15th Annual Admirals Ball

Massachusetts Maritime Raises Funds for Scholarships, Awards Emery Rice Medal to Somerville.

THE Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s 15th Annual Admiral’s Ball was held this past weekend in Boston to raise funds for Emery Rice Scholarships, the Academy’s most rigorous scholarship program for cadets. During the annual fundraiser Mr. Robert D. Somerville, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ABS was named the Academy’s 2009 Maritime Person of the Year.

Somerville, a native of Houlton, Maine, was selected as a civilian who has distinguished himself through a career of excellence, innovation, and service to the maritime industries. He was presented with the Captain Emery Rice Medal named for an 1895 Academy graduate and hero of the First World War.

As Chairman of one of the world’s leading international classification societies, he has overseen a period of extraordinary growth in the organization’s activities, creating many new opportunities for naval architects, surveyors and marine engineers. Somerville has devoted his professional life to the marine industry. He is credited with championing the most fundamental change in the nature of ship classification since its inception with the adoption in December 2006 of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Common Structural Rules for tankers and bulk carriers.

“Recognizing excellence is the trademark of the Emery Rice Medal,” explained Captain Peter Lawrence, Chairman of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Foundation Board. “Mr. Somerville’s contributions to the maritime industry will no doubt have long lasting impressions. We are proud to name him our 2009 honoree.”

The Admiral’s Ball is the Academy’s largest annual fundraiser. The mission of the event is to address $5,000,000 in unmet financial need among cadets every year and 100 percent of the Ball proceeds go toward Emery Rice scholarships.

Former Massachusetts Maritime Academy Maritime Persons of the Year include: Admiral William J. Flanagan, Jr., USN; Gerhard E. Kurz; Morton S. Bouchard, III; Michael D. Tusiani; Peter G. Livanos; Joseph S.K. Kwok; Lars Carlsson; Joseph P. Gehegan, Jr.; Rear Admiral Maurice J. Bresnahan, Jr., USN (Ret.); Dennis M. Houston, Vice Admiral Vivian S. Crea, USCG; Paul R. Tregurtha; John A. Angelicoussis, Alan S. McKim, and Morten Arntzen.

For over 100 years, Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA), located on Cape Cod, has been preparing women and men for careers on land and sea. As the nation's oldest and co-ed maritime college, MMA challenges students to succeed by balancing a unique regimented lifestyle with a typical four-year college environment.

Photograph: Robert D. Somerville is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ABS

Editor’s NOTE: I attended the event for the first time this year. It was the nicest industry function I have been to in a long, long time. The food was Five Star, the company engaging and the cause, worthwhile. If you can find the time to go next year, it is well worth the effort. – MarEx