Bill McDaniel

Bill McDaniel is a retired rear admiral of the United States Navy who was born on February 26, 1943, near Muskogee, Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1964 with a degree in physiology, where he was a varsity wrestler, and earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Oklahoma in 1968.

McDaniel served in the Navy Medical Corps as an orthopedic surgeon and flight surgeon, with assignments including flight duty off Vietnam aboard the USS Tripoli and posts at various naval hospitals and medical centers. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1989 and commanded the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth from 1992 to 1995 before retiring in 1997.

Throughout his military career, McDaniel was a distinguished wrestler, winning multiple Navy and Inter-service championships and earning a silver medal at the 1974 CISM Military World Games. He served as U.S. Team Physician for the 1984 Olympics and continued Olympic medical involvement through 2000.

After retirement, McDaniel led tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia aboard the USNS Mercy in 2005 and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief operations. He also appeared as a contestant on Season 2 of ABC's reality series *The Mole* and has been inducted into the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame.