Gen. Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr., USMC (Ret.), ‘79
21st President, The Citadel
General Kenneth ‘Frank’ McKenzie is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from The Citadel in 1979 as an English major and commissioned into the Marine Corps where he served in the infantry.
He has led at every level as a Marine and Joint Force Commander. He commanded First Battalion, Sixth Marines, and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) on combat deployments to Afghanistan in 2004 and Iraq in 2005-06. In 2006-07 he served as the Military Secretary to the 33rd and 34th Commandants of the Marine Corps.
In July 2007 upon promotion to Brigadier General, he served on the Joint Staff as a Deputy Director of Operations within the National Military Command Center. He was then selected by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be Director of the Chairman’s New Administration Transition Team. In this capacity, he coordinated the efforts of the Joint Staff and the combatant commands in preparing for and executing a wartime transition of administrations.
General McKenzie reported in June 2009 to the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan, serving as Deputy to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Stability. Upon his return he was assigned as Director, Strategy, Plans, and Policy (J-5) for the U.S. Central Command. In August 2012, he reported to Headquarters Marine Corps as the Marine Corps Representative to the Quadrennial Defense Review.
Promoted to Lieutenant General in June 2014, he assumed command of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command. In October 2015, he was assigned to the Joint Staff to serve as the Director, Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) of the Joint Staff, and later named Director of the Joint Staff.
In March 2019 General McKenzie was promoted to his current rank and assumed command of United States Central Command.
General McKenzie is an honors graduate of the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the School of Advanced Warfighting. He was selected as a Commandant of the Marine Corps Fellow in 1999 and served as a Senior Military Fellow within the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. He has also earned a master’s degree in teaching with a concentration in History from The Citadel and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by his Alma Mater in 2019.
In March 2026, The Citadel Board of Visitors named General McKenzie as the college’s 21st President, and he assumed office on 1 July 2026.
