San Jac Names Maritime Program Leader

La Porte, TX — San Jacinto College has named John Stauffer as the vice chancellor and superintendent for maritime.

Stauffer, Chief Warrant Officer 4 in the U.S. Army, will take office Sept. 12 and will oversee both the credit and non credit maritime programs, as well as the Maritime Technology and Training Center on the Maritime Campus.

Over the course of Stauffer's 22 year career he sailed on every ship in the U.S. Army's fleet, and assisted in the reopening of Port-au-Prince following the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

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He currently serves as director of the Maritime Operations Branch with the U.S. Army Transportation School at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

One of his goals in taking the position with San Jacinto College is to help more military veterans transition into maritime careers by earning maritime transportation associate degrees. He also plans to grow the maritime pipeline from high school to college.

The U.S. transportation sector will face an estimated shortfall of about 70,000 qualified mariners, according to the United States Maritime Administration. Stauffer considers addressing the shortage of able bodied seaman to be one of the program's major goals.

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