Maine Maritime Academy

Dr. William B. Eisenhardt
Castine, ME

Dr. William Eisenhardt is a career educator with a lifelong dedication to maritime education. A native of Baltimore, MD and a 1966 graduate of the United States Naval Academy he earned academic stars in engineering. During the Vietnam War, he served as a naval flight officer, earning the Air Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze stars among other personal and unit citations. After seven additional years of deploying throughout the world, he resigned from active duty and attended Duke University, where he earned his Masters and Ph.D. degrees while also teaching as a visiting professor.

Dr. Eisenhardt served as a faculty member and Dean of Students at Husson University, Associate Academic Dean and faculty member at St. Joseph’s College of Maine and then spent 18 years at Maine Maritime Academy as the Provost. Upon leaving, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science in recognition of his accomplishments in international maritime education worldwide and service to Maine Maritime.

In 2001 he was selected to be the president of the California Maritime Academy, one of the 23 campuses of the California State University System (CSU).  Dr. Eisenhardt has been responsible for increasing the exposure of Cal Maritime among a variety of external audiences. During his tenure there, Dr. Eisenhardt doubled the enrollment and diversified the academic offerings at Cal Maritime. The campus has now become the most culturally diverse maritime academy in the U.S.; 20% of the cadets are women and well over 30% are from underrepresented minority groups.

Under his leadership, Cal Maritime’s operating budget has increased by nearly 75% and major capital improvements have exceeded $99 million. Dr. Eisenhardt oversaw a five-fold expansion in charitable giving to the campus from alumni, industry, parents and friends. He was also responsible for securing the largest charitable donation in the Academy’s history: $3 million from ABS, which was used to establish the ABS School of Maritime Policy and Management. In 2002 Capt. Robert MCallister, a Cal Maritime graduate, donated $2.6 million to establish a new residence hall on campus. In the 2009-2010 academic year the Academy was awarded just under $3 million in federal grants and special project allocations, the first such ever in the history of the institution. Grant and contract work averages $2 million per year with a $9 million additional training collaboration with the CHEVRON Corporation.

During this time Dr Eisenhardt was the Chair of the Council of State Maritime Academies & Colleges Consortium, a group that lead efforts to stabilize and enhance the opportunities for young people to serve in the Maritime Service. He was active in the founding and continuing leadership of the International Association of Maritime Universities of over 50 maritime institutions in 33 countries. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Marine Exchange and the Northern California Maritime Security Committee wherein he was awarded a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Merit in 2005 for providing leadership in helping to set up national maritime port and terminal security protocols. In 2006 he was honored as Maritime Executive of the Year by the California Maritime Leadership Symposium, and in 2010 was awarded the Maritime Heritage Award by the San Francisco Maritime National Park Service. In 2011 Dr. Eisenhardt was awarded the Distinguished Career Service Award by the U. S. Maritime Administrator.

Upon retirement in 2012 from the California Maritime Academy the trustees of the CSU made him President Emeritus. In April 2012 the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard personally awarded Dr. Eisenhardt the Distinguished Public Service Award medal. And on National Maritime Day in May of that year in a Washington DC ceremony he was awarded the U.S. Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Dr. Eisenhardt currently resides on the coast of Maine with his wife Kathryn.