Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 15, 1980)

John Nachtsheim, president-elect, addresses Annual Banquet.

The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers at its 88th

Annual Meeting, held on Novem- ber 13, 1980 at the New York

Hilton Hotel, elected John J.

Nachtsheim as president. Mr.

Nachtsheim, who is Assistant Ad- ministrator for Operations, U.S.

Maritime Administration, will commence his two-year term on

January 1, 1981.

Mr. Nachtsheim was graduated from Webb Institute of Naval

Architecture in 1947 with a Bach- elor of Science degree in Naval

Architecture and Marine Engi- neering. He subsequently received an LLB degree from the George

Washington University Law

School and he attended the Har- vard Business School.

Mr. Nachtsheim began his ca- reer with the Department of the

Navy as a naval architect at its

Bureau of Ships Design Division in 1948, and in 1958-59 he was

Deputy Chief Design Engineer,

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He returned to BUSHIPS, which la- ter became the Naval Ship Engi- neering Center, as Chief Naval

Architect for the years 1959-70.

It was in these latter years that he was responsible for the con- tract design of all naval ships and major ship conversions.

In 1970, Mr. Nachtsheim joined the Maritime Administration as

Elected officers for 1981, from left, Robert G. Mende, secretary and executive director; John Nachtsheim, president-elect; and Robert Axelrod, treasurer.

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, and in 1973 he became Chief of the Office of Ship Construction.

In this post, he was responsible for supervising merchant-ship construction in U.S. shipyards.

For the five years following, he was instrumental in the contract- ing of $2.35 billion in merchant vessels.

As Assistant Administrator for

Operations at Mar Ad, Mr. Nacht- sheim is responsible to the As- sistant Secretary of Commerce for Maritime Affairs in the day- to-day supervision of the entire range of maritime operations and associated maritime programs of the federal government.

A Fellow of the Society, Mr.

Nachtsheim has been one of its most active members over the years, past member of many tech- nical and standing committees, and the author of more than a dozen technical papers and pub- lications. He holds the David W.

Taylor Medal, and until his elec- tion was an Honorary Vice Pres- ident of the Society.

Lester Rosenblatt, current pres- ident of the Society, presided over the business, technical and social meetings during this An- nual Meeting. In his annual ad- dress, Mr. Rosenblatt stressed his deep concern over the current po- sition of the U.S. merchant ma- rine and the U.S. Navy.

Mr. Rosenblatt stated that he feels the message calling for more merchant ships has been heard in

Washington. He said: "During the past year, a perhaps over- ambitious omnibus maritime bill was introduced in the Congress.

It is currently becalmed and has little chance for passage this year.

Nevertheless, common sense dic- tates that it, or one or more bills pointing towards the same goals, will be enacted during the coming year. Also, an important mari- time goal was achieved when

President Carter signed the Deep

Seabed Hard Minerals Act into law on June 28, 1980. This law means much more than probable new ship construction orders for numerous shipyards and more jobs for many seamen in the coming years; it has a national security implication of enormous importance. It opens the door to self-sufficiency for the United

States in at least four essential minerals — manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel.

The principal speaker at the 88th Annual Banquet of the So- ciety was David S. Lewis Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the General

Dynamics Corporation.

Holding a B.S. degree in aero- nautical engineering from Georgia

Tech, Mr. Lewis's first job was at the Glenn I.. Martin Company in

Baltimore. He became chief of aerodynamics at McDonnell Air- craft Corporation in 1946, hold- ing successively more responsi- (continued on page 16)

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