Spring 2025 Undergraduate Commencement Speaker
Retired Lt. Gen. Nadja West, M.D.
44th Surgeon General of the U.S. Army
Dr. Nadja West was appointed as the 44th surgeon general of the U.S. Army in 2015, making her the first Black person to be appointed to the position. The appointment came with a third star, making West the first Black female lieutenant general. Her promotion also made her the highest-ranking female graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.
During West’s tenure as commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Command from 2015 to 2019, she oversaw the highest medical readiness and battlefield wound survival rates in history.
As the Joint Staff surgeon from 2013 to 2015, West was the principal medical advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, where she coordinated all related health services issues, including operational medicine, force health protection and readiness within the military. Her prior roles include deputy chief of staff for support for the U.S. Army Medical Command and commanding general of the Europe Regional Medical Command. She retired from the U.S. Army in 2019.
West is the recipient of numerous U.S. military awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit with three Oak Leaf Clusters.
West currently serves on boards for the National Recreation Foundation, Mount St. Mary’s University, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Johnson & Johnson, The Olmsted Scholar Foundation, The Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. She is also a presidential appointee to the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
A native of Washington, D.C., West graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and the George Washington University School of Medicine with a Doctor of Medicine degree.