University of Rhode Island awards DIA Director Flynn honorary degree

DIA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn returned to his alma mater, the University of Rhode Island, last weekend to commission Army ROTC cadets and receive an honorary doctorate degree last month

Flynn presided and spoke at the commissioning of eight Army ROTC officers on May 16.

“The U.S. is going to need future leaders that push the Army forward, look for critical gaps and find solutions, bridge divides between partners and allies, and accomplish more than the mission calls for,” Flynn said during the ceremony, according to a press statement posted on the DIA Web site. “We need leaders who are smart, flexible and committed to the mission at hand. You will have to step up and be those leaders.”

URI conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters upon Flynn May 18 during the university’s commencement ceremony. Honorary degrees were also given to poet and commencement speaker Richard Blanco, civil rights leader Bernard LaFayette Jr. and president and CEO of Crossroads Rhode Island, Anne Nolan.

Flynn is a Rhode Island native and 1981 graduate of URI.