Deborah Doane Dempsey ’76

Columbia River Bar Pilot

Education:

• B.A., University of Vermont, 1971
• B.S., Maine Maritime Academy, 1976 (D) First female graduate of any maritime or service academy.
• Ph.D. (honoris causa), Maine Maritime Academy, 1994

Career Highlights:

• Exxon Co., USA, Third Mate
• Lykes Bros. S.S. Co., Third Mate, Second Mate, Chief Mate, Master
• First female Master on international voyages
• Served during the Persian Gulf war
• Navigator, Newport-Bermuda Sailing Race, US Women’s Challenge Team
• Pilot Commissioner, Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots
• Director, Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center
• Co-author, “The Captain’s a Woman, Tales of a Merchant Mariner”
• Featured in PBS documentary “Shipping Out: The Story of American Seafaring Women”

Distinguished Service:

• Received the U.S. Navy Meritorious Service Award for Public Service
• Received the Seamen’s Church Institute Lifesaving Award
• Received Reader’s Digest “Heroes for Today” award
• Received “A Thousand Thanks” award (local hero to our children)