KINGS POINT, N.Y., September 21, 2022 - On Monday, Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, USN (Ret.) held her first all hands meeting at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) since being sworn in as Administrator of the Maritime Administration.

Phillips started by repeating a message that she shared with the Class of 2022 at their recent graduation ceremony. “You, our midshipmen,” she told the audience, “are the best America has to offer, you deserve a world-class campus and training opportunities at sea where you have all the resources you need to excel.”

 She expressed her commitment to ensuring that all members of the Academy community learn and work in safe and supportive environments and discussed, in detail, topics relevant to the Regiment of Midshipmen: improved infrastructure, safety at sea, and the maritime industry’s current need for trained and qualified mariners. She also spoke of newly created positions at USMMA that will support midshipmen by strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 After the official remarks, Admiral Phillips shared her personal journey to becoming a naval officer and took questions from the midshipmen, faculty and staff.

 Prior to this appointment, Phillips served as the first Special Assistant to the Governor of Virginia for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, where she built a collaborative, whole of government and community approach to address the impact of coastal flooding across the Commonwealth, including the development of Virginia’s first Coastal Resilience Master Plan. In particular, she coordinated across Federal, State, local, and other partners to create equitable strategies to address rising waters and climate impact to federal, maritime, and other critical coastal infrastructure assets in Virginia. 

Admiral Phillips served nearly 31 years as a surface warfare officer.  Her final tour of duty, as Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group TWO, included the direct oversight of 14 ships and 10 subordinate commands - all the Amphibious Expeditionary Forces on the East Coast of the United States. Earlier, she served on the Chief of Naval Operations’ Staff as Deputy Director and then Director of the Surface Warfare Division. Previous to those positions, she had the honor to commission and command the USS MUSTIN (DDG 89) and to command Destroyer Squadron 28.

Phillips earned a Master of Business Administration, with distinction, from The College of William & Mary – Raymond A. Mason School of Business - in 2016. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

Rear Admiral Dunlap, Deputy Superintendent (performing the duties of the Superintendent), said, “It was an honor to host Admiral Phillips and we hope that she will return to Kings Point often.”