Lt. Gen Julius Becton, Jr. (Retired USA) - Member, Board of Trustees
Lt. General Julius Wesley Becton, Jr. graduated from Prairie View A & M College of Texas in 1960 as a non-traditional student with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. He earned his MA degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 1966. He is a 1970 graduate of the National War College. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Huston-Tillotson College, Muhlenberg College, Prairie View A&M University, The Citadel, and Dickinson College.
A native of Bryn Mawr, PA, he joined the Army Air Corps Enlisted Reserves in 1943, entered active duty in 1944 as a private, was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry 1945, and after serving almost 40 years in the United States Army retired at the rank of Lieutenant General. He is a veteran of three wars (WWII, Korea and Vietnam) and was the first graduate of Prairie View A&M University to attain flag officer rank in the military. His senior commands included the 1st Cavalry Division, the US Army Operational and Test & Evaluation Agency (OTEA), and the VII US Corps.
Following his retirement from the Army he served 22 months as Director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance in the Agency for International Development before Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation in 1985 as the third Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a position he held until 1989. He then returned to PVAMU, his alma mater, as the fifth president from 1989 to 1994. His final civilian post was as CEO/ Superintendent of public schools in the District of Columbia.
He served as a member of the American Battle Monument Commission during President Bush (43) first term, a member of the Federal District Court’s oversight committee in the Federal case of Knight v. Alabama; a trustee of the Marshall Foundation, the Valley Forge Military Academy and College, the Florida A&M University, and is currently a trustee for the American Public University System and the Association of the US Army. He has served as a director on four corporate boards.
General Becton was listed several times by Ebony magazine as 'One of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in America.' In 2007 he was selected to receive the George Catlett Marshall Medal, the highest award presented by the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) for being a 'soldier, combat commander, administrator, educator, public servant, government leader, and role model. In April 2008 he was selected as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the President of the University of Maryland. In March 2009 he was honored with the Golden Eagle Award for his contributions to national security by Society of American Military Engineers (SAME).
General Becton's autobiography, Becton: Autobiography of a Soldier and a Public Servant, published in 2008 by the Naval Institute Press, with Foreword by Louise Thornton Becton, highlights his career and reveals the influences that contributed to his success. They celebrated their 62nd anniversary in January 2010 and are the proud parents of four daughters and one son.