectiveness, technological leadership and warfighting advantage of the naval service. Established in 1909, NPS offers master’s, doctoral and distance-learning certificate programs to U.S. Department of War military and civilian students, as well as to international partners, to develop warfighters and leaders who can think critically, solve complex operational problems and deliver mission-ready solutions through advanced education and research.
To learn more about our graduates, visit our NPS Graduation site.