William H. McRaven

Admiral William H. McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy Four-Star admiral and the former Chancellor of the University of Texas (UT) System. During his time in the military, he commanded special operations forces at every level, eventually taking charge of the U.S. Special Operations Command. His career included combat during Desert Storm and both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He commanded the troops that captured Saddam Hussein and rescued Captain Phillips. McRaven is also credited with developing the plan and leading the Osama bin Laden mission in 2011. He is a recognized national authority on U.S. foreign policy and has advised Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and other U.S. leaders on defense issues.

As the Chancellor of the UT System, he led one of the nation’s largest and most respected systems of higher education, overseeing 14 institutions that educated 220,000 students, and employed 20,000 faculty and more than 80,000 health care professionals, researchers, and staff.

McRaven is also the author of "Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare" and three New York Times best sellers, "Make Your Bed," "Sea Stories," and "The Hero Code."

In 2011, McRaven was the runner-up for TIME magazine’s Person of the Year. In 2012, Foreign Policy magazine included him on its Top 100 Global Thinkers list, and in 2014, Politico magazine listed him on the Politico 50. In 2015, he received the Intrepid Freedom Award for his distinguished service in defending the values of democracy. In 2016, McRaven was named the recipient of the Ambassador Richard M. Helms Award by the CIA Officers’ Memorial Foundation and in 2018, he received the Judge William H. Webster Distinguished Service Award for a lifetime of service to the nation.

McRaven serves on the boards of ConocoPhillips, the International Crisis Group, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Mission Continues, the National Football Foundation, and the Office of Strategic Services Society. He and his wife are national spokespeople for the BrainHealth Project.

McRaven is now a leadership consultant and stays active with his writing, speaking, and board commitments. In 2024, he was granted a $50 million Courage and Civility Award by Jeff Bezos in recognition of his services to the community. He said he intends to spread the allotted award money among three philanthropic initiatives: educating the children of deceased veterans, the mental health performance of veterans, and educating future military leaders.

McRaven graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism, and received his master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.