Championing MMA: A sit-down with Craig Johnson

Interim president focuses on boosting enrollment, keeping graduates competitive

- ANDY WEBSTER

CASTINE Craig Johnson, interim president of Maine Maritime Academy, has been familiar with the institution and the town of Castine for decades.

He first visited the town as a competitive sailor in the 1980s, later graduaing from MMA in 1991. He would go on to become MMA's chief operating officer in 2022 after a 30-year-career in the maritime industry.

Then, in May 2024, Johnson was suddenly elevated to the school's top position following the previous president's abrupt resignation.

As he heads toward his one-year anniversary at the helm of MMA-and as the school concurrently runs a search for a permanent president-Johnson sat down with Penobscot Bay Press to discuss the past year and the academy's successes, challenges, and future opportunities.

Johnson had just returned from Tokyo where he attended an executive meeting of the International Association of Maritime Universities, for which he serves as treasurer. The meeting was hosted by the Nippon Foundation, a leading supporter of ocean and maritime research.

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

You stepped in as interim president of MMA in May of 2024. What have been the biggest challenges? What would you consider your biggest successes in the last year?

Taking over a college when the previous president left suddenly for family reasons and stepping in is pretty difficult, especially when you have a $100 million pier project and a $30 million project on our only dormitory.

I've been working most of the stuff behind the scenes and doing a lot of new stuff. We opened up a new campus in Brunswick this past fall. We're working on the pier, taking delivery of a ship [MMA's new $320 million, 525-foot long, training ship, the State of Maine] this fall, the fall of 2025.

You can see my "Craig's list" behind me on this whiteboard. That's my work list. It hasn't gotten any smaller. I keep adding things to it.