General Conway

In a Nov. 13 ceremony in Washington, D.C., Lt. Gen. James Conway was promoted to Gen. James Conway and became the 34th commandant of the Marine Corps. That's a long way from graduating from Southeast Missouri State University in 1969 and presidency of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity.

As commandant of the Marine Corps, Conway becomes a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Conway is scheduled to be the winter commencement speaker at the university in December.

Since receiving his commission as an officer in 1970, Conway has climbed to positions of greater and greater responsibility and authority, including the command of platoons and companies in the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s, deputy director of operations for the antiterrorism unit of the Joint Staff in Washington and president of the Marine Corps University in Quantico. He was commander of the Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq and director of operations for the Joint Staff.

Conway has the reputation of a straight shooter in his dealings with both enlistees and congressional committees. In the past week he has made headlines with his blunt assessment of Marines serving in Iraq.

Conway grew up in Walnut Ridge, Ark., and met his wife, the former Annette Drury, at Southeast. We are proud to call him one of our own.