Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Female Students at Maine Maritime Academy

Maine Maritime Academy was founded in 1941 with its first class of 29 students graduating in 1943. It wasn’t until 1974 that MMA welcomed its first female student, Deborah Doane Dempsey. As we reflect on the celebration of 50 years of women at MMA, we might ask ourselves what we are truly celebrating. Surely it is not that women have become stronger, more capable, more driven, or wiser — women have been all these things since the beginning. Perhaps the celebration is that we as a nation and as an MMA community have moved a step closer to recognizing what has been true all along, that gender should not limit what we dream of, whether it be a life at sea, in the lab, in the boardroom or the home.

In commemoration of our 50-year milestone, we had conversations with six MMA graduates to talk about their time at the academy and beyond. The women highlighted below are just a sampling of the skilled, accomplished, and varied individuals who have built their academic and professional foundations at Maine Maritime Academy.