Friday won’t be the first time Navy Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids has walked across the stage at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, but this time, it’s historic.

This year, Davids will take to the stage at the United States Naval Academy’s graduation and commissioning ceremony as superintendent — the first time a woman has done so. “It has been an honor and a privilege to return to the Naval Academy and serve as the 65th superintendent,” Davids said in a statement. “The energy and excitement that surrounds Commissioning Week has exactly the same feel as it did in 1989.

” Davids took the helm as the service academy’s superintendent in January following her nomination in April 2023 . She replaced acting superintendent Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, who took over in an interim role following the retirement of Vice Adm.

Sean Buck last summer. As a midshipman, Davids studied oceanography and was on the intercollegiate dinghy sailing team before graduating in 1989. She later served as the director of Naval Academy sailing.

She is married to Keith Davids, a 1990 academy graduate and fellow sailor who became a rear admiral and SEAL team commander. Davids’ Navy career began during Operation Desert Storm, when she was an electrical officer, combat information center officer and communications officer aboard the USS San Jose. She went on to become the first woman of Hispanic descent to command a Navy warship when she took the helm of the USS Curts, leading the guided missil.