[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11990]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IN HONOR OF DR. RICHARD ELSTER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2006

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the tremendous 
public career of Dr. Richard Elster who will retire this year from his 
post as the Naval Postgraduate School's provost and academic dean.
  As many of my colleagues know, the Naval Postgraduate School, NPS, 
located in Monterey, CA, is this Nation's premier institution for 
graduate level military education and research. While its name points 
to its origins as a Navy facility, NPS in fact graduates masters and 
Ph.D. candidates from every U.S. military service and many allied 
foreign militaries. It also houses a pioneer program to research and 
grant masters degrees in homeland security.
  Dr. Elster has been associated with NPS since 1969, when he joined 
the faculty as an assistant professor. Since then he has at various 
times served at NPS as an associate professor, professor, chairman of 
the Department of Administrative Sciences, dean of instruction, and 
finally the provost and academic dean position from which he is 
retiring. In the last 10 years, under Dr. Elster's tenure in this last 
position, NPS has seen a burst of activity, not only in the areas 
mentioned above but in many small ways that make it a key component of 
our Nation's security. Under Dr. Elster's leadership, much of the 
academic work of NPS students and faculty responds directly to real 
world defense mission needs. It's a marriage of top notch academics and 
military mission that no other institution in the U.S., or the world 
for that matter, can duplicate.
  Considered on its own, Dr. Elster's academic career sets a remarkable 
standard of achievement. However, interspersed through his time at NPS, 
Dr. Elster served in several high ranking Pentagon positions. Starting 
in 1975 as a special advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Manpower 
and reserve affairs, Dr. Elster also held positions as the Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower, Acting Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, and Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Resource Management and Support. 
This record of service reflects both Dr. Elster's keen intelligence and 
leadership qualities, but also his absolute dedication to public 
service. The combination of these qualities and his achievements in 
national security management and in the classroom allow Dr. Elster to 
leave more than several lifetimes of achievement upon his retirement.
  Mr. Speaker, it is easy to say that Dr. Elster's retirement from NPS 
will leave a void that will be hard to fill. That much is obvious. What 
is also apparent to me and many others is that he has over these past 
30 years set so powerful an example that there are many men and women 
in public service today who can fill that role by virtue of Dr. 
Elster's example. It is my privilege to share with Dr. Elster the 
thanks of this House on the occasion of this retirement and to offer 
him and his family our best wishes on his life and work to come.

                          ____________________