University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering

Admiral Archie R. Clemins

[title]
To Archie R. Clemins for vision and leadership in the implementation of information technology in the United States Navy.

Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Caribou Technologies, Inc. Boise, Idaho

  • BS, 1966, Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • MS, 1972, Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 Admiral Clemins had a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy. Sea duty assignments included tours on various submarines of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, including Command of USS Pogy (SSN-647). He commanded Submarine Group Seven and the Seventh Fleet Submarine Force, served as Chief of Staff, U.S. Seventh Fleet, and Commanded Training Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet. He was Deputy and Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and then served as Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet. From 1996–99, as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, he oversaw 190 ships, 1,400 aircraft, and 230,000 personnel deployed in an area comprising 100 million square miles.

He is responsible for the vision and implementation of a secure network to integrate the U.S. Navy’s information systems on land and sea and became known as the “father” of high technology in the U.S. Navy. He led the implementation of a multimillion dollar program called Information Technology for the 21st Century, IT-21.

Admiral Clemins achieved the highest rank attainable in the U.S. Navy, four-star admiral, and is the only University of Illinois graduate to attain this rank. In addition to several personal awards, Admiral Clemins and the many fine men and women he served with were awarded two Presidential Unit Commendations, three Navy Unit Commendations, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

From the University of Illinois Alumni Association he has received the Distinguished Service Award and the Alumni Achievement Award. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering presented him with a Distinguished Alumni Award.

He currently is the president of Caribou Technologies, Inc., in Boise, Idaho, his own international consulting firm, which specializes in moving commercial technology to the government sector.

Current as of 2003.