Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, a 1981 graduate of Auburn University, is to be the new head of the U.S.'s National Security Agency.

Rogers, whose presidential appointment does not require Senate approval, will take over an agency that has been rocked by revelations leaked to the international media by former employee Edward Snowden.

Rogers will replace Keith Alexander, whose retirement was announced in October. Separately, Richard Ledgett, who ran NSA's investigation of Snowden, is to become deputy director, which is the agency's highest civilian office, The Guardian reports.

Rogers graduated from Auburn in 1981 with an undergraduate degree in business, said Troy Johnson, spokesman for Auburn's Raymond J. Harbert College of Business.

"We're definitely proud to claim him as one of our own," Johnson said.