Dr. Ron Layton to Deliver Montana Tech Commencement Address

Dr. Ron Layton will be Montana Tech’s commencement speaker at the 118th ceremony on Saturday, May 5, 2018. Layton’s speech is titled Life Skills. The university is expected to award 697 degrees and certificates to 582 students.

“I am quite pleased to have Ron deliver the commencement address at our 2018 ceremony,” noted Montana Tech Chancellor Don Blackketter. “Ron has had an incredible career with the United States Secret Service and has a great message for our graduating students.”

Dr. Ron Layton is the Deputy Assistant Director of the United States Secret Service; Office of Protective Operations where he is responsible for the protection of all living former Presidents and former first ladies. Dr. Layton is also responsible for the protection of all foreign Heads of State who visit the United States.

A 26-year veteran of the Secret Service, Mr. Layton served in numerous supervisory assignments. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Assistant Director, Mr. Layton was the Special Agent in Charge of the White House Technical liaison section, responsible for the daily operations and long-term strategy for information systems provided to the President of the United States.

Mr. Layton began his career in the Philadelphia Field Office as Special Agent. He was subsequently assigned to several positions in Washington, D.C. to include the Presidential Protective Division, the Counter Assault Team, and Criminal Investigative Division. Mr. Layton’s supervisory career began as the Deputy Director of the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security, the Program Director of the Secret Service Electronic crimes task forces; supervising 17 task forces across the United States. Mr. Layton also worked as a supervisor in the Special Operations Division, commanding counter assault teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, in direct support of the President. While serving in the Special Operations Division, Mr. Layton was the chief tactical architect of several National Special Security Events; to include, the Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention, the Visit of the Pope to the United States and the G-20.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Layton is a long-time martial arts practitioner and competitor, holding the rank of 8th degree black belt in Karate and Jiu-Jitsu; as well as the winner of 8 AAU Gold Medals among many other awards.

Prior to his appointment with the Secret Service, Mr. Layton worked as an electrical engineer, writing software in the automation and controls industry; in addition, Mr. Layton worked as an adjunct instructor of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Layton holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Business Administration along with a B.S. in Engineering Science in 1989 from Montana Tech.

For more information, please contact Amanda Badovinac, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, at 406-496-4828 or abadovinac@mtech.edu.