Corpus Christi police chief, Saint Leo alum will deliver commencement address

Chief Michael Markle of the Corpus Christi Police Department will deliver the guest commencement address Friday, June 24, to local graduates of Saint Leo University. This year, nearly 80 students from Saint Leo’s Corpus Christi Education Center will be conferred associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the 7 p.m. event to be held at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

Giving the Class of 2016 farewell will be William Kohler, who will graduate magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration-management, and Isabel Soliven, who also will graduate magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration-management.

Leading the students in the traditional turning of their tassels on their mortarboards and welcoming them as Saint Leo alumni will be Markus Golden, Class of 2013.

Markle came to Corpus Christi in 1988 after honorably serving in the U.S. Navy as a hospital corpsman four years. He entered the 44th Corpus Christi Police Academy in 1989 and graduated later that same year.

For the first 16 years of his career in the Corpus Christi Police Department, he served as a patrol officer in the roles of field training officer, Honor Guard member and SWAT team member. He rose through the ranks, and was appointed to be assistant chief in 2012, serving as the chief of Investigations and Operations. 

In May 2015, Markle was named interim chief. Several months later, on Jan. 12 he was appointed to be chief of the Corpus Christi Police Department. He is now a 26-year veteran of the department.

Markle holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Saint Leo University and a master’s degree in business from American Military University.

The Corpus Christi Education Center is located at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi making it easy for members of the military and civilians to take advantage of flexible, convenient classes that fit their busy schedule. The center is at 10461 D. St., Building 1731, Room 206, Corpus Christi, TX  78419. For information, call (361) 937-1452. Sara Heydon is the director for the Corpus Christi Education Center.

Saint Leo University is a regionally accredited, liberal-arts-based institution known for an inclusive Catholic heritage, enduring values and a capacity for innovation. Catholic Benedictine monks chartered the school in 1889 in rural Pasco County, Florida making Saint Leo the first Catholic college in the state. Saint Leo provides access to education to people of all faiths, emphasizing the Benedictine philosophy of balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit.

The university welcomes learners from all generations and backgrounds, from civilian occupations and the armed forces and from across the country and more than 60 nations around the world. Saint Leo’s nearly 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students may elect to study at the university campus in Florida, at more than 40 teaching locations in seven states or online from any location. 

Saint Leo University boasts nearly 80,000 alumni in all 50 states, Washington, DC, five U.S. territories, and 72 countries.