Director of the WAVES, Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for Women
1914-1989
Captain Rita Lenihan, USN, of Nutley, NJ, was appointed Director of the WAVES and Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for Women on September 1, 1966.
Captain Lenihan was commissioned an Ensign in June 1943, upon completion of officer indoctrination training at the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School, Smith College, Northampton, MA, and was then assigned to the Plans and Policy Division in the Bureau of Naval Personnel for her first duty. In 1949, she was sent to London, England, as Administrative Assistant and Aide to the Chief of the Joint Planning Staff of the Commander in Chief, Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. After two years in London, she reported to the Commandant, Potomac River Naval Command, for duty as Director of Officer Personnel. Following this assignment, she was appointed Officer in Charge of the WAVES Officer School, Newport, RI.
From 1959 until 1961 Captain Lenihan served in the Bureau of Naval Personnel as program coordinator and contract sponsor for the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program and as administrator of the Naval Preparatory School, which trains outstanding enlisted men for admission to the Naval Academy. She was appointed Deputy Director of the WAVES in 1961 and in 1963 was assigned to the staff of the Naval War College. Captain Lenihan was a graduate of the senior course at the Naval War College.
Captain Lenihan was born in Monroe, NY. She received her baccalaureate from the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ, with a major in Latin and a minor in Journalism. At the time of entering the Navy, she was attending the Graduate School of Columbia University, in the field of classical studies. Captain Lenihan held a Master of Arts degree from George Washington University and a diploma in Protocol from Southeastern University in Washington, DC. Accorded the distinction of being the first woman to be enrolled in the Graduate School of Georgetown University, Captain Lenihan had completed the course requirements for the Master of Science degree in Foreign Service at the time of her assignment to London. Captain Lenihan served on the Board of Governors of Georgetown University and as Vice President of the Georgetown University Alumni Association, representing the Graduate School.
Captain Lenihan was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Lenihan of Nutley, NJ. She had one sister, a former Ensign in the Navy, Priscilla Lenihan Lawler, who married Richard F. Lawler, a former Naval officer; two brothers, Edward, of Nutley, NJ, served as an officer in the Army’s 77th Division, and Paul, of New York, NY, a former aviator with the Marine Corps. Military service was expected of men and in the Lenihan family, the women also served.
In March 1967, Georgetown University conferred upon Captain Lenihan its Annual Alumni Achievement Award for her significant contribution to the betterment of the community and the nation. The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon her in May 1967 by the College of St. Elizabeth.
Captain Lenihan was a member of the American Association of University Women and a former office holder in its chapter organization. Looking back on her years of service Captain Lenihan told “The Washington Post,” “I would do it all over again.” (Sources: Richard Lawlor, nephew; “The Mainsheet,” U.S. Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, MD, Oct. 24, 1968; “The Washington Post,” July 22, 1952)