Mark Martecchini, most recently managing director of Stolt Tankers, is to...

Mark Martecchini, most recently managing director of Stolt Tankers, is to become the 16th president of the 130-year-old Webb Institute.   Credit: Studio Hoge Heren

A search for a new president for the Webb Institute has led to an alumnus of the 130-year-old naval architecture and marine engineering school in Glen Cove.

Mark Martecchini will become Webb Institute’s 16th president when he assumes the post on July 1, succeeding R. Keith Michel, who is retiring after nine years.

In a statement released by the institute, Martecchini said he was honored to be chosen "to lead Webb into … a future where sustainability and decarbonization will redraw the map of the maritime industry, with Webb graduates ideally placed to make that change happen."

The undergraduate institution, which enrolls 105 students on a 26-acre waterfront campus in a former estate, offers full-tuition scholarships and is the oldest such program in the United States.

Martecchini, a resident of Rotterdam, Netherlands, holds a bachelor of science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Webb Institute and a master’s in business administration from New York University.

He had a 38-year career with Stolt-Nielsen, an international logistics company with more than 6,000 employees across 30 countries. He was most recently managing director of Stolt Tankers, operating the world’s largest global fleet of parcel tankers, according to the institute’s statement.

It also noted that Martecchini, one of whose two sons is a 2009 graduate of Webb Institute, has served on a number of industry association boards and previously chaired Webb Institute’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee. He was the unanimous choice of the board of trustees’ search committee and the board.

In the institute’s statement, board of trustees chairman Bruce S. Rosenblatt called Martecchini "a visionary leader" and praised retiring Michel for increasing the school’s student enrollment, outcomes, diversity and financial strength during his tenure.

Michel said of his successor, "I have long admired his collaborative approach to leadership and believe he is especially well prepared to lead Webb in this time when rapid technological advancement demands innovative approaches to engineering education."

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