On November 15, 2012 the American Shipbuilding Suppliers Association Board of Directors appointed Rick Hepburn, PE, CAPT, USN (Ret) as the second President of ASSA. Rick will work to achieve the ASSA vision to strengthen the capability within the United States for domestically producing the critical parts and equipment necessary for shipbuilding. Under Rick’s leadership, ASSA will continue to work closely with the US Congress, Navy, Coast Guard, Shipyards and other important maritime stakeholders.
Rick will continue as President of Hepburn and Sons LLC, an engineering consulting firm offering support to Government and DoD Contractors in the fields of naval engineering, technology transition, system engineering, quality assessment, and ship design support. He was previously Senior Vice President for L-3 Communications Power Paragon Division. His last Navy tour was as Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Bath, Maine where he was responsible for the quality and contract oversight of over 7 billion dollars of DDG-51 Flight IIA shipbuilding contracts for the US Navy. Rick graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering. In 1988, he earned his Master of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and a post masters Naval Engineer degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rick is a past President of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) and received the ASNE 2003 Frank G. Law Award. He is a professional engineer in the states of Virginia, Georgia and Massachusetts. His book, History of American Naval Dry Docks; A Key Ingredient to a Maritime Power inspired a History Channel documentary. He is married and has three children and two grandchildren. He and his wife, Debby, live in Manassas Virginia.