Maine Maritime Academy Today Honors its Best and Brightest

College formally recognizes alumni accomplishment, student academic success, and outstanding faculty at its annual Celebration of Achievement. 18 individuals associated with the college will be recognized for their outstanding accomplishments.

According to MMA President Leonard Tyler, several recognition ceremonies are held jointly each year to foster mutual respect, admiration, and inspiration among all honorees. The ceremonies include the college’s Wall of Honor induction, Scheel Scholars and ABS Scholars presentations, and an Excellence in Teaching award. They highlight the interrelationship of alumni professional and civic success, student curiosity and scholarship, and inspired teaching and academic commitment, respectively. Initiated in 1997, the college’s Wall of Honor was created to recognize alumni, who, through achievements in professional and civic life, have brought honor to themselves and to Maine Maritime Academy. The Wall was established not only to pay tribute to their achievements, but also to allow their success to serve as inspiration to current students and their fellow alumni to strive for personal excellence.

The 2008 inductee will join 53 distinguished alumni honorees with a framed photograph and biographical sketch permanently displayed in the college’s Wall of Honor located in the Kresge Room of the Harold Alfond Student Center. Inductees are selected from nominations made at large by alumni and the public. Selection criteria prescribes that candidates be a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy and own, be a president, chief executive officer, or chair of the board of directors of a company; or have been elected to the office of mayor, governor, U.S. House of Representatives or Senate; or have achieved the rank of flag officer in a branch of the military; or have achieved significant prominence or lifetime achievement in a chosen field. Advanced education, professional awards and honors, community service, and voluntary service to Maine Maritime Academy are also considered for selection. The annual selection process is carried out by a committee comprised of members of the Wall of Honor.

This year’s Wall of Honor induction will recognize the career accomplishments of Rodney P. Rodrigue, MMA Class of 1967, president and CEO, Time Wise Management Systems, Inc. Time Wise Management Systems is a nationwide training and business advisory firm that helps organizations achieve strategic process improvements, sustain their performance gains, and drive continual improvement across their supply chains.

Rodrigue holds an M.B.A. degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is a respected entrepreneur and business professional. A founder of the U.S. Small Manufacturing Coalition, he currently serves as the president of the Florida and Maine divisions of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a national network with hundreds of specialists who understand the needs of manufacturers and assist them with services and access to public and private resources that enhance growth, improve productivity, expand capacity, and enhance global competitiveness.

His diverse business experience includes past executive leadership posts with the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad; Consolidated Auto Recyclers, Inc.; International Power Chemicals; and the Mexico-based firm of Productos Rolmex S.S. de C.V. He is currently the owner and chairman of Ironwood - Residential Treatment Center for Teens.

He is a past recipient of the Maine International Trade Center’s “Innovator of the Year Award” and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce’s “President’s Award.” Maine Maritime Academy also honors selected students annually as Henry A. Scheel Scholars, the college’s highest undergraduate academic honor. Awarded to those students who best exemplify intellectual curiosity and academic achievement, the distinction is named in honor of the late Henry A. Scheel, a resident of Rockport, Maine, and a noted naval architect, who expressed his high regard for Maine Maritime Academy by leaving funds to permanently endow scholarships for outstanding students.

This year’s 10 recipients were selected for the academic honor by the chairs of the academic departments at the college. They represent the highest standard of achievement within each of the undergraduate majors offered at the college. They are Jenna R. Algee, Bangor, Maine, marine biology major; Paul E. Arnold, II, Penobscot, Maine, marine systems engineering major; George A. Barnes, South Portland, Maine, marine engineering operations; Jeanie B. Cushman, South Thomaston, Maine, marine science major; Aaron P. Ellis, Houlton, Maine, marine engineering technology major; Timothy P. Gervais, Hamden, Conn., marine transportation operations; Zachary L. Hayes, Millinocket, Maine, power engineering technology major; Brandon D. Humphrey, Hartland, Maine, marine systems engineering major; Nicole N. St. Pierre, Baileyville, Maine, international business and logistics major; and Trent D. Quinby, Sedgwick, Maine, small vessel operations major.

A recently established academic distinction will also be presented at this year’s ceremony, recognizing the accomplishments of 6 outstanding students and the academic support of a leading U.S. ship classification society, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). According to ABS, consistent with its role as a leader in marine technology and its position within the maritime industry, the company is committed to supporting maritime education through a global scholarship program. Scholarships are awarded to deserving engineering and naval architecture students at colleges and universities that are recognized as national or international leaders in maritime technical education and research. Candidates for the scholarship opportunity at MMA were selected from those students enrolled in the college’s 5-year marine systems engineering program. Recipients will each receive a $10,000.00 scholarship in each of the final two years of their academic career at MMA. They are also provided the opportunity to complete an internship at ABS. They were selected by a committee of MMA engineering faculty and administrators based on their overall grade point average, their classroom and academic leadership, and their intellectual curiosity and growth. This year’s recipients are Andrew M. Blackman, Warren, Maine; Kenneth M. Brown, Chicago, Ill.; Ian R. Jellison, Orland, Maine; Nicholas R. Starbird, Auburn, Maine; Clay L. Tolman, Warren, Maine; Travis T. Wallace, Crawford, Maine.

Maine Maritime Academy will also present the third annual Excellence in Teaching Award, the college’s highest faculty achievement award. The award designates a member of the college faculty as selected by students and alumni, as the faculty member that best exemplifies proficiency in their field of expertise, and passion for teaching and student learning. This year’s recipient will be Mark S. Libby, North Yarmouth, Maine, associate professor of education and chair of the college’s engineering department.

A 1973 graduate of MMA, Libby is a licensed State of Maine First Class Stationary Engineer and is Chief~Engineer of Steam and Motor Vessels of any horsepower. He brings more than 20 years of professional experience in sea-based engineering to the college, along with a deep understanding of the professional qualities and competencies expected of today’s marine engineers. Since his appointment to the MMA faculty in 1997, Libby has participated extensively in hands-on learning opportunities for students, serving regularly as an assistant training officer aboard the college’s training ship. In 2004 he was appointed senior engine training officer and began serving as the college’s coordinator for power engineering cooperative educational experiences.

His professional experience extended to state interests in 1999, when he was appointed as the principle investigator of the Maine Department of Transportation’s Fast Ferry Project Grant. His diverse interests have also placed him in the graduate studies program at MMA, where he achieved an M.S. degree in logistics management. An active member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), he is noted for his support of student engineering projects and a high-level of respect and admiration from students and fellow engineering faculty.