Jayson Hron / Duluth Seaway Port Authority
UW-Superior Professor Emeritus Receives National Maritime Medal
Capt. Jeff Flumignan with the U.S. Maritime Administration, award-winner Dr. Richard Stewart, and Adam Tindall-Schlicht, administrator of the Great Lakes Seaway Development Corporation
Duluth-Superior Maritime Club hosted its annual National Maritime Day Celebration on May 22, 2023, with keynote speaker Adam Tindall-Schlicht, administrator of the Great Lakes Seaway Development Corporation, who presented a special award to Dr. Richard Stewart.
Richard is a former freighter captain and professor emeritus and founder of the Transportation and Logistics Management major at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, with the Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement.
The Outstanding Achievement Medal, established in 2002, is awarded by the U.S. Maritime Administration to members of the maritime industry for an act or operation of humanitarian nature directly to an individual or groups of individuals, long and dedicated years of service or achievement, or for an extraordinary valuable contribution or work to the maritime industry. About 1,200 have been given to date.
Stewart has a long history in both the maritime industry and teaching about transportation to the next generation of workers in that business. He sailed merchant ships, coming through the ranks to become captain on multiple ocean-going vessels. On land, he’s been a fleet manager, small business owner, cargo surveyor, real estate agent, port captain. He was a professor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for 13 years and headed of its Department of Marine Transportation. He came to UWS in 1999 and created the Transportation and Logistics Management major. According to UWS, at the 2019 Twin Ports Freight Showcase, Craig Thompson, Wisconsin Secretary of Transportation, referred to Stewart as “the Vince Lombardi of the transportation industry.”
While at UWS, he also served as director of the Transportation and Logistics Research Center and as co-director of the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute. Under his leadership, the Transportation and Logistic Program grew from three students to one of the largest at the university today. It is one of only about 25 in the country certified by the American Society of Transportation and Logistics.
In accepting the award at a luncheon today (May 22), Stewart thanked his own maritime mentors of the past. “I’m deeply honored and humbled,” he said of receiving the award, “ knowing how many others deserve this award.”
He also made a special thank you to his wife, Kathleen Collins, who “has kept me on my course.”
“I am so proud to be a member of the maritime community,” he said, adding the “Great Lakes is in a unique and dynamic position” within the industry.
National Maritime Day was established in 1933 in commemoration of the sailing of the Savannah, the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean, leaving from Savannah, Ga on May 22, 1819. The day has become a commemoration of the merchant marines, and today’s celebration included a “Service of Remembrance” by the Rev. Doug Paulson of the Twin Ports Ministry to Seafarers. A plea was also given for donations to the group, which is working to fix some sewer and water-line issues in its building. The Maritime Club agreed on up to a $1,000 match for donations, the club’s President Karis Boerner announced.
Captain Jeff Flumignan with the U.S. Maritime Administration delivered Pres. Joe Biden’s Proclamation on National Maritime Day 2023. The proclamation included a pitch for Biden’s 2024 budget. “We are also making historic investments to improve our maritime supply chains by making it easier, faster, cheaper, cleaner and safer for ships to get in and out of our ports. We are strengthening our support for licensed Merchant Marine Officers, including requesting $196 million in my 2024 Budget to upgrade the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s campus, expand training, and help prevent sexual assault and support survivors — because every person at the Academy deserves to feel safe and have their contributions fully valued.
Biden’s proclamation also stated, “My Administration remains steadfast in its support of the Merchant Marine as well as the Jones Act, which ensures American workers see the benefits of our domestic maritime industry.”
Adam Tindall-Schlicht, serving now as the 11th administrator of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation after presidential appointment in November 2022, called the maritime trade “one of our country’s most important industries” and pointed to the more than 900 vessel visits annually to the port of Duluth-Superior showing it to be the top port within the Great Lakes and one of the 25 top ports in the country.
His talk strongly emphasized creation of a “Green Corridor” for Great Lakes cargo transportation and the updates in infrastructure and reduction of carbon emissions by the maritime industry being funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which earmarks $17 billiion in port infrastructure and similar projects, as well as through the Inflation Reduction Act. “We believe the Great Lakes will be the (world’s) example for green shipping,” he said.