A.B. Cruz III

Rear Admiral (Ret.) A.B. Cruz III is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member. (N)

Rear Admiral (Ret.) A.B. Cruz III is a seasoned C-Suite Executive, Senior Adviser, and Former Navy Admiral. Throughout his career, he has helped lead four public (NASDAQ: VIA & SSP | NYSE: SNI & EBS) and three private companies (USAA, BET, ARINC)—spanning several very different highly regulated industries and representing over $60B in total annual revenue—through challenge, crisis and change. During his 33+ year military career, he shaped and led numerous high-performing operational teams in demanding, high-stress and ambiguous environments, and represented the United States internationally in multiple high-level engagements with foreign militaries.

Rear Admiral Cruz is a board director and the nominating & governance committee chair at Graf Acquisition Corp. IV. and is a Senior Advisor at BarkerGilmore LLC where he provides executive coaching, leadership development and executive search services to legal leaders, CEOs and corporate boards. He is also currently the President of the Board of Governors for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He previously served as Senior Vice President & Divisional General Counsel at USAA, a Fortune 100 financial services company, where he led the legal teams that supported the Company’s C-suite members and their organizations. He spearheaded the optimization of the chief legal office’s operating and interaction models and reviewed and approved new products and services to foster USAA’s future growth, competitiveness, and technology transformation.

Prior to USAA, Rear Admiral Cruz was Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer, and PAC chairman for Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. Before Emergent, he concurrently served as the Deputy Director of Maritime Operations for U.S. Fleet Forces Command and as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary for Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. Prior to that, Rear Admiral Cruz was the Deputy Commander for both U.S. 4th Fleet and Naval Forces Southern Command and served as the Executive Vice President & General Counsel for The E.W. Scripps Company.

Rear Admiral Cruz holds a JD from The Catholic University of America, an MA in Marketing from The University of Maryland, and a BS in General Engineering & Physical Sciences from U.S. Naval Academy. He currently serves on the boards of the Naval War College Foundation, Yellow Ribbon Fund, American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, World Affairs Council of San Antonio, Down Syndrome Association of South Texas, and Saint Mary’s Hall. He also serves as a board trustee and governance committee member for the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation. He has served on many other boards over his distinguished career, including as the board chair for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and as an advisory board member at both Bellatorum Resources and VetStoreUSA.