The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Crowley Maritime Corporation are pleased to announce that Ronald M. Katims has been appointed as the first holder of the Crowley Chair in Logistics and
Intermodal Transportation. The Crowley Chair was established through a $2 million endowment by Crowley Maritime in memory of Thomas B. Crowley, Sr., the late leader of the firm.
Katims has had an illustrious career in the port and transportation field. He has extensive senior executive, engineering, and consulting experience in the containerization environment. He has worked for and with many international companies and agencies in the forefront of developing intermodal transportation. Highlights of his career include service as Chairman, President, and CEO of a major liner-service company; working with Malcom McLean in the early days of containerization; the planning and construction of the world's first purpose-built intermodal container terminal; development of patented container equipment; and an advisory role in intermodal system development in foreign countries.
As the occupant of the Crowley Chair in Logistics and Intermodal Transportation, Katims will enhance the Academy's visibility and stature in the field; provide midshipmen and faculty with unique perspectives on containerization and intermodal issues through teaching and public lectures; assist midshipmen in finding internships and building careers; help to organize conferences and seminars; and advise the Academy on the further refinement and expansion of its Logistics and Intermodal Transportation Program.
The Academy, dedicated in 1943 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, trains young men and women from across the Nation as licensed merchant marine and U.S.
Naval Reserve officers. Operated by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration, the Academy has produced more than 20,000 graduates who have served the Nation at sea, in the maritime and transportation industries ashore, and in the U.S. Armed Forces. More information about the Academy is available on-line at www.usmma.edu.