Join Us for Our Annual Meeting & Reception
On 11 May we will conduct our 143rd Annual Meeting. This is an opportunity to help us celebrate winners of the General Prize Essay Contest and Authors of the Year. Members and other attendees will hear from our leaders on the state of the Naval Institute and have their questions answered.
Following a fast-paced meeting, we will move straight to a reception. Here, old and new friends will be able to engage and exchange ideas in the most relaxed of atmospheres. This wonderful opportunity is made possible by gifts from USAA and Leonardo DRS. For more details, please see the ad on page 7 or visit www.usni.org/events/2017-us-naval-institute-annual-meeting.
We Have Changes To Announce
We are pleased to announce that Peter Pace, retired Marine Corps General and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the new Chair of the Naval Institute Foundation Board of Trustees. General Pace relieves former Secretary of the Navy Gordon England. Secretary England has agreed
to remain on the Board in emeritus status and will continue to assist the Foundation in its work to build our financial resiliency.
Bob Johnson, our current Chief Financial Officer, is retiring from the Naval Institute this month, after 11 years of outstanding service and clean audits. Bob started at the Institute in September 2005 after working at the Franklin Mint for more than 30 years. He has been an essential part of our management team and has acted as a business partner for the entire organization. In addition to his responsibilities for finances, over the years Bob has been responsible for information technology, member services, and facilities. He will be missed.
Bob’s relief is Chip Wallen, who started in mid-April. Bob and Chip are working closely together to effect the best of turnovers. Chip comes with extensive experience as a financial professional and 15 years in publishing. Previously he was the CFO for McArdle Printing Company—a Division of Bloomberg. He has a son who is a midshipman at the Naval Academy. Chip brings superb for-profit financial credentials as well as an understanding of the importance of our mission and the roll-up-your-sleeves requirements of a non-profit.
In addition, we have had a turnover in membership and outreach. Joe Plenzler, who joined the team in June 2015 and immediately had positive impacts on membership and engagement with the active Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard forces, now works for the American Legion. He has been relieved by Carolina Olivieri as Executive Vice President for Membership Marketing. Carolina has extensive professional experience in member development strategies, research, communications, and driving member growth. Most recently she worked for a non-profit as director of membership and marketing.
We also have added to the team longtime Proceedings contributor and Press author Ward Carroll. He will work with Carolina as Director for Outreach. Ward will have a major role in our student-sponsored membership program. He will edit our newsletters, create segment communications with student-sponsored members, and travel to Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard commands and schools.
Emerging & Disruptive Technologies Essay Contest Winners Announced
We received 132 essays in this cutting-edge essay contest sponsored with Leidos. The three prize-winners are:
First Prize, $5,000: “An Intelligent Disruption,” published in this issue. By LCDR Jonathan Vandervelde, USN (Ret.)
Second Prize, $2,500: “Commercial Sector Game Changers for the Third Offset.” By LT Steven Moffitt, USN; and LT Evan Ladd, USN
Third Prize, $1,500: “Surfing the Data Tsunami.” By Gabe Harris, Cynthia Lamb, and Jerry Lamb, Ph.D.
On 4 April at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space, three of the six authors of the prize-winning essays were recognized.
Peter H. Daly VADM, USN (Ret.)
Life Member and Member since 1978