UW News

February 28, 2008

Marine Affairs endowment to honor Marc Hershman

An endowment to provide financial support for students at the UW School of Marine Affairs has been created in memory of Professor Marc Joseph Hershman, 65, who died Feb. 17.

During Hershman’s 38-year career, he became a well-known expert on protecting and using coastal areas, managing seaports and the laws and policies governing U.S. ocean resources. He joined the UW in 1976 as an associate professor of Marine Affairs, with an adjunct appointment in the School of Law. He served from 1993 to 2003 as the director of the School of Marine Affairs, a part of the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences.

Among his accomplishments, Hershman was one of the 16 members serving on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, a group convened by President Bush to develop the nation’s first comprehensive report on oceans and coasts in nearly 35 years. In the course of their work, the commissioners heard testimony from 440 of the nation’s top ocean experts, environmental organizations, industry, citizens and government officials and in 2004 issued a blueprint for a coordinated national ocean policy for the 21st Century.

In recent years, Hershman and UW master’s students were instrumental in helping Washington state develop its first formal ocean policy. Working collaboratively with legislators, agency personnel, tribal representatives and the governor’s staff, Hershman and the students helped generate an interim report, developed an e-mail newsletter and helped draft parts of the final report.

The fund named in his honor is meant to help students interested in the principles and tools of coastal zone management, seaport management and marine transportation or coastal and ocean policies. To donate, visit the School of Marine Affairs homepage at http://www.sma.washington.edu/.