LEXINGTON, Va., May 13, 2006 ? Cadet Shawn Hogan?s interest in the U.S. armed forces drove his college search. After four years at Virginia Military Institute, the native of Salem, N.H., discovered that a military college brought out his academic best.
A mechanical engineering major, Hogan has been named the valedictorian for VMI?s Class of 2006. He will share the stage with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld Tuesday (May 16) during VMI?s graduation ceremony. Rumsfeld will deliver the commencement address to the 240 graduates. Forty-seven percent of the graduates will receive commissions in the military.
The graduation ceremony starts at 11 a.m. Tuesday in VMI?s Cameron Hall. Information concerning the day?s events is available at www.vmi.edu/finals.
Hogan will graduate with a minor in writing, a program that took him to Banff, Canada, last summer where he researched micro-hydroelectric power and its use as the town approaches its electrical capacity. Also, he was a member of the cross country and indoor and outdoor track teams since his first year at VMI and was elected captain of the cross country team the past two years.
?Cadet Hogan is one of the best cadets in the department, and he has such a well-rounded background,? said Col. Timothy M. Hodges, professor and head of the mechanical engineering department. ?Shawn was a Rhodes and Marshall scholar candidate, he placed 7th out of 3,600 in an Army ROTC competition, and he won the award for the best thesis in science and engineering. He has unlimited potential and can do just about anything.?
In addition to breaking out of the Rat Line and Ring Figure, both major events during a cadet?s four years at VMI, Hogan counts his senior thesis project as one of the highlights of his academic career. Under the direction of Lt. Col. Matt Hyre, he and classmates Rob Lydon and Darren Wellner designed a beverage pump tap that reduces foam generation during pouring.
Hogan served on the staff for the Corps of Cadet?s 1st Battalion and was operations officer for the Army ROTC?s Marshall New Market Battalion; he was a cadet assistant at Preston Library and a finite mathematics tutor; and he is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta honor societies.
Hodges added that Hogan?s rich and varied background will serve him well as he commissions as a second lieutenant in the Army?s engineering branch. Following training at Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., the cadet expects to be assigned to duty at Fort Drum in New York in December.
Hogan is the son of Richard and Jean Hogan and graduated from Salem High School.
VMI is the nation?s oldest state-supported military college. It has been named America?s top public liberal arts college for five years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.
