Richard Robert McNulty was a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and a former

United States Maritime Service The United States Maritime Service (USMS) was established in 1938 under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 as voluntary training organization to train individuals to become officers and crewmembers on merchant ships that form the ...

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of North Shore (Massachusetts), Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. ...

, on April 20, 1899, and died in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, on November 1, 1980. The

United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipman, midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serv ...

community considers Vice Admiral McNulty, a World War II veteran, who had long advocated for the academy's creation, its "Father".
USMMA The academy's McNulty Campus is named for the vice admiral. He served as the academy's 3rd superintendent. Vice Admiral McNulty was, too, a professor emeritus at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Career

McNulty served as a

Merchant marine officer A licensed mariner is a sailor who holds a license from a maritime authority to hold senior officer-level positions aboard ships, boats, and similar vessels. Qualification standards for licensed mariners are universally set by the STCW Conventio ...

from 1917 to 1920. Beginning as a nautical specialist, he served with the U.S. Dept. of Navy from 1920 to 1937. McNulty was supervisor of the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps of the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The co ...

from 1938 to 1948. He was on active duty in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1942 until 1946, attaining the rank of commodore.''Merriam Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary'', p 250 In 1946, McNulty was appointed the 3rd superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, the latest of the five United States Service academies and an institution for which McNulty had advocated since the late 1920s. He served as the academy's superintendent until his retirement from the military in 1948. McNulty was a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Engineers.''Marquis Who's Who in America'', Vol. 27 (1952-1953), Chicago, A.N. Marquis Co., © 1952, p. 1658

Education

Richard Robert McNulty graduated from the Massachusetts Nautical School (1919). He received a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (1922).

Major military decorations

Order of Naval Merit (Cuba) The Cuban Order of Naval Merit (Spanish: ''Orden cubana al mérito naval''; First Class) was a medal of special merit. The Cuban Order of Naval Merit was a state order of chivalry or merit. Its medals, awarded by the Cuban government from the 1920s ...

(1939) *

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

(1946)

Other honors

*Georgetown University's McNulty Foreign Service Scholarship (established 1945) is named for Vice Admiral McNulty. *The Vice Admiral Richard R. McNulty Award is among the awards bestowed annually upon members of the USMMA graduating class.

References

External links

USMMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNulty, Richard R. 1899 births 1980 deaths People from Gloucester, Massachusetts United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Georgetown University faculty United States Merchant Marine Academy superintendents Military personnel from Massachusetts 20th-century American academics