Photo: United States Navy / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What fascinates me about William McRaven is not the four stars or the chest full of medals — it is the second act. Commanding U.S. Special Operations Command is about as high-pressure as a career gets, yet he pivoted into running the University of Texas System, trading classified briefings for campus budgets. I admire people who treat leadership as a transferable craft rather than a uniform, and McRaven strikes me as exactly that type. The Bronze Star and Legion of Merit tell you he performed under fire; the chancellorship tells you he kept asking what service means after the fighting stops. That arc, to me, is the more impressive decoration.
Overview
William Harry McRaven (born November 6, 1955) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he was the chancellor of The University of Texas System.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- William H. McRaven
- Name (Japanese)
- ウィリアム・マクレイヴン
- Reading
- うぃりあむ・まくれいゔん
- Born
- November 6, 1955 (age 70)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Goat
- Origin
- Pinehurst, North Carolina, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- military officer / admiral
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Theodore Roosevelt High School
- University
- University of Texas at Austin
Awards & achievements
- Bronze Star Medal
- Legionnaire of Legion of Merit
- Presidential Service Badge
- Defense Superior Service Medal
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Combat Action Ribbon
- National Defense Service Medal
- Southwest Asia Service Medal
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Military officer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-10
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.