Donald G. Iselin

Donald Grote Iselin (September 22, 1922 – March 9, 2012) was a United States Navy rear admiral. He served as the 31st commanding officer of Naval Facilities Engineering Command from 1977 to 1981.

Early life and education Donald G. Iselin was born on September 5, 1922, in Racine, Wisconsin, to Harry and Rose (nee: Grote) Iselin. He had 2 younger brothers and a younger sister. He attended St. Catherine’s High School, graduating with the class of 1940.

After graduating high school, he attended Marquette University in the ROTC program. In 1942, he was chosen for appointment into the United States Naval Academy after he achieved the third highest score nationally among all ROTC cadets on the Naval exam. He graduated from Annapolis at the top of his class in 1945.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in January 1948 and earned his master’s degree in civil engineering in September of that same year. In 1971, he graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Naval career In 1951, he was assigned his first major construction project manager, to build launch facilities at the U.S. Naval Air Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, CA. In 1953, he was assigned to the shipyards at Pearl Harbor, HI to the public works department.

In 1954, at the request of VADM Hyman Rickover, he was transferred, on loan, to the Atomic Energy Commission in Pittsburgh to help design and construct the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the first of its kind. until his retirement in 1981, after 38 years in the Navy.

Assignments 1950-1951 South Pacific Ocean, Atom Bomb Development Program - Technical Advisor 1951-1953 NAM Test Center, CA - Assistant Officer in Charge Construction 1953-1954 NS Pearl Harbor, HI - Engineering Officer, Naval Public Works Department 1954 -1958 Nuclear Power Station, PA - Site Project Officer, US Atomic Energy Commission 1958-1961 Port Hueneme, CA - Executive Officer/Assistant Director, Construction R&D 1961-1964 Washington D.C. - Director of the Marine Construction Division 1964 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - Project Manager, Desalination Plant 1964-1965 Washington D.C. - Deputy Commander, Navy Yards/Dock Operations 1965-1967 Washington D.C. - Director – NAVFAC Programs Comptroller 1967-1968 Vietnam - Special Assistant/Deputy OICC, War Zone Construction 1968-1969 Davisville, RI/Gulfport, MS - Commander US Navy Seabees, Atlantic Fleet 1969-1972 - Deputy Commander, NAVFAC Military Facilities Planning, Worldwide 1972-1973 Vietnam - Commander NAVFAC Pacific Division, Warzone Planning 1973-1977 - Vice Commander NAVFAC, Military Engineering/Construction 1977-1981 - Commander NAVFAC/Chief of Civil Engineers

Personal life and death Admiral Iselin married his high school sweetheart, Jacqueline Mary Myers, in 1945 and had 4 childeren. They were married 63 years before her death in 2008. After retiring from the Navy in 1981, he joined the Raymond Kaiser Engineering as a group vice-president for 5 years. After retiring a second time, he worked as an independent contractor and construction consultant. He died on March 9, 2012, in Santa Barbara, CA.

Honors and awards USNA Gardner L. Caskey Memorial Prize Navy League Stephen Decatur Award