James J. Raftery, Jr.

2026 Distinguished Alumni Award

For significant contributions to the education of the next generation of US Army officers in the critical areas of photonics, robotics and cyber science.

Brigadier General Jim Raftery retired from the U.S. Army at the end of 2025, completing more than thirty-seven years as an active duty Army officer. He now works for the Navajo Nation owned Diné Development Corporation (DDC) as a Director of Business Development supporting DDC’s growth across the U.S. Army and broader Department of War. His last active duty position was at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, as Professor and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate from Washington University in St. Louis in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and was commissioned in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He commanded the 261st Signal Company in Hanau, Germany. After completing a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, he entered the Army Acquisition Corps, where he served for fifteen years. His final Acquisition Corps assignment was as Product Manager for Information Warfare at Ft. Meade, Maryland, from 2007-2010. He served one year with the elite Cyber National Mission Force at Ft. Meade 2015-2016.

BG Raftery earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005 and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College in 2011. As a faculty member at West Point, he served in a variety of roles prior to becoming Department Head, including Director of the Photonics Research Center, Director of the Dean’s Staff, and Deputy Department Head. He earned DAWIA Level III certifications in both the Program Manager and the Science and Technology Manager career fields. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, the electrical engineering honor society Eta Kappa Nu, and the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi. He is a recent recipient of the Gold Order of Thor from the Military Cyber Professionals Association and is being honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

He and his wife Linda have two adult children: Jeremy, who served as an Infantry soldier in the 82d Airborne Division, and Erin, who is an electrical engineering PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Current as of 2026.