National Maritime Historical Society 2018 Annual Awards Dinner
25 October • New York Yacht Club • New York City by Julia Church ou are cordially invited to join the National Maritime Historical Society on 25 October to celebrate three exceptional recipients for their unique contributions to our maritime heritage at the Society’s Annual Awards Dinner, held at the historic New York Yacht Club on 44th Street in New York City. This annual gala brings together those who love and serve the sea in every capacity.
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Richard T. du Moulin will serve as master of ceremonies for the 2018 gala event. Video introductions of the recipients will be produced by Richardo and Alessandro Lopes of Voyage Digital Media. Entertainment will be provided by the US Coast Guard Academy Cadet Chorale, directed by Dr. Robert Newton. It is with great pleasure that George W. Carmany III, dinner chairman, and Christopher J. Culver, Rear Commodore of the New York Yacht Club and dinner vice chairman, announce this year’s three honorees: NMHS David A. O’Neil Sheet Anchor Award for his work as an educator and leading advocate for our nation’s maritime heritage community. He serves as chair of the National Maritime Alliance, which represents a diverse maritime constituency and a broad range of institutions. Under his leadership, the Alliance successfully lobbied Congress and won the fight to gain continued and full funding for the National Maritime Heritage Act grants program with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act in 2017. Dr. Runyan is also recognized for his invaluable efforts to help build the strength and outreach of the Society as a trustee and chair of Sea History’s Editorial Advisory Board. He recently served as the co-chairman of the 2017 and 2018 National Maritime Awards Dinners, promoting advocacy for maritime heritage funding in our nation’s capital. He is a founder and trustee emeritus of the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where he led the effort to preserve the 1925-built, 618-foot SS William G. Mather as a museum ship on the Cleveland lakefront. He is also the past president of the Great Lakes Historical Society, which operates the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo. When he became director of the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University, a graduate program training students in both maritime history and underwater archaeology, Dr. Runyan joined his students in the formal scientific diver training certification program and so he could participate in the program’s archaeological fieldwork. He served as a principal investigator in the 2004 survey and identification of the RussianAmerican Company barque Kad’yak, which sank in 1860 off Kodiak, Alaska. It is the oldest shipwreck found in Alaskan waters and the only Russian-American Company ship ever discovered.
photos courtesy timothy j. runyan
Dr. Timothy J. Runyan will receive the
Tim Runyan earning his square rigger chops aboard the barque-rigged USCGC Eagle as it makes its approach to the North Carolina coast. 14
SEA HISTORY 164, AUTUMN 2018