Press Releases

Craig Johnson

Maine Maritime Academy Interim President Craig Johnson ’91 Reappointed to US Department of Transportation Advisory Committee

Posted on: February 6, 2025

Johnson to Serve Second Term on Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee

CASTINE, Maine, Thursday, February 6, 2025 – Maine Maritime Academy is pleased to announce that Interim President Craig Johnson ’91 has been reappointed to the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee (MTSNAC). Interim President Johnson is the only President from a State Maritime Academy to be selected.Read More…

Maritime Plastic Works

Posted on: January 27, 2025

CASTINE, Maine, Monday, January 27, 2025 — Maine Maritime Academy, in collaboration with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, will host a race of model vessels built by groups of 7th and 8th graders from Adams School and Penobscot Community School. The remote-controlled boats, based on the original design by MMA alumnus David Philbrook ’82, are constructed of 3D printed components and propelled by a motor with electrical circuits assembled by the students.Read More…

Maine Maritime Academy seal

Maine Maritime Academy Search Committee Announces Formal Launch of Presidential Search

Posted on: August 20, 2024

CASTINE, Maine, Tuesday, August 20, 2024 – Wayne Norton, Chairman of the Maine Maritime Academy Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee are excited to announce that they have selected RPA Inc., a nationally recognized executive search firm which marks the formal launch of their Presidential search.Read More…

Maine Maritime Academy and ORBIS, Inc. Showcase Inaugural Naval Shipyard Institute Workforce Development Program

Posted on: August 8, 2024

CASTINE, Maine, Wednesday, August 7 — Today, Maine Maritime Academy and ORBIS, Inc., a Portsmouth, NH-based defense contractor, hosted an event on campus highlighting the progress of the inaugural Naval Shipyard Institute workforce development program, offering a tour of the training cohorts, and providing the opportunity to interact with MMA leadership and faculty. Representatives from the offices of Governor Mills, Senator Collins, Senator King, as well as officials from the U.S. Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, MMA’s Board of Trustees and the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor were in attendance to discuss workforce development efforts. The Naval Shipyard Institute training project, funded by the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), is an intensive skills training program training over fifty in welding, machining, and marine electrical over the course of 14 weeks. Following the successful completion of the program, students will be eligible for employment at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard maintaining, repairing, and sustaining submarines.

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The Historic Schooner Bowdoin Successfully Completes Eight-Week, 4,500- Mile Arctic Voyage Crossing North of the 70th Parallel

Posted on: July 29, 2024

CASTINE, Maine, Friday, July 26 — Today, the historic schooner Bowdoin, the flagship of Maine Maritime Academy’s sailing fleet, arrived at her home port in Castine, Maine after a successful, eight-week Arctic voyage of more than 4,500 miles, having accomplished the goal of crossing north of the 70th Parallel. The schooner Bowdoin, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, was purpose-built for Arctic exploration and launched from Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard in East Boothbay in 1921. This was the Bowdoin’s 30th Arctic voyage and the first in 16 years.

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Maine Maritime Academy Professors Awarded a Maine Community Foundation Grant to Study PFAS in the Marine Environment

Posted on: June 14, 2024

CASTINE, Maine, June 14, 2024 — Maine Maritime Academy, one of the United States’ foremost maritime colleges offering degrees in engineering, science, management, and transportation, announces that Dr. Carey Friedman, Associate Professor of Marine Science and Dr. LeAnn Whitney, Associate Professor of Oceanography, were recently awarded a $77,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation in support of their research examining the relationship between PFAS in the marine environment and its presence in phytoplankton. Dr. Friedman and Dr. Whitney will be conducting the research in collaboration with Dr. Jitka Becanova, Assistant Research Professor of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.Read More…

Maine Maritime Academy Announces $50,000 Grant from L.L.Bean in Support of the Schooner Bowdoin’s 2024 Voyage to the Arctic

Posted on: May 28, 2024

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine, Tuesday, May 28, 2024 —Today, Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), one of the United States’ foremost maritime colleges offering degrees in engineering, science, management, and transportation, announced a $50,000 grant from L.L.Bean in support of the schooner Bowdoin’s return voyage to the Arctic for the first time since 2008. Read More…

Craig Johnson

MMA Announces the Appointment of an Interim President

Posted on: May 22, 2024

On Tuesday, May 21, MMA President Jerry Paul announced his intent to retire this summer due to extenuating family circumstances. The MMA Board of Trustees assembled a special meeting today to finalize a transition plan for presidential leadership at the Academy.

In a message to the community, Board Chair Wayne Norton said, “Through many of Paul’s initiatives, hard work, and vision, he has been a catalyst for a new trajectory at the Academy. President Paul leaves behind a strong foundation poised for continued growth born of the hard work of our faculty, staff, and Academy leadership team.

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TSSOM 2024 Castine Departure

Maine Maritime Academy Training Ship State of Maine Makes Final Departure from Castine Harbor

Posted on: May 8, 2024

Town joins Academy in formal sendoff; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to conduct research on transatlantic crossing.

CASTINE, Maine, Wednesday, May 8, 2024 —Today, Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), one of the United States’ foremost maritime universities offering degrees in engineering, science, management, and transportation began their annual training voyage on the training ship STATE OF MAINE. Students, officers, and crew departed Castine’s waterfront at 1130 for foreign and domestic ports of call. Read More…

Maine Maritime Academy’s 81st Commencement to be held with Senator Angus S. King Jr. Offering Remarks

Posted on: May 2, 2024

CASTINE, Maine, May 2, 2024— Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), one of the United States’ foremost maritime universities offering degrees in engineering, science, management, and transportation, will hold its 81st Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May, 4 at 11:30 a.m. Senator Angus S. King Jr. (ME-I) will deliver the Commencement address.Read More…