The Friends of the American Merchant Marine Museum is an organization governed by a Board of Directors consisting of persons with a deep interest in preserving the history of our Merchant Marine. This Board shall have all of the powers and duties enumerated by the Laws of the State of New York. New members of the Board of Directors are nominated in writing by at least three current members and receive a two-thirds vote of the full Board.
Board of Directors
Matthew Bonvento, President
Matthew Bonvento is an Assistant Professor of Nautical Science at the Merchant Marine Academy where he enjoys teaching Seamanship, Navigation, and business.
He is the author of From The Galley: Stories and Recipes from American Mariners. He holds a B.S. in Marine Transportation and M.S. in International Transportation Management. Before coming to USMMA Matthew worked as the Regulatory and Safety Compliance Manager at Vanuatu Maritime Services post sailing as Chief Mate.
He lives in New York with his wife and two children.
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Ira Breskin, Friend
Ira Breskin is a journalist, editor and lecturer, focusing on maritime-related subjects. He is the author of The Business of Shipping (9th edition).
Since 2003, Breskin has taught classes that address maritime economics, history, policy and regulation at State University of New York Maritime College in the Bronx, New York.
He is a senior lecturer.
At SUNY Maritime, he co-leads month-long study aboard programs in either Asia or northern Europe, arranging industry visits for upper level students.
Breskin also contributes to industry publications, including gCaptain.com
To his lectures and writing, Breskin brings more than 25 years of experience as a business journalist. He covered international trade and transportation for The Journal of Commerce and Fairchild News Service, serving as the Canadian bureau chief in Toronto.
He also reported on local businesses for daily newspapers in New Jersey and West Virginia.
Breskin has also taught at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point and Webb Institute in Glen Cove. Both campuses are located on Long Island, New York.
He serves on the board of the Friends of the American Merchant Marine Museum at Kings Point.
Breskin earned a BA from Columbia University, an MBA from Dowling College, and an MS in International Transportation Management from SUNY Maritime.
He holds an Ordinary Seaman rating.
Breskin has won several academic fellowships. They include a National Endowment for the Humanities award to study maritime history at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut and the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship, to study international business and economics at Columbia University.
Breskin lives in Great Neck, New York with his wife Terry and daughter Marti.
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James F. Tobin, Friend
Jim is a graduate of the class of 1977 from the United States Merchant Marine Academy with a BS in Marine Transportation and has an MBA in Finance from the New York Institute of Technology. He is the President/CEO of the United States Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, Inc (AAF).
Jim joined the AAF in 2008 and is the current President/CEO. He is also on the AAF Board of Directors. He is very grateful for the opportunity to give back to his alma mater.
Prior to joining the AAF, Jim was Marketing Director for The Heritage Group LLC, a Long Island-based financial firm specializing in retirement and estate planning. During his tenure he became involved in the not-for-profit sector assisting various charities with their marketing and planned giving. Jim was also Director of Investment Services for CFM Advisors, Inc., where he was responsible for all the firm’s qualified plans, specifically retirement plan investments and life insurance.
Upon graduation from USMMA, Jim sailed deep sea with Masters, Mates, & Pilots on various vessels including containers and tankers. He eventually worked with the Department of Environmental Protection for the City of New York. He sailed as Master and was promoted to Port Superintendent.
He obtained an Unlimited Masters License Upon Oceans, and First Class Pilotage for the New York Harbor area. He attained the rank of Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve and received his honorable discharge in 1985. Jim coached the USMMA Rugby Club in 1983-85 and has been the Rugby Team advisor and mentor.
☆ ☆ ☆
Jane Pacht Brickman, Friend
Jane Pacht Brickman is Professor Emerita at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, where she served as Professor of History and Head of the Department of Humanities from 1994-2011, and retired in 2016. She taught courses in American History, Philosophy, Social and Business Ethics, and Contemporary Controversial Issues. Until she became Department Head in 1994, Dr. Brickman served as the Women’s Advisor to female midshipmen at the Academy, the first federal service academy to admit women. She chaired the Human Relations Committee, which sought to assure an Academy climate that fostered gender and racial equity and equal opportunity, and the Superintendent’s Committee on Post-Graduate Fellowships, which developed a program, including an honor society, to assist qualified midshipmen to compete for post-graduate fellowships. Dr. Brickman was a trustee of the American Merchant Marine Museum, and a director of the Great Neck Historical Society.
Dr. Brickman holds a Ph.D. in History from the City University of New York. Her scholarship and publications are in the field of medical history, with a focus on twentieth-century medical reformers. She also has written and spoken extensively on issues involving the integration of women into predominantly and traditionally male environments.
☆ ☆ ☆
Richard P. Kaye, Legal Counsel
Richard is a litigation partner at the New York City law firm of Phillips Nizer LLP. A graduate of George Washington University Law School and Clark University, he started his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. Although Richard’s sea-faring career was limited to one Summer as an ordinary seaman on the SeaLand containership Arizpa, he is a lifelong student of naval history with a deep devotion to current naval and maritime affairs.
He is a member of the New York Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States where he serves as Treasurer and Judge Advocate as well as on the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature Committee and the New York Council of the U.S. Navy League where he has served on the Commodore John Barry Book Award Committee. He is also active in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (Flotilla 04-07 in Stamford, Connecticut) and is a member and supporter of the U.S. Naval Institute, the Naval War College Foundation, the Historic Naval Ships Association, the National Maritime Historical Society, the Historic Naval Ships Association, and the International Naval Research Organization. He has visited naval and maritime museums throughout the world and has visited well over a hundred warships and merchant vessels, both in active service or preserved as museum ships.
Richard has lived with his wife, Susan Strickler, in White Plains, New York, for over 35 years and has two adult children.
☆ ☆ ☆
Emil Muccin, Friend
Emil Muccin previously was the Assistant Department Head, Maritime Business Division of Marine Transportation Department and an Associate Professor of Nautical Science at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. He is now retired.
He previously was the Marine Transportation Department STCW Coordinator. Additionally, he was the Faculty Advisor to the Museum Club, Cyber Defense, and Propeller Clubs at the Academy.
Emil graduated from the USMMA with a BS in Nautical Science and from Pace University with an MBA in Information Systems. He sailed for many years as the Master of paddle wheelers on the Hudson River.
☆ ☆ ☆
Ian Watts, Secretary
Ian Watts received a BA in Anthropology and U.S. Government from the University of Virginia and pursued a Ph.D in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University. His awards, scholarships, and fellowships are from the Luso-American Development Foundation, the National Library of Lisbon, Orient Foundation, and the Camões Institute.
Ian lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife and three boys. He is an avid researcher of the American Merchant Marine, writer of fiction, and a translator of Portuguese poetry. His work may be found in the Review of Culture (Macau) and Prairie Schooner.
☆ ☆ ☆
Neil Jones, Friend
I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. Before arriving at the Academy as a Deckie in 1948, I had sailed as coal passer, deckhand, oiler, watertender, and AB on the Lakes as well as the deep sea.
After graduation in 1952 shipping was slow, and I continued sailing as AB for a few months, first on the Great Lakes and later aboard an ESSO tanker. Then, from 1953 through 1955, I was aboard a Navy minesweeper as Operations Officer.
Following that, in 1956 and 1957, I sailed as junior 3rd and senior 3rd mate aboard Moore-McCormack Lines’ passenger liner, SS Brazil.
Then I went ashore and, for the next five years, worked for The Martin Company in Denver on the Titan intercontinental ballistic missile program. During that time I became active in local Republican politics. I spent the summer and fall of 1964 on the Republican National Finance Committee staff in Washington.
After the 1964 presidential campaign, I worked in the oil exploration, cable television, radio paging, and cellular telephone businesses. In 1992 I sold my cellular telephone business and for all intents and purposes, retired.
Since then I have been involved with local charities. I married in 1962. We have a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren, our third child, a daughter, passed away two years ago.
Friends
The Friends of the American Merchant Marine Museum is an organization governed by a Board of Directors consisting of persons with a deep interest in preserving the history of our Merchant Marine. This Board shall have all of the powers and duties enumerated by the Laws of the State of New York. New members of the Board of Directors are nominated in writing by at least three current members and receive a two-thirds vote of the full Board.
Board of Directors
Matthew Bonvento, President
Matthew Bonvento is an Assistant Professor of Nautical Science at the Merchant Marine Academy where he enjoys teaching Seamanship, Navigation, and business.
He is the author of From The Galley: Stories and Recipes from American Mariners. He holds a B.S. in Marine Transportation and M.S. in International Transportation Management. Before coming to USMMA Matthew worked as the Regulatory and Safety Compliance Manager at Vanuatu Maritime Services post sailing as Chief Mate.
He lives in New York with his wife and two children.
☆ ☆ ☆
Ira Breskin, Friend
Ira Breskin is a journalist, editor and lecturer, focusing on maritime-related subjects. He is the author of The Business of Shipping (9th edition).
Since 2003, Breskin has taught classes that address maritime economics, history, policy and regulation at State University of New York Maritime College in the Bronx, New York.
He is a senior lecturer.
At SUNY Maritime, he co-leads month-long study aboard programs in either Asia or northern Europe, arranging industry visits for upper level students.
Breskin also contributes to industry publications, including gCaptain.com
To his lectures and writing, Breskin brings more than 25 years of experience as a business journalist. He covered international trade and transportation for The Journal of Commerce and Fairchild News Service, serving as the Canadian bureau chief in Toronto.
He also reported on local businesses for daily newspapers in New Jersey and West Virginia.
Breskin has also taught at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point and Webb Institute in Glen Cove. Both campuses are located on Long Island, New York.
He serves on the board of the Friends of the American Merchant Marine Museum at Kings Point.
Breskin earned a BA from Columbia University, an MBA from Dowling College, and an MS in International Transportation Management from SUNY Maritime.
He holds an Ordinary Seaman rating.
Breskin has won several academic fellowships. They include a National Endowment for the Humanities award to study maritime history at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut and the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship, to study international business and economics at Columbia University.
Breskin lives in Great Neck, New York with his wife Terry and daughter Marti.
☆ ☆ ☆
James F. Tobin, Friend
Jim is a graduate of the class of 1977 from the United States Merchant Marine Academy with a BS in Marine Transportation and has an MBA in Finance from the New York Institute of Technology. He is the President/CEO of the United States Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, Inc (AAF).
Jim joined the AAF in 2008 and is the current President/CEO. He is also on the AAF Board of Directors. He is very grateful for the opportunity to give back to his alma mater.
Prior to joining the AAF, Jim was Marketing Director for The Heritage Group LLC, a Long Island-based financial firm specializing in retirement and estate planning. During his tenure he became involved in the not-for-profit sector assisting various charities with their marketing and planned giving. Jim was also Director of Investment Services for CFM Advisors, Inc., where he was responsible for all the firm’s qualified plans, specifically retirement plan investments and life insurance.
Upon graduation from USMMA, Jim sailed deep sea with Masters, Mates, & Pilots on various vessels including containers and tankers. He eventually worked with the Department of Environmental Protection for the City of New York. He sailed as Master and was promoted to Port Superintendent.
He obtained an Unlimited Masters License Upon Oceans, and First Class Pilotage for the New York Harbor area. He attained the rank of Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve and received his honorable discharge in 1985. Jim coached the USMMA Rugby Club in 1983-85 and has been the Rugby Team advisor and mentor.
☆ ☆ ☆
Jane Pacht Brickman, Friend
Jane Pacht Brickman is Professor Emerita at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, where she served as Professor of History and Head of the Department of Humanities from 1994-2011, and retired in 2016. She taught courses in American History, Philosophy, Social and Business Ethics, and Contemporary Controversial Issues. Until she became Department Head in 1994, Dr. Brickman served as the Women’s Advisor to female midshipmen at the Academy, the first federal service academy to admit women. She chaired the Human Relations Committee, which sought to assure an Academy climate that fostered gender and racial equity and equal opportunity, and the Superintendent’s Committee on Post-Graduate Fellowships, which developed a program, including an honor society, to assist qualified midshipmen to compete for post-graduate fellowships. Dr. Brickman was a trustee of the American Merchant Marine Museum, and a director of the Great Neck Historical Society.
Dr. Brickman holds a Ph.D. in History from the City University of New York. Her scholarship and publications are in the field of medical history, with a focus on twentieth-century medical reformers. She also has written and spoken extensively on issues involving the integration of women into predominantly and traditionally male environments.
☆ ☆ ☆
Richard P. Kaye, Legal Counsel
Richard is a litigation partner at the New York City law firm of Phillips Nizer LLP. A graduate of George Washington University Law School and Clark University, he started his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. Although Richard’s sea-faring career was limited to one Summer as an ordinary seaman on the SeaLand containership Arizpa, he is a lifelong student of naval history with a deep devotion to current naval and maritime affairs.
He is a member of the New York Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States where he serves as Treasurer and Judge Advocate as well as on the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature Committee and the New York Council of the U.S. Navy League where he has served on the Commodore John Barry Book Award Committee. He is also active in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (Flotilla 04-07 in Stamford, Connecticut) and is a member and supporter of the U.S. Naval Institute, the Naval War College Foundation, the Historic Naval Ships Association, the National Maritime Historical Society, the Historic Naval Ships Association, and the International Naval Research Organization. He has visited naval and maritime museums throughout the world and has visited well over a hundred warships and merchant vessels, both in active service or preserved as museum ships.
Richard has lived with his wife, Susan Strickler, in White Plains, New York, for over 35 years and has two adult children.
☆ ☆ ☆
Emil Muccin, Friend
Emil Muccin previously was the Assistant Department Head, Maritime Business Division of Marine Transportation Department and an Associate Professor of Nautical Science at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. He is now retired.
He previously was the Marine Transportation Department STCW Coordinator. Additionally, he was the Faculty Advisor to the Museum Club, Cyber Defense, and Propeller Clubs at the Academy.
Emil graduated from the USMMA with a BS in Nautical Science and from Pace University with an MBA in Information Systems. He sailed for many years as the Master of paddle wheelers on the Hudson River.
☆ ☆ ☆
Ian Watts, Secretary
Ian Watts received a BA in Anthropology and U.S. Government from the University of Virginia and pursued a Ph.D in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University. His awards, scholarships, and fellowships are from the Luso-American Development Foundation, the National Library of Lisbon, Orient Foundation, and the Camões Institute.
Ian lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife and three boys. He is an avid researcher of the American Merchant Marine, writer of fiction, and a translator of Portuguese poetry. His work may be found in the Review of Culture (Macau) and Prairie Schooner.
☆ ☆ ☆
Neil Jones, Friend
I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. Before arriving at the Academy as a Deckie in 1948, I had sailed as coal passer, deckhand, oiler, watertender, and AB on the Lakes as well as the deep sea.
After graduation in 1952 shipping was slow, and I continued sailing as AB for a few months, first on the Great Lakes and later aboard an ESSO tanker. Then, from 1953 through 1955, I was aboard a Navy minesweeper as Operations Officer.
Following that, in 1956 and 1957, I sailed as junior 3rd and senior 3rd mate aboard Moore-McCormack Lines’ passenger liner, SS Brazil.
Then I went ashore and, for the next five years, worked for The Martin Company in Denver on the Titan intercontinental ballistic missile program. During that time I became active in local Republican politics. I spent the summer and fall of 1964 on the Republican National Finance Committee staff in Washington.
After the 1964 presidential campaign, I worked in the oil exploration, cable television, radio paging, and cellular telephone businesses. In 1992 I sold my cellular telephone business and for all intents and purposes, retired.
Since then I have been involved with local charities. I married in 1962. We have a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren, our third child, a daughter, passed away two years ago.
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Peter Kahl, Treasurer
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Jim McNamara, Friend
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John Ring, Friend
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Michael Rowles, Friend
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William B. Mollard, Friend