U.S. Air Force’s first female fighter pilot to give 2024 commencement address

Aaron Sullivan, Senior News Reporter

April 15, 2024

The University of Texas tower on April 7, 2024.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jeannie M. Leavitt, a UT alumna and the U.S. Air Force’s first female fighter pilot will give the commencement address at the University-wide graduation ceremony on May 11, the University announced Monday.

Leavitt logged over 3,000 hours of flight time with the Air Force. Two years after graduating from UT’s Air Force ROTC program in 1990, she attended pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, graduating at the top of her class. When she made it to pilot school, the Department of Defense did not allow women in combat roles.

After graduating from pilot school, the Air Force assigned Leavitt as a pilot in the T-38 Talon, a training plane. In 1993, the Department of Defense changed its policy, allowing Leavitt to fly the F-15E Strike Eagle, a fighter jet.

“I’ve always wanted to fly,” then-Lt. Jeannie Flynn said in a 1993 press conference after the policy change. “The mission really appealed to me. It’s the front line. You’re the ones out there fighting.”

In 1998, Leavitt was the first female to graduate from Weapons School, the Air Force’s equivalent of the U.S. Navy’s Top Gun program, according to the press release. Toward the end of her career, Leavitt returned to Weapons School to serve as an instructor before retiring from the Air Force in 2023 after 31 years of service.

“These graduates showed incredible grit as they persevered through the pandemic,” Leavitt said in the press release. “Rather than focus on how their lives were impacted by COVID, they focused on actions they could control and excelled in their endeavors at UT. With courage, compassion and commitment, the Longhorn class of 2024 will change the world.”