Retired Coast Guard admiral will be first woman to lead the Merchant Marine Academy

A retired Coast Guard admiral who spent three decades commanding units afloat and ashore will be the next superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced this weekend.

Rear Adm. Joanna M. Nunan retired this year as the Coast Guard’s deputy for personnel readiness. She will be the first woman to lead the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in King’s Point, New York.

The USMMA trains officers to serve on ships in the maritime industry. Its graduates also receive a reserve commission in the Navy and can serve on active duty in any of the military branches.

“Rear Admiral Joanna Nunan is the right leader at the right time for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy,” Mr. Buttigieg said in a statement. “Her years of experience as a senior military leader — including command at sea — have prepared Rear Adm. Nunan to shape the future of the USMMA and help ensure the safety and success of its extraordinary midshipmen.”

In recent years, the academy has come under criticism from lawmakers in Washington over allegations of sexual assault and harassment in its Sea Year program, which places midshipmen on commercial vessels. Graduates are required to serve at sea during their time at the academy in order to receive a license in the U.S. Merchant Marines.

The Sea Year program was suspended in 2016 and again in 2021 after the USMMA received multiple reports of sexual assault. The Department of Transportation and the U.S. Maritime Administration later implemented new safety standards and reforms to the program.

“Rear Admiral Nunan is uniquely prepared to lead and strengthen USMMA on every front,” said Ann Phillips, the head of the U.S. Maritime Administration, an agency of the Department of Transportation that oversees the USMMA.

“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,” Ms. Phillips said.