SNAME Announces The Appointment of Elizabeth Bouchard as its new Executive Director
The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) is proud to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Bouchard as its next Executive Director. She will become the 15ᵗʰ person to serve in this capacity since the organization’s founding in 1893 and she will assume the helm at SNAME Headquarters on July 1, 2024, succeeding Valerie Hutnan.
Elizabeth’s educational and professional backgrounds are ideally suited to her new role with SNAME. She comes to the Society from International Registries, Inc. (IRI), where she served as Senior Vice President (SVP), Regulatory Administration. IRI provides administrative and technical support to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Ship Registry, the third largest ship registry in the world. As SVP, Elizabeth led and managed a cross-cultural team (including personnel in Greece) responsible for implementing international regulations--including those of the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organization -- for a fleet of more than 5,600 vessels. Elizabeth also served as Deputy Commissioner of Maritime Affairs for the RMI Maritime Administrator, representing the RMI at international treaty negotiations.
Throughout her career, including when she was a consultant to major energy and shipping companies, Elizabeth analyzed, crafted, and developed maritime and environmental policy and regulations aimed at safeguarding crews, vessels, and the environment. She advised clients and other stakeholders on how to pragmatically meet new and changing requirements. Elizabeth started her career at the Transportation Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes and preserves the US maritime industry. This is where she first engaged in educational and outreach activities with the US federal and state governments.
Elizabeth earned a BA in Biology from Kenyon College and a MA in Marine Affairs from the University of Virginia. She is a member of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), the Project Management Institute; and the Rotary Club of Great Falls, Virginia. She is also a guest lecturer at the University of Rhode Island’s Marine Affairs Program.
The selection of Elizabeth resulted from the efforts of a SNAME Ad Hoc Executive Director Search Committee consisting of President Rick Spaulding, President Elect Richard Mueller, Past Presidents Suzanne Beckstoffer and Andrew Kendrick, and Vice President of Finance Paul Roden.
President Spaulding remarked on the selection of the new Executive Director:
We are very pleased to welcome a woman of Elizabeth’s professional maritime expertise and
accomplishments to SNAME. She brings years of experience and relationships with leaders in vessel operations; regulatory and policy development; business and employee development; and financial management to SNAME. I feel confident that we made the right choice in our selection of Elizabeth for this role and look forward to welcoming her aboard.
When notified of her appointment to SNAME, Elizabeth remarked “I am both honored and excited to join this renowned institution. I believe the Society serves a central role in furthering the interests of maritime professionals and businesses worldwide, and I Iook forward to working with the SNAME leadership and administrative team to further our outreach, engagement, and collaboration as we enter our 130ᵗʰ year of operation.”
SNAME is an internationally recognized nonprofit, technical, and professional society serving the maritime and offshore industries and their suppliers. It has more than 4,000 members worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe, as well as the Middle East and Asia. Membership is open to all persons associated with the maritime industry, including those working in ship design and construction; repair and overhaul; offshore; small craft industries, salvage; marine equipment and service suppliers; as well as professors and students at maritime educational institutions.
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