Dr. James S. Tyler Jr.

The Coast Guard Academy's first endowed chair is funded by a generous gift from Dr. James S. Tyler Jr. and his wife Karen. The Tylers live in Los Altos Hills, California.

Dr. Tyler grew up in Newburgh, New York.  In July of 1954, following his high school graduation, he journeyed to New London, where he was sworn in as a Coast Guard Academy cadet with the Class of 1958. After completing three years, he left the Academy to continue his education at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He graduated from WPI in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He went on to receive a master's degree and a Ph.D. from Yale University.

Following his formal education, Dr. Tyler moved to California, where he was an entrepreneur involved with a series of high-technology companies in the Silicon Valley area. As a venture capitalist in the 1980s, he fostered an interest in a small firm, Optivision, Inc., of Palo Alto, which designed optical switches for Defense Department applications. In 1989, he became president and chief executive officer of the company.

"Then along came the Internet and an insatiable desire for bandwidth, and we were sitting on a hot product," he says with a smile.

Dr. Tyler retired from Optivision in 1998, shortly after spinning off the organization's optical networking technology to Optical Networks, Inc.

An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Tyler enjoys sailing, golf and skiing. He owns and races a Swan 60 sailboat, which he sailed to the Caribbean from Finland. He has also remained active in the affairs of both WPI and the Coast Guard Academy. He was instrumental in the formation of WPI's Silicon Valley Project Center and has remained close to many of his Academy classmates.

Dr. Tyler considers his Academy experience as very important in his professional development.

"This place made an indelible mark on my future," he said, explaining that he learned how to deal with adversity, how to pick up and move on after a failure and how to persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. "It was wonderful training, a wonderful background for an entrepreneur, though it may not have seemed like it at the time. So, I decided it was time for me to pay back the Academy."

In 2003, Dr. Tyler read about then-Superintendent Admiral Olsen's desire to establish an endowed chair in leadership in The Bulletin and was impressed with the Admiral's vision of developing strong military leaders.

"It just had the right ring to me," he said. "I thought, 'This is something I can support.'"

In March 2004, Dr. Tyler visited the Academy to meet with the Superintendent, faculty, staff and cadets to discuss a chair in leadership and what it could do for the Academy. At the conclusion of his visit, Dr. Tyler met with Admiral Olsen and announced his intention to provide a $2.5 million gift to endow a chair in leadership.

When contemplating who he would like to see fill the inaugural Chair, Dr. Tyler reflected, "It should be someone dynamic, someone who can immediately interact with the cadets. It will be a challenge, but it's got to be someone who can get in there and stir the pot and make things happen."

During Commencement Week 2005, the Academy proudly met Dr. Tyler's lofty expectations by announcing that Admiral James Loy (CGA '64) had agreed to fill the inaugural Tyler Chair.

The James S. Tyler Distinguished Chair in Leadership is the Academy's first endowed chair, which is befitting Dr. Tyler's entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit. In May 2005, the Chair became the focal point around which the Academy stood up its Institute for Leadership.

Dr. Tyler has been fully engaged and is working with both the Chair and the Institute staff as it embarks on its ambitious agenda.