At its June 15 annual meeting, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s Board of Governors elected a new executive committee, along with new, second term, and Emeritus governors. Earlier in the year, the Board also elected four new board members to the museum’s governing body.
After the meeting, members of the log canoe community joined the Board at a reception honoring the family who donated the historic 1932 log canoe Flying Cloud to the museum. Representing the family, Allan Noble presented items from the canoe for the museum’s permanent collection, including an ensign and a banner from the 1930s, and an historic photograph of Cloud’s crew.
Board officers for the 2015-2016 year are Chair Richard C. Tilghman, Jr., Vice Chair/Treasurer James P. Harris, Treasurer-Elect Richard W. Snowdon, Secretary Richard J. Bodorff, and Officer-At-Large Diane J. Staley.
Newly elected to the board of governors are Donald L. Martin and Robert N. Hockaday, Jr., with Tom Seip and Ben Tilghman elected as Governors Emeriti.
New governors added to the board earlier in the year are Leeds Hackett, Charles Robertson, Richard Snowdon and Deborah Lawrence. Governors elected to serve a second term are Schuyler Benson, Fred Israel, Frank C. Marshall, and Diane J. Staley.
“Especially during our 50th anniversary year, the museum is privileged to count among its governors some of the most accomplished and generous people in the region,” commented CBMM Board Chair Richard Tilghman. “We are pleased to benefit from the service of all our board members—retiring, continuing and new, and feel fortunate to benefit from their talents and resources, especially now as the museum enters into its next 50 years.”
The Board also recognized retiring governors Paul Berry, Brooke Harwood, Steve Sands, and Henry Stansbury. Each was presented with a memento made from the original wood of the skipjack Rosie Parks and the bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, both part of CBMM’s floating fleet of historic Chesapeake boats.
New CBMM board member Donald Martin is currently a senior managing director at ARPC, Inc., an economic consultancy in Washington, D.C. He also serves as an adjunct professor of economics at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. and as Commissioner Emeritus of the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League. Martin earned his PhD in Economics from UCLA and is an alumnus from Boston University and the City University of New York. He and his wife currently live in Washington, D.C. and have a home in Bozman, Md. on Broad Creek.
Robert Hockaday is a commercial real estate developer in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area. Today, his companies lease and manage space to more than 100 national, regional, and local tenants. Hockaday pursued his undergraduate studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., where he developed a keen appreciation for the Eastern Shore’s attributes of waterfowling and boating, along with the Bay’s preservation of natural resources. Hockaday and his wife have built their waterfront residence on Harris Creek in the St. Michaels area.
New board member Leeds Hackett of Bozman, Md. serves as chairman of CMD Investment Group Inc. in Baltimore, Md. Hackett’s career is highlighted by several leadership and investment roles, including serving as CFO and CEO of corporations. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Babson College and later studied at the New York University Stern School of Business Administration.
Charles Robertson is the founder, chairman and CEO of American Cruise Lines, Inc., Pearl Sea Cruises, Chesapeake Shipbuilding, and other affiliated companies. He has also served as a Trustee of Mystic Seaport since 1989. Robertson holds a USCG Master’s License, First Class Pilots License, and has been an expert witness for the United States Coast Guard. He and his wife reside in Talbot County, Md. and Old Saybrook, Ct.
Richard Snowdon is a retired attorney where he specialized in estate planning, personal and corporate income tax, and taxation of exempt organizations. Snowdon has served on many nonprofit boards and advisory councils. He holds his bachelor’s from Syracuse University, College of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor with honors from the National Law Center, George Washington University. He also earned an Army Commendation and an honorable discharge at the rank of Captain.
Deborah Lawrence recently retired as vice president of Government Affairs at Williams Companies. She also serves as the treasurer of Rebuilding Together and Board Member of the University of Maryland Foundation. Lawrence received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park and her Juris Doctor from George Mason University School of Law.
In 2015, CBMM is celebrating its 50th anniversary, with a mission to preserve and explore the history, environment, and people of the Chesapeake Bay through educational, exhibition, and boat restoration programs. The museum’s campus includes a floating fleet of historic boats and 12 exhibition buildings, situated on 18 water front acres along the Miles River and St. Michaels’ harbor. For more information visit www.cbmm.org