SUNY Maritime College will inaugurate Rear Adm. Michael A. Alfultis, Ph.D. as its 11th president on Friday, November 7 at 11:30 a.m. in the campus’ newest facility, the Maritime Academic Center.
On Thursday and Friday, the campus will celebrate the investiture of Dr. Alfultis with a variety of educational, celebratory and historical activities, which will embrace the time-honored traditions of learning and leadership.
Festivities kick-off Thursday with an inauguration week luncheon for students only on the Mess Deck in Vander Clute Hall. Admiral Alfultis will be on hand to speak with students. The campus’ dining service will prepare a special menu for the luncheon.
That evening at 5 p.m. in the Maritime Academic Center multi-purpose room, the campus’ 140th Anniversary Speakers Series will present a panel discussion: The Merchant Marine: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Panelists include Matt McKenzie, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Environmental History, University of Connecticut, Avery Point, Connecticut; Sal Mercogliano ’89, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, Campbell College, Buies Creek, North Carolina, Jennie Speelman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York, and Joe Williams, Deputy Director, Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, Connecticut, author of: Four Years Before the Mast, A History of New York’s Maritime College. Timothy G. Lynch, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Maritime College, will moderate.
On Friday, many guests will visit the campus to formally open the College’s new Maritime Academic Center at 9 a.m., and to attend the presidential inauguration at 11:30 a.m. Guests will include SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, federal Maritime Administration leader Paul “Chip” Jaenichen, and industry titan, ABS Chairman Christopher Wiernicki, among them.
