Shashi N. Kumar, an Indian American has been named to two posts at the Maritime Administration. Currently the academic dean at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kumar will take on the roles of deputy associate administrator and national coordinator for the Maritime Education and Training at MARAD’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. At MARAD, Kumar is expected to lead the efforts in bolstering the country’s pool of merchant marines and help address the needs of state and federal maritime academies.
“After serving at the United States Merchant Marine Academy since January 2007 as the academic dean and as interim superintendent three times, I am moving on to pursue other challenges,” Kumar said in a statement. Kumar is a graduate of the University of Ulster, Maine Maritime Academy and the University of Wales, Cardiff, the latter from which he earned his doctorate in applied economics.
He has been honored with a number of awards pertaining to his service and leadership over the years, and, in June, was named an honorary alumnus of USMMA. A member of several marine- and maritime-based organizations, Kumar got his start in the industry at Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. in Singapore as the company’s master mariner in 1979. After about seven years there, Kumar moved on to the Maine Maritime Academy where, from 1987 to 2007, he served as the founding dean of the Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics. Kumar will be leaving USMMA this month.
