Alaska Marine Safety Education Association’s Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Dr. Leann Fay as the new Executive Director of AMSEA. Board chair Julie Matweyou “is grateful to have identified such a highly skilled Executive Director to take over the important AMSEA mission. Our board has full confidence in Dr. Fay’s ability to lead AMSEA’s training programs and a new generation of marine safety instructors. In addition, Dr. Fay’s professional experience will help AMSEA take on new marine safety research projects.”
It is both with gratitude and appreciation that we open this new chapter in AMSEA’s history. Dr. Leann Fay took over the responsibilities and title of Executive Director on July 1st, 2023, from Jerry Dzugan. Mr. Dzugan, the founding member and original Executive Director of AMSEA, has navigated AMSEA on its path to change the face of marine safety across the nation for 38 years. His contributions to the marine safety world over his term as the executive director have been extensive. Mr. Dzugan will be stepping away from the role of executive director to prioritize training and outreach.
Ms. Matweyou, on behalf of the board of directors, wants to thank Mr. Dzugan for his nearly four decades of service. “Jerry has worked tirelessly, as an advocate and educator, to improve marine safety for commercial fishermen and other mariners. We are sincerely appreciative of his many years of dedication to this field and to AMSEA.”
We are grateful for everything Mr. Dzugan accomplished through his decades of leadership and are excited to see where Dr. Fay will take the organization in the coming years. Dr. Fay states that “Fishermen and other boaters are lucky to have had Jerry and all our marine safety partners over the years looking out for them. I am honored to be AMSEA’s next leader in marine safety.”
Dr. Fay is an experienced commercial fisherman and blue-water sailor. She has fished in Alaska’s black cod fisheries and continues to fish in the Southeast Alaska troll salmon and longline halibut (2C) fisheries. Dr. Fay spent the last two years as a marine safety instructor and researcher through AMSEA.
After receiving her Master of Science in Applied Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Fay moved to Berkley, where she completed her Doctorate in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her research background focuses on applied social science strategies, program evaluation, health promotion, and storytelling. Dr. Fay is a passionate and skilled leader who will continue improving marine safety practices nationwide through a network of dedicated marine safety instructors and USCG-accepted training programs.