James Alexander Grimsley Jr. (November 14, 1921 – June 11, 2013), was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and combat veteran of two wars who also served as President of his alma mater,

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

from 1980 to 1989.The Citadel biography

Life and career

Grimsley was born and raised in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...

. After graduating with

, class of 1942, he was commissioned as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the US Army and immediately went to the Pacific Theater to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He held numerous high leadership positions including command of an infantry brigade in Vietnam, a tour as Assistant Commander of the 2d Armored Division and service on the Army General Staff. His career culminated with an assignment as a

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many high-level executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Assistant Secretary of Defense title is junior to Under Secretary of Defen ...

. After 33 years of service, Grimsley retired from the active duty in 1975. Grimsley came to The Citadel in 1975 as Vice President for Administration and Finance; he was named President in 1980 upon the resignation of his predecessor, Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale. His tenure at the Citadel was marked by a return to traditional values in the corps of cadets, a significant increase in applications, major physical improvements to the campus and rising academic rankings. When Grimsley retired in 1989, he was named President Emeritus. This distinction had previously only been given to General Charles Summerall and General Mark Clark.

Awards

During Grimsley's active duty career, he received 35 major decorations,Grimsley bio
/ref> including the following:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimsley Jr., James 1921 births 2013 deaths People from Florence, South Carolina Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Silver Star The Citadel alumni The Citadel staff United States Army generals Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Presidents of The Citadel United States Army personnel of World War II