Yale

Rear Admiral Richard Lyon was Captain of Yale's 1943 NAAU and 1944 NCAA championship teams and anchored the 1943 world record 4 x 100 yard freestyle relay. 

Lyon spent 41 years with the United States Navy, attaining the rank of two-star Rear Admiral in 1974, the first special warfare (SEAL) officer to do so. He was a Navy Scout and Raider in the Pacific Theater and was in China as a scout intelligence officer during World War II. He later helped commission Underwater Demolition Team 5 and served in the Korean War. In his distinguished career, he has been honored with the Legion of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon. In 1978, the Secretary of the Navy appointed him Deputy Chief of the Naval Reserve. 

Lyon’s civilian career has involved retail marketing and financial management, most recently as a Registered Principal with the National Association of Securities Dealers in Newport Beach and Oceanside, California. He is also a former director of several corporations. 

Active in community affairs, Lyon was elected Mayor of the City of Oceanside in November of 1992, re-elected in 1996 and subsequently retired in 2000 after eight years in office. He is the past President or Chairman of the following: the Board of Trustees of Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Oceanside Unified School District, Oceanside Harbor District, San Diego County Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS), San Diego Regional Power Pool, San Diego County Civil Service Commission, and Anaheim Rotary Club. Lyon is also a past member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and of the North County Transit District and San Diego Northern Railway Board of Directors.