Congratulations to Rear Admiral Joanna Nunan, a retired US Coast Guard two-star admiral, recently appointed to be the superintendent of the US Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, NY, the first woman appointed as superintendent in the academy’s eight-decade history.
“Rear Admiral Nunan is uniquely prepared to lead and strengthen USMMA on every front,” said Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips in a statement. “She understands both the critical role USMMA plays in our economic and national security and the organizational transformations that are essential to ensuring USMMA prepares students in a safe and respectful environment to excel in a maritime industry undergoing rapid change.”
Rear Admiral Nunan retired this year as the Coast Guard’s Deputy for Personnel Readiness. In that role, she oversaw the Coast Guard’s HR functions, including recruitment and training, and she supervised the Coast Guard Academy and served on its Board of Trustees. She previously served as Assistant Commandant for Human Resources, leading the USCG’s diversity and inclusion efforts – including its effort to fix low retention for female servicemembers.
In earlier achievements, she commanded the Ninth Coast Guard District and USCG Sector Honolulu. She also accumulated nine years of sea time over the span of her career and held a civilian MMC with a 3rd Mate Unlimited endorsement – the same credential awarded to USMMA graduates.
Will Admiral Nunan represent a fresh start at the troubled institution? Or is she just another appointee facing a “glass cliff?”
A glass cliff is a term was coined in 2004 by British professors Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander Haslam of University of Exeter, United Kingdom, referring to the appointment of women in leadership roles, such as executives in the corporate world and female political election candidates, during periods of crisis or downturn, when the risk of failure is highest.
Last year, a report by the National Academy of Public Administration concluded that the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point has “lost its way.” The congressionally ordered review of the federal merchant marine academy determined that the school was beset with problems including aging facilities, a striking lack of diversity, and a curriculum that was failing to keep up with the needs of an evolving shipping industry.
In early November 2021, the academy paused a program that sends cadets to sea aboard commercial ships, after a female midshipman at the school shared an account of being raped by a crew member while serving at sea. This is the second suspension of the program in the last six years over allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
From the Washington Post: The new report, based on an investigation carried out between May 2020 and October 2021, says the school is doing too little to protect students from assaults and stamp out sexual harassment on campus and at sea, but makes clear its problems are far more widespread and affect almost every aspect of life there.
“While USMMA is producing licensed merchant mariners, it is not meeting many other requirements and expectations for a federal agency and federal service academy, and it is not adequately planning and prepared for the future,” said Judith Youngman, the chairwoman of the review panel and emeritus professor of political science at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Despite the numerous challenges facing the new superintendent, the good news is that Admiral Nunan is the first superintendent in many years with a background in HR and academic administration – critical skill sets for the academy’s reform agenda.
We wish the new superintendent only the best.