Attended Lancaster High School in Lancaster, South Carolina, and was graduated valedictorian from the Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Sciences from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1957 and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964; presented an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of South Carolina in 1973, and an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Francis Marion College in 1990.