James Currie

James Tyson Currie (Grad ’69, ’75 CM) has reached his final retirement after a nearly 50 years of working. He attended the last two years of U.S. Army ROTC as a graduate student at UVA, the only one in his ROTC cohort, receiving his commission as a second lieutenant in 1970. He spent a total of 30 years in the Army, active and reserve, reaching the rank of colonel. He taught history and political science at the college and university level for many years, including three years at Jackson State University and 18 years at the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a Defense Department senior service college. He worked on Capitol Hill for almost eight years, serving as associate historian of the U.S. House of Representatives and as a staffer for U.S. Senators Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX), David Boren (D-OK), and John Glenn (D-OH). He was director of Federal Relations for the National Association of State Treasurers and Legislative Affairs Director for the National Marine Manufacturers Association. For the past six years, he was executive director of the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan entity that represents the uniformed officers of the U.S. Public Health Service. He is a 20-year member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and has appeared as an extra in such series as House of Cards and Homeland. He is the author of three books and 30 peer-reviewed articles and has had two pieces published in the “Humor in Uniform” section of Readers Digest. He lives with his wife, Janis, in Alexandria, Virginia. Their son Matthew is a graduate student in clinical psychology at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is currently working on his fourth book, which tells the story of Harry Truman and the World War II Truman Committee of the U.S. Senate.

James T. “Jim” Currie (Grad ’69, ’75) was honored with the 2019 Robert Brutsche Award for his service to the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service. Currie has served as executive director of the association since April 2014.