Dr. William B. Cogar Appointed President/CEO of the Mariners’ Museum

For Immediate Release

Dr. William B. Cogar Appointed President/CEO of the Mariners’ Museum

Newport News, Va. (November 2009)-- The Board of Trustees of The Mariners’ Museum, America’s National Maritime Museum, is pleased to announce that Dr. William B. Cogar has been appointed president and chief executive officer. Cogar’s leadership is effective November 1, 2009. 

Cogar has been with The Mariners’ Museum for several years, and he most recently served as vice president and chief operating officer.

Cogar received a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University. From 1983 to 1998, he was a history professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1993, he was appointed director of the Naval Academy Museum, where he embarked on an ambitious program to expand services, revitalize the museum and increase the importance of Naval Heritage. In addition to a series of temporary exhibitions, he completed a comprehensive master plan to modernize the museum with new galleries and permanent exhibits. His efforts resulted in state-of-the-art galleries on World War II, the Cold War Navy, and the Navy in Space. For his service, Cogar was awarded the U.S. Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1998.

In 1998, Cogar joined The Mariners’ Museum as vice president and chief curator, and he worked to make the museum’s collections more accessible both actually and virtually. He supervised the collections, exhibition design and education departments and was instrumental in several major exhibitions.

Cogar joined Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, as vice president for collections and research in 2002, managing the curatorial, photographic, publications, and intellectual property departments as well as the G.W. Blunt White Library.

In 2007, Cogar returned to The Mariners’ Museum as vice president of museum operations overseeing the curatorial, collections management, exhibit design, education, conservation, and photography departments. He also oversaw The Mariners’ Museum Library that houses the finest collection of books, manuscripts, maps, charts, and rare books in North America. In January 2008, Cogar was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer.

A published author on naval and maritime history, Cogar is a frequent speaker at history and museum conferences.

For more information:
Contact: Cindy Mackey
(757) 754-4553
E-mail: pr@marinersmuseum.org

The Mariners' Museum, an educational, non-profit institution accredited by the American Association of Museums, preserves and interprets maritime history through an international collection of ship models, figureheads, paintings and other maritime artifacts. The museum is open from 10 A.M. until 5 P.M. Wednesday through Saturday, and 12 to 5 P.M. Sunday. It will be closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. For information, visit www.marinersmuseum.org, call (757) 596-2222 or (800) 581-7245, or write to The Mariners' Museum, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606.

The Mariners' Museum and The South Street Seaport Museum of New York City are partners in America's National Maritime Museum, an innovative alliance recognized by an act of Congress in June 1998 to share collections, exhibitions, educational programs, publications, and other endeavors.