Capt. Jeffrey Joseph
The Office of Undergraduate Education has appointed Captain Jeffrey Joseph as commanding officer and professor of naval science at Rensselaer. Joseph is a submarine officer and joins Rensselaer after having command of the USS Nebraska and USS Memphis.
In his role in Rensselaer’s Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) program, Joseph will supervise the ethical, professional, and military development of Rensselaer NROTC students to ensure that they are prepared and qualified for commissioning as officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. He will also serve as a liaison between campus and community organizations, military groups, veteran organizations, active and reserve military commands, and other groups or organizations having an interest in naval science.
“I am very excited to serve as the professor of naval science here at Rensselaer,” said Joseph. “I look forward to helping the future leaders of our Navy prepare for the challenges they will face and am honored to be entrusted with the training of these talented young men and women who have answered our nation’s call.”
Joseph grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri. He earned his commission via the Navy ROTC program at the University of Illinois, where he majored in nuclear engineering. His first sea tour was aboard the USS Kamehameha, completing a dry deck shelter conversion and three deployments to the Western Pacific. During his next sea tour as the navigator and operations officer on the USS Buffalo, the ship completed two Western Pacific deployments and earned the Submarine Squadron One Battle Efficiency (Battle “E”) for 1999 and 2001.
Joseph served as the executive officer onboard the USS Louisville, completing two additional trips to the Western Pacific and a change of homeport from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, where the ship conducted an extensive overhaul. His first command tour was of the USS Memphis. Following the decommissioning of Memphis, Joseph took command of the USS Nebraska (Gold), completing two strategic deterrent patrols and assuming command of the combined Nebraska crew to begin the ship’s refueling overhaul. Under his command, Nebraska earned the Submarine Squadron Seventeen Battle “E” and USSTRATCOM Omaha Trophy for 2013.
Ashore, Joseph’s assignments have included shift engineer/staff training officer at the MARF prototype in Ballston Spa, unmanned vehicles action officer at the Submarine Warfare Directorate on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, executive officer of the Tactical Readiness Evaluation Team on the staff of the Commander, Submarine Force Pacific, deputy for readiness on the staff of Commander, Submarine Squadron Three, and chief of the Global ISR and Space Division within the Capability and Resource Integration Directorate at United States Strategic Command.
He is a graduate of the Naval War College with a graduate degree in national security and strategic studies.
Joseph is authorized to wear the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), the Navy Commendation Medal (seven awards), and various other personal and unit commendations. He is married to the former Heather Greenleaf of Malta, New York.
