Robert Porr Robert F. Porr

Northeast Regional Director, Thomson Healthcare
Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY
Psychology, 1981

As a transfer student working more than 50 hours a week while taking courses toward his bachelor of arts at Marymount Manhattan College (MMC), Robert F. Porr remembers the support of professor of psychology, Donald Williams, Ph.D., whom he considers a mentor and key influence during his years at
Marymount Manhattan.

Now a lieutenant colonel in the Medical Service Corps of the U.S. Air Force, he says, “My college experience had everything to do with becoming a naval aviation officer candidate. I was unable to attend my MMC graduation because I was already in Pensacola, Florida for officer’s training school.”

“My bachelor’s degree from Marymount Manhattan was the vehicle that enabled me to make the choice to apply for naval aviation schooling. The degree and experience helped project me into the one percent
of applicants who are accepted into naval aviation candidate school.”

Along with his position as Northeast Regional Director of Thomson Healthcare, a provider of planning data and consulting services to healthcare providers, Lieutenant Colonel Porr is senior administrator of the 105th Medical Group at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York. He was commissioned as a Medical Service Corps officer in July 1989.

As senior administrator, he plans and implements organizational management programs for the 105th Medical Group, honing the group’s peace and wartime mission skills by developing training goals and schedules and exercises for mobility and disaster preparedness. He also manages conformance to group operating instructions and policies to Air Force and Air National Guard medical standards.

Lieutenant Colonel Porr, who has received many awards for his military service, has been involved in numerous deployment assignments.

In August and September 2001, he coordinated logistics for the 105th Medical Group’s humanitarian mission to five villages severely damaged by earthquakes in the Cuscatlan region of El Salvador. From September 11 to November 2001, he was Air National Guard liaison at New York City’s Office of Emergency Management, addressing issues between civilian authorities and contractors working on the World Trade Center recovery efforts. From March 2005 to June 2005, he served on behalf of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Baghdad International Airport, coordinating air evacuation for more than 80 wounded American warriors.

His family, he notes, is behind his accomplishments, supporting him as he supports his country.