CASTINE – A $2.5 million gift to Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) from ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) is the largest single corporate gift to the Maine public post-secondary institution in the college’s 67-year history.Photo courtesy Maine Maritime Academy
FRIEND OF MAINE MARITIME ACADEMY — From left, Maine Governor John Baldacci assisted ABS Chairman and CEO Robert Somerville, a Houlton native, in the presentation of a donation of $2.5 million to Maine Maritime Academy Board of Trustees Chair Victoria Larson, and Maine Maritime Academy President Leonard Tyler. The gift, the largest single corporate gift to the Maine public post-secondary institution in the college’s 67-year history, was announced as part of a brief ceremony and press conference held Aug. 18 on the Castine college campus recognizing the leadership and support to the college by the international ship classification society.
Governor John Baldacci praised the expanded mission of ABS to support maritime education and research around the world and thanked ABS Chairman/CEO, Robert D. Somerville, for the gift to the college on behalf of the people of Maine. Somerville is a native of Houlton.
The gift was announced as part of a brief ceremony and press conference held Aug. 18 on the Castine college campus recognizing the leadership and support to the college by the international ship classification society.
Speaking on behalf of the Board of Trustees, students, staff, and faculty, MMA President Leonard Tyler unveiled preliminary plans for a state-of-the-art environmentally-friendly classroom building to be named in honor of ABS. While still in the preliminary planning stages, the ABS Center for Applied Engineering and Research is slated to occupy a central location on campus and is envisioned to serve as an educational hub to student residences, student dining, social facilities, and other classroom and athletic spaces.
Tyler personally thanked Somerville, a 1965 graduate of the college and a standing Trustee, for his commitment of time and energy to the furtherance of maritime education and the college.
“ABS wants to be a catalyst for helping to make American maritime colleges and universities the best in the world. It is our sincere hope that this commitment is the start of what will continue for generations to come here on the Maine Maritime Academy campus and beyond,” said Somerville. The ABS donation is the first of several the class society will be making over the next year to fund infrastructure on the campuses of major U.S.-based maritime institutions.
ABS, a leading international classification society, is devoted to promoting the security of life, property, and the marine environment through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction, and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities.
“Their [ABS] donation of $2.5 million is the most significant corporate gift we have ever received,” said Tyler. “ABS already employs many of our graduates and we hope that in years to come, they, and other companies involved in the shipping industry, will continue to benefit from the training our students receive.”
The new building will feature high tech classrooms, laboratories, simulators, and faculty offices all in a centralized location. Pending necessary permitting and approvals, groundbreaking is planned for 2010 with a completion date of summer 2011.