The top NATO commander and a nationally renowned ophthalmologist will become the newest members of the 21st West Virginia University Alumni Associations Academy of Distinguished Alumni during induction ceremonies at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at the Erickson Alumni Center.

Gen. John Craddock and Dr. B. Thomas Hutchinson are extremely accomplished in their professions, and they are proud of the role West Virginia University played in helping them achieve success,said Stephen L. Douglas, president and CEO of the WVU Alumni Association.We are so pleased to welcome them home to WVU and honor them with induction into the academy.

Gen. Bantz J.JohnCraddock

Gen. John Craddock is commander of the U.S. European Command and the supreme allied commander Europe. A native of Doddridge County, he graduated from WVU in 1971 with a bachelors degree in political science and was commissioned as an armor officer. A tour of duty with the 3rd Armored Division in Germany was followed by a tour at Fort Knox, Ky., with the U.S. Army Armor and Engineer Board. He returned to the 3rd Armored Division as a tank company commander after completing the Armor Officer Advanced Course.

In 1981, Craddock was reassigned to the Office of the Program Manager, Abrams Tank System, first as a systems analyst and then as executive officer. After graduating from the Command and General Staff College, he returned to Germany, this time with the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized).

In 1989, Craddock assumed command of the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Ga. During this posting, he was deployed to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After serving as assistant chief of staff for operations for the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Craddock attended the U.S. Army War College and assumed command of the 194th Separate Armored Brigade upon his graduation, before becoming assistant chief of staff for Operations for III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas.

In 1996, he moved to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon as assistant deputy director for Plans and Policy, J5. Two years later, he returned to Germany as the assistant division commander for Maneuver of 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized). During this time, he was designated commander of U.S. Forces for the initial phase of operations in Kosovo. He went on to be the commanding general of the 7th Army Training Command, U.S. Army Europe, and later assumed command of 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized). A tour as the senior military assistant to the secretary of defense was followed by the post of combatant commander of the U.S. Southern Command from 2004-06.

Craddock has received numerous decorations and honors, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, Legion of Merit (two oak leaf clusters) and Meritorious Service Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), among others.

He has a masters degree in military arts and sciences. He and his wife, Linda, have two children, Zachary and Amanda.

Dr. B. Thomas Hutchinson

Dr. B. Thomas Hutchinson was born in Flatwoods. In 1955, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from WVU , where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree from WVU in 1956 and his doctorate in medicine from Harvard Medical School in 1958.

Following an internship at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and two years in the U.S. Public Health Service, Hutchinson returned to Boston for a fellowship in the Howe Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, a residency in ophthalmology and a fellowship in glaucoma at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

He is a founding partner and president of Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston. For more than 40 years, Hutchinson has maintained an active role in teaching of medical students and residents, and he has trained more than 100 ophthalmic fellows in the subspecialty management of glaucoma and cataract. In addition, he was director of the Harvard postgraduate courses in ophthalmology for many years and served as assistant chief editor of the AMA Archives of Ophthalmology for 10 years.

He is an associate clinical professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, a consulting editor for the Harvard Health Letter and a surgeon at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Hutchinson was a founding officer and past president of the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, past president of Prevent Blindness America-Massachusetts and past president of the New England Ophthalmological Society. He served on the American Board of Ophthalmology for nine years, including one year as chairman, and is past president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He also is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, American Medical Association and American Glaucoma Society, and a founding director and past president of the Chandler-Grant Glaucoma Society.

His professional interests include quality assurance, credentialing and public service programs. For 25 years, Hutchinson was the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmologys founding chairman of EyeCare America, the largest public service program in American medicine. He now serves as the chairman of the foundation and as a trustee of the academy. He has held several other positions within the academy, including vice chair and chairman of the council, the first secretary of ophthalmic practice and director of the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Co., an academy subsidiary.

Hutchinson has received numerous awards, including the Senior Honor Award, Lifetime Achievement Award and Distinguished Service Award. Other honors include Man of the Year in 1998 from the New England Ophthalmological Society, a similar award from the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, a Man of Vision award from Prevent Blindness America-Massachusetts, as well as the Howe Medal from the Buffalo Ophthalmological Society and a Distinguished Service Award from Ophthalmology Times. Woodward/White has repeatedly called him one of the best doctors in America.

Hutchinson has been a visiting professor at multiple universities and medical centers. He has endowed two lectureships in ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and the WVU School of Medicine. He and his wife, June, reside in Boston and Newport, R.I.

Craddock and Hutchinson join some of WVU s most noted graduates. Since its inception, the Academy of Distinguished Alumni has recognized more than 80 graduates, including NBA legend Jerry West; Edward Buckbee, the first director of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center; Mississippi State University President Robert H.DocFoglesong; and Loretta Ucelli, former White House communications director.

The WVU Alumni Association, chartered in 1873, represents more than 170,000 University graduates residing in every county in West Virginia, every state in the union and approximately 60 foreign nations. With nearly 100 registered chapters and constituent groups, the associations 26,000 dues-paying members support Homecoming weekend, the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni, Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund and dozens of other social and philanthropic programs. For more information, visithttp://alumni.wvu.edu.