The Air Force Institute of Technology’s (AFIT’s) Graduate School of Engineering and Management (GSEM) celebrated 109 graduates in their September 2025 commencement ceremony.  Pictured are graduates from the commencement ceremony. [U.S. Air Force photo]

The Air Force Institute of Technology’s (AFIT’s) Graduate School of Engineering and Management (GSEM) celebrated 109 graduates in their September 2025 commencement ceremony.

AFIT’s GSEM conferred 90 master’s degrees, and 19 doctorate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields.  An additional two doctoral students and one master’s student that graduated earlier in the academic year returned to participate in the ceremony.

The graduating class included 85 Air Force officers, three United States Space Force officers, one Army officer, one Air Force enlisted and 16 Department of Defense civilians.  International students included three graduates from the Royal Saudi Air Force.

The first nine graduates of the Air Force’s Basic Meteorology Graduate Certificate Program were also recognized.  AFIT’s BMP is an in-residence graduate certificate program that requires at least 48 graduate credits hours to complete.  For full-time students, the program length is four quarters.  The program relocated to AFIT from the Naval Post Graduate School in the fall of 2024.   

The commencement’s guest speaker for the ceremony was Dr. Michael Eismann, former Chief Scientist of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Sensors Directorate, and AFIT adjunct instructor.  Dr. Eismann retired in June 2025 after 26 years of government civil service and is currently the Technical Director of the National Security Sector at Radiance Technologies. 

Dr. Michael Eismann, former Chief Scientist of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Sensors Directorate, and AFIT adjunct instructor addresses graduates at AFIT’s September 2025 commencement ceremony.  Dr. Eismann retired in June 2025 after 28 years of government civil service and is currently the Technical Director at Radiance Technologies. [U.S. Air Force photo]

“I have always had great respect for AFIT, as I consider it to be an exceptional academic Institution, with the distinguished history of excellence and an extremely important role in our Air and Space Force, and the defense of our nation,” said Eismann.

Eismann personally congratulated the graduates for their accomplishments and recognized this significant milestone by welcoming them into the legacy of AFIT’s distinguished alumni.

“I believe this graduating class is a very special and important group.  The foundation you developed at AFIT is not only extremely important to you and your personal careers but it is also critical to our nation.

The technological knowledge and skills that you, as a graduating class bring to the Air and Space Force, our national defense and the Defense of our allies and partners is absolutely critical,” said Eismann.

Eismann expanded on the need for the critical technological knowledge and skills with a historical reference to when the Air Force was founded in 1947.  General “Hap” Arnold, first general of the Air Force, assigned Theodore von Karman, Chief Scientist to create a technological road map.  The report was titled, “Toward New Horizons” and launched the Air Force down a high-tech path. 

“Since then, the Air Force has been grounded in the premise that technological superiority is a key to Air Force supremacy and that has been a driving factor in our preeminence to this day.

We all know that technological superiority isn’t everything.  We also know that the character, quality and training of the men and women of our department have been key distinguishing factors that our competitors and adversaries find difficult to match.

What makes AFIT so unique and important as an Air Force Institution is that it builds all of these key ingredients in harmony with each other.  I believe that technological expertise, coupled with leadership ability is a tremendously powerful combination,” said Eismann.

Dr. Walter Jones, the Air Force Institute of Technology’s (AFIT’s) chancellor and director addresses graduates at AFIT’s September 2025 commencement ceremony. [U.S. Air Force photo]

About AFIT

AFIT’s GSEM provides in-residence and distance learning graduate degrees and certificates in engineering, applied science, mathematics and management. GSEM provides its students with several significant advantages, including a more personalized educational experience, academic programs with a defense-related focus, and research on high-priority defense problems.  

AFIT is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. AFIT’s mission is to educate defense professionals to innovatively accomplish the deterrence and warfighting missions of the USAF and USSF. AFIT’s vision is to lead defense-focused education, research and consultation to accelerate military superiority across all domains and is accomplished through operationally relevant advanced academic education, research, and professional continuing education. For more information, please visit the AFIT webpage https://www.afit.edu/ or contact GSEM outreach, AFIT.EN.Outreach@us.af.mil .

The following students met all degree requirements and were approved for the designated degree (in bold):

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Master of Science in Cyber Operations

Capt. William Jones

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Capt. Nicholas Schweikart (Distinguished Graduate)

Master of Cyber Systems

2nd Lt. Jacob James

DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING PHYSICS

Master of Science in Applied Physics

 1st Lt. Kevin Watson

Master of Science in Atmospheric Science

Ms. Laura Slabaugh

Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering

Mr. Emille Bryant

Mr. Michael Erno

Mr. Jessy Wu (Distinguished Graduate)

Master of Science in Optical Sciences & Engineering

Mr. Nicholas Nielsen

DEPARTMENT OF OPERATIONAL SCIENCES

Master of Operations Analysis

2nd Lt. Sophie Allen

2nd Lt. Justin Barry

2nd Lt. Darin Fang

2nd Lt. Patrick Fullerton

2nd Lt. Michael McAlister

2nd Lt. Jonathan Shinneman

2nd Lt. Anthony Tonthat

2nd Lt. Thai Tran

2nd Lt. Lindsey Weber

Master of Science in Supply Chain Analytics

2nd Lt. Kline Alt

2nd Lt. Kevin Collins (Distinguished Graduate)

2nd Lt. Easton Countryman

2nd Lt. Hannah Dauterman

2nd Lt. Maximus Fan

2nd Lt. Jackson Macias

2nd Lt. Brian Mullin

2nd Lt. Thomas Reardon

2nd Lt. Arden Taylor

DEPARTMENT OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT

Master of Engineering in Applied Systems Engineering

2nd Lt. Ethan Bleakney (Distinguished Graduate)

Mr. Matthew Brennan

2nd Lt. Kyle Brown

Mr. Jacob Butler

Capt Andrew Dela Cruz

2nd Lt. Tyson Geerdes

2nd Lt. Steve Han

2nd Lt. Garrett Henigin

Ms. Laura Horstmann

2nd Lt. Cade Isley

2nd Lt. Eric Michael Lazo

Mr. Matthew Martis

2nd Lt. Luke Matlock

2nd Lt. John Maurer

2nd Lt. Kyle McCarthy

Capt Tyler Murray

2nd Lt. Ethan Nelson

2nd Lt. Kaitlin Nester

2nd Lt. Connor Peterson

2nd Lt. Zachary Pribyl

2nd Lt. Victoria Salvador

2nd Lt. Brett Schraeder (Distinguished Graduate)

Mr. Quinn Wandalowksi (Distinguished Graduate)

2nd Lt. Leah Watson

Mr. Bailey Weiss

2nd Lt. Noah Wentworth

2nd Lt. Eli Williams

2nd Lt. Tyler Wright

Master of Science in Engineering Management

Capt. Meshal Aldahas (Royal Saudi Air Force)

Capt. Joshua Hagood (United States Space Force)

Master of Science (Engineering Management)

Capt. Saleh Alghamdi (Royal Saudi Air Force)

DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS

Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering

Mr. Austin Hibbitts

2nd Lt. Ethan Jackman (Distinguished Graduate)

Capt. Robert Myers

Master of Science (Aeronautical Engineering)

Lt. Col. Waleed Alshehri (Royal Saudi Air Force)

Master of Engineering in Aeronautics

2nd Lt. Jack Bruer

2nd Lt. Levi Carpenter

2nd Lt. Robert Chenoweth

2nd Lt. James Christian (Distinguished Graduate)

2nd Lt. Ethan Dean

2nd Lt. Joshua DeMorris

2nd Lt. Rhonin Edwards

2nd Lt. Connor Glenn

2nd Lt. Javier Gomez

2nd Lt. David Hamme (Distinguished Graduate)

2nd Lt. S. Wyatt Hodson

2nd Lt. Andrew Ison

2nd Lt. Jackson King

2nd Lt. Evan Komschlies

2nd Lt. Shayla Markle

2nd Lt. Joseph Moore

2nd Lt. Christiana Paljug

2nd Lt. Alejandro Pickart

2nd Lt. Andrew Setzer

2nd Lt. Jackson Spexarth

2nd Lt. John Sreenan

2nd Lt.  Avery Taylor

2nd Lt. Isabella Tebrugge

2nd Lt. Loren Vaughn

Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering

Ms. Contessa Norris

Mr. Connor Staudt

Master of Science in Space Systems

2nd Lt. Ka’eo Swartzmiller

Master of Engineering in Space Systems

2nd Lt. Derek Nguyen

Doctor of Philosophy

Capt. Cristian Agredo

Maj. Jennifer Allsop

Maj. Adam Card

Capt. Michael Chen

Maj. Kevin Choe

Maj. Paul Clement

Maj. Frankie Cruz

LTC Aaron Ferguson (United States Army)

Mr. Connor Gautam

Senior Master Sgt. Benjamin Johnis

Capt. Will Johnston

Ms. Amber Josken

Maj. Tyler Kapolka (United States Space Force)

Lt. Col. Nathan Lehman

Maj. Sean Mochocki (United States Space Force)

Lt. Col. Darren Montes

Maj. Andrew Relyea

Capt. Guillermo Salcedo

Lt. Col. Michael Todd