“I feel very fortunate that the foundation for my run through life was the Naval Academy. Most important, it established a set of personal values. Receiving this award makes me all the more aware of the great debt I owe to the Naval Academy, my classmates and to the Navy, so I want to thank them all.” DR. BRADFORD PARKINSON ’57 rowing up in Minnesota, Dr. Bradford the accuracy and capabilities of GPS and GParkinson ’57 was very active in the for this Parkinson was awarded the Defense Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Department Superior Performance Award Scout. He entered the Naval Academy with as the best program director in the Air the Class of 1957, and upon graduating Force. Parkinson continues his pioneering he accepted a commission as a second work with GPS, which is now implemented lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. In by more than one billion users. 1961 he earned a master of science in Upon retiring from the Air Force as aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, a colonel in 1978, Parkinson held several followed by a doctorate in aeronautics positions in academia at Colorado State and astronautics at Stanford in 1966. In University and Stanford University, as 1972, he became a distinguished graduate well as multiple president and CEO of the U.S. Naval War College. positions in the private sector, including Throughout two decades of service PlantStar and Trimble Navigation. in the Air Force, Parkinson held a variety An appointed member of the of positions, including U.S. Air Force Test Presidential Commission on Air Safety Pilot School academic instructor and and Security by President Bill Clinton, chief of the simulation division; was on he is a fellow of multiple societies and the team of developers for the modern institutions and his work has also earned AC-130 Gunship and later was one of him numerous awards and commendations, the first to deploy with the new aircraft. including the Draper Prize of the NAE, His military decorations include the sometimes called the Engineer’s Nobel. Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, The Naval Academy midshipmen-built Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medals satellite, ParkinsonSat, is named in his and a Presidential Unit Citation. honor. He is also a member of the Naval In his final assignment in the Air Academy Foundation’s Robert Means Force, Parkinson directed the effort to Thompson Society and the Superintendent’s develop the Global Positioning System Society, as well as a lifetime member of (GPS), a worldwide satellite-based the Naval Academy Alumni Association. navigation system. He not only designed He and his wife, Virginia, live in San the system but also led the fight to gain Luis Obispo, CA. Nearby in California Department of Defense approval. His are their six children: Leslie, Bradford II, program went above and beyond proving Eric, Ian, Bruce and Jared. 9.