Former Interim President and Chief Operating Officer Selected by Board of Trustees following National Search

Castine, ME, Wednesday March 19, 2025 – Today, the Board of Trustees of Maine Maritime Academy announced the appointment of Craig Johnson ’91 of Castine, Maine as its 16th President following a formal search which launched last fall. Mr. Johnson has served as the Academy’s Chief Operating Officer since August of 2022, and Interim President since June 2024.Read More…

Peacock and Crew Members to Discuss the Bowdoin’s 2024 Arctic Voyage at Gundalow Company Event on March 8

CASTINE, Maine, Tuesday, March 4, 2025 – Schooner Bowdoin Master, Captain Alexander Peacock, recently accepted the 2024 Sail Trainer of the Year Award from Tall Ships America in recognition of his “contribution to sail training through the demonstration of leadership by means of empowerment and inspiration.”Read More…

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…

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…

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…

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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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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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…

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…

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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