About

Dr. Rebecca Calder, PhD, is a retired Naval Officer and public speaker committed to sharing leadership and resiliency lessons she has learned from her 25+ years of service in the US Navy to audiences around the globe. 

Originally from Longview, Washington, and a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover, and the United States Naval Academy, she earned her designation as a Naval Aviator in July of 2000 and began her career as an F/A-18 Hornet pilot, serving in multiple squadrons. She flew missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Southern Watch in 2002, and in support of Iraqi Freedom in 2008.  

Rebecca attended the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) in 2004, becoming the first female pilot to graduate from the elite program. She has accrued over 2,500 flight hours and 421 carrier arrested landings and became the first woman to have her basketball jersey (#32) retired from the United States Naval Academy in January 2014. She was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 and into the Andover Athletics Hall of Honor in 2008 as part of the inaugural class. 

Rebecca earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Regent University in 2019 and her PhD in Organizational Leadership in 2025, also from Regent. She has given keynote and motivational speeches on Leadership, Women in Leadership, Veterans in the Workplace, and Resilience. 

Becky Calder blazes a trail for female fighter pilots as featured in Parade Magazine

See Becky featured in The Phillipian

Becky receives the Martin Williams Souders Memorial Award at the NEPSAC Spring Summit in 2022 

Listen to Becky on "The Takeaway" with Melissa Harris-Perry from WNYC Studios.