DATE: April 21, 2004

UM Graduation Set for May 1

MOBILE, Ala. – Lt. Gen. Robert F. Foley, president of the Marion Military Institute, will deliver the commencement address during graduation ceremonies for the University of Mobile on Saturday, May 1.

Bachelor’s, master’s and associate’s degrees will be awarded to approximately 400 graduates during the ceremonies beginning at 10 a.m. at the Mobile Civic Center.

Lieutenant General Robert F. Foley, United States Army (Retired), became the fourteenth president of Marion Military Institute on August 30, 2000. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1963 and was commissioned in the Infantry. General Foley has a Master of Business Administration Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and has held numerous command and staff positions throughout 37 years of active service.Foley's command positions include company command with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam and battalion and brigade command with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany. He also served as Chief of Staff for the 7th Infantry Division (Light), Fort Ord, California; Executive Officer to the Assistant Division Commander, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea; Commandant of Cadets, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York; Deputy Commanding General, 2nd United States Army, Fort Gillem, Georgia; and Commanding General of the United States Army Military District of Washington. Prior to retiring from active duty and assuming the Presidency of Marion Military Institute, General Foley served as the Commanding General, Fifth United States Army, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.Foley's awards for peacetime and combat include the Congressional Medal of Honor, two Distinguished Service Medals, Defense Superior Service Medal, six Legions of Merit, five Meritorious Service Medals, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. He also wears the Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab.

Foley and his wife, Julie, have two sons and a daughter. Mark is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a Captain in the Air Force assigned as a Talon-II pilot with Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Florida. David is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and a Captain in the Army assigned to the Third Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer, Virginia. Sara is a graduate of Pepperdine University and is Deputy Director with Volunteers of America in Washington, DC.