VFMC building soon to bear name of national security advisor
RADNOR » Valley Forge Military College will officially rename its Center for Advancement of Security Studies in honor of alumnus Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, and an esteemed alumnus of Valley Forge Military Academy. The renaming will take place in the spring.
The new H.R. McMaster Center for Security Studies, or simply The McMaster Center, will transition from a virtual coordinating center housing faculty expertise to one that will develop training and education programs for VFMC cadets as well as law enforcement agencies, business executives, national security professionals, policy makers, and others. It will merge academics with practitioners, and focus on becoming a nationally recognized non-partisan researchdriven academic organization.
Renaming the center emphasizes VFMC’s recognition as the only junior military college in the country and the only two-year college in Pennsylvania designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Two Year Education (CAE2Y) by the NSA and DHS.
The center was founded and is led by Earl J. Catagnus Jr., Ph.D., a former U.S. Marine scout/sniper and Purple Heart recipient. He will continue to lead the effort to make VFMC the premier institution for developing basically-trained and educated national security professionals.
“We are honored to bestow this designation upon such a distinguished member of our Valley Forge Community,” said Maureen Malone, dean of Valley Forge Military College. “Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster is a true patriot that embodies the mission and values of being educated in a military environment and represents what it truly means to serve your country.”
“It is a great honor to have my name on the Center that will help dedicated young men and women think about how to promote peace and advance security for our nation and all humanity,” McMaster said.
McMaster, who graduated from VFMA in 1980, began serving in the Army after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1984. His military career includes assignments as Commanding General at Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, and as Commander for the Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force Shafafiyat (Transparency) in Kabul, Afghanistan. McMaster was also recently presented with an honorary degree from Valley Forge Military College.