be in residence only two weeks every quarter (for a total of twelve weeks for the whole program). Students complete the remainder of their coursework online. Students NPS students are mostly active-duty officers from all branches of the U.S. military, although U.S. Government civilians and officers from approximately 30 partner countries can also matriculate under a variety of programs. Most of the faculty are civilians. Notable alumni Earl E. Stone – class of 1924 – First Director of Armed Forces Security Agency Arleigh Burke – class of 1930 – Chief of Naval Operations Edward J. O’Donnell – 1930s – Superintendent of Naval Postgraduate School 1965-67 Joseph Weber – class of 1945 – Regarded as the "Father of Gravitational Wave Detection" David B. Hertz – class of 1944 – Operations researcher; a pioneer of Monte Carlo methods in finance Stanley Thomas Counts – class of 1955 – Rear Admiral; NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow project manager Wayne E. Meyer – class of 1955 – Regarded as the "Father of Aegis" John H. Miller – class of 1957 – Marine Corps Lieutenant general James D. Watkins – class of 1958 – Secretary of Energy, Chief of Naval Operations Wilbur F. Simlik – class of 1959 – Major general in the Marine Corps Edgar Mitchell – class of 1961 – Astronaut Gerald Carr – class of 1961 – Astronaut Ronald Evans – class of 1964 – Astronaut Paul Weitz – class of 1964 – Astronaut Robert F. Overmyer – class of 1964 – Astronaut Eugene Cernan – class of 1964 – Astronaut Jack Lousma – class of 1965 – Astronaut James G. Roche – class of 1966 – 20th Secretary of the Air Force Michael Smith – class of 1968 – Astronaut James D. Beans – class of 1971 – Marine Corps General Robert Springer – class of 1971 – Astronaut Jon McBride – class of 1971 – Astronaut George A. Fisher Jr. – class of 1972 – retired Army lieutenant general, commander of First United States Army David Leestma – class of 1972 – Astronaut Thomas E. White – class of 1974 – United States Secretary of the Army Patricia Ann Tracey – class of 1974 – First woman to earn third star in the US Navy Glenn Ewing – class of 1975 or 1976 – American microcomputer industry pioneer (IMSAI) Gordon Eubanks – class of 1976 – American microcomputer industry pioneer (IMSAI,