Centennial 1909-2009, Historical Highlights (archived)
Abstract
Just three years after Pearl Harbor and while the nation was still at
war, Captain Herman Spanagel proposed Congressional legislation
to give the Naval Postgraduate School degree-granting authority.
Spanagel’s letter to the Chief of Naval Personnel on January 13,
1945 stated, “It is recommended that the necessary legislative action
be initiated with a view toward formal recognition of the Postgraduate
School as an institution of higher learning, and the acquisition of
authority to award appropriate Masters’ and Doctors’ degrees to its
graduates.” The Chief of Naval Personnel approved and the House
and Senate subsequently passed H.R. 4412 and S. 1493,
respectively, in November 1945. The landmark legislation was an
important building block in the World War II transformation of NPS.