6-17-2026 10:22am

State Seeking

DNR Seeks New Nominations for Prestigious Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay Award

Maryland DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz and Governor Wes Moore present Professor Thomas Miller with the 2025 ‘Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay’ Award in the governor’s office. Photo by Polly Irungu, Office of the Governor.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is once again hosting a public nomination process for the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay Award this year and is now accepting new nominations for potential awardees.

Instituted by Governor J. Millard Tawes in 1959, the admiral is a lifetime achievement award bestowed by the governor upon individuals who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to the conservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

DNR is looking for nominees who have dedicated their careers to organizing communities, leading restoration efforts, deepening our understanding of Bay science, or otherwise helping to improve the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

People interested in nominating an individual for the award can fill out the public nomination form on DNR’s website. The nomination period will close August 31. The nominations will be reviewed by a committee of staff volunteers at the Department of Natural Resources who will make recommendations to the Secretary and Governor. Award winner(s) will be announced publicly when chosen, as has occurred previously. DNR plans to announce award winners by the end of the year.

Last year was the first year that DNR offered a public nomination process for this prestigious award. The process resulted in Professor Thomas Miller, a longtime fisheries biologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, being selected for the award during a public ceremony featuring Gov. Wes Moore at the Board of Public Works.

Previous Admirals of the Chesapeake Bay–there are now more than 100–include Captain Eldridge Meredith, a waterman and charter boat captain who worked in and around the Bay for 80 years; David M. Goshorn, DNR’s current Deputy Secretary and former DNR Chesapeake Bay restoration officer; and John Page Williams, a master naturalist and environmental educator who worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for 46 years.

Recipients and date of their recognition (if available) include:

Presented by Gov. Tawes, 1959-1967:
Bill Burton, outdoor writer
Earl Brannock, boating historian
Irving Crouch, Rock Hall waterman
William Doherty, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Vice President of AFL-CIO, Ambassador to Jamaica, June 24, 1963
Marcellus Hall, U.S. Naval Academy caretaker
Orville Parks, oysterman

Presented by Gov. Agnew, 1967-1969:
Jean Spencer, Maryland historian
Eldrige M. “Buck” Taylor

Presented by Gov. Mandell, 1969-1979:
Harold Treadwell, Police officer
John Larkin, Seafood dealer
William Tyson, Physician
Clyde Watson, farmer, waterman, and community activist

Presented by Gov. Lee, 1977-1979:
Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles legend

Presented by Gov. Hughes, 1979-1987:
Jim Richardson, Master shipwright
Verna E. Harrison
William Donald Shaefer, Mayor of Baltimore, Oct. 10, 1980

Presented by Gov. Schaefer, 1987-1995:
Mick Blackistone, Author
L. Eugene Cronin, Fisheries advocate, 1987
Bruce Farr, yacht designer, 1988

Presented by Gov. Glendening 1995-2003:
Dr. JoAnn Burkholder, ecology professor
Nick Carter, retiring Department of Natural Resources biologist
Dion Guthrie, Harford County councilman, 1997
Verna Harrison, Department of Natural Resources assistant secretary
John Kabler, League of Conservation Voters founder
Vince Leggett, Blacks of the Chesapeake founder, 2003
Dr J. Glenn Morris, professor of epidemiology
Marion Warren, photographer, 1998
Earl White, oysterman/Stanley Norman mate, 1996

Presented by Gov. Ehrlich 2003-2007:
Tom Darden, photographer
Gary Jobson, renowned sailor/author, Dec. 21, 2005
Marvin Mandel, former governor
John Thomas Parran, Maryland Commissioner to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Sept. 15, 2004

Presented by Gov. O'Malley, 2007-2015:
Dr James Gilford, Sportfish Advisory Commission chair, Dec. 17, 2007
Howard King, retiring Department of Natural Resources Fisheries director, Feb. 21, 2008
Gerald Donovan, Mayor of Chesapeake Beach, Oct, 2016, 2008
Wayne Gilchrest, former U.S. congressman, Oct. 20, 2008
David M. Goshorn, Department of Natural Resources, 2015
Frank Oslislo, retiring DNR manager/Board of Public Works liaison, Nov. 5, 2008
Bernard “Lefty” Kreh, world-renowned fly fisherman, Nov. 12, 2008
Melvin Noland, lifelong Maryland forestry advocate, Jan. 19, 2009
Len Larese.Casanova, retiring DNR manager, Nov. 17, 2009
Rich Novotny, executive director, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association, Sept., 24, 2009
Capt. Michael Reusing, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Nov. 16, 2010
Eric Schwaab, retiring DNR deputy secretary, April 23, 2010
Shari Wilson, retiring Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, Nov 30, 2010
Richard Eskin, retiring MDE assistant secretary, June 04, 2012
Robert Gaudette, retiring DNR Boating director, June 04, 2012
Larry Simns, Maryland Watermen’s Association founder, Aug. 8, 2012
Ken Salazar, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, March 9, 2013
Stephen Barry, coordinator of outdoor and environmental education for Anne Arundel Count Public Schools, April 21, 2013
Paul Swartz, executive director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Sept. 19, 2013
Jeff Halka, director of Maryland Geological Survey, Sept. 27, 2013
John Williams, senior naturalist with Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Nov. 12, 2013
Charles Stek, president of Chesapeake Conservancy, March 27, 2014
Steve Koehn, forestry director for Lawn to Woodland Program (a partnership between the state and the Arbor Day Foundation), June 1, 2014
Jackie Carrara, Parks & People CEO, Nov. 5, 2014
Margaret McHale, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Dec. 1, 2014
Verna Harrison, Campbell Foundation director, Dec. 10, 2014
James W. Gracie, trout fisherman and stream restoration advocate, January 2015
John R. Griffin, former DNR Secretary and Governor’s Chief of Staff, Jan. 14, 2015
Joseph P. Gill, outgoing DNR Secretary, Jan. 14, 2015
Richard Eberhart Hall, outgoing MDP Secretary, Jan. 14, 2015
Robert M. Summers, Ph.D., outgoing MDE Secretary, Jan. 14, 2015
Dr. Donald Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences President, Jan. 14, 2015
Dr. Russell B. Brinsfield, University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Jan. 14, 2015
Ann Persiri Swanson, executive director of Chesapeake Bay Commission, Jan. 14, 2015
Maggie McIntosh, State Delegate, Environmental Matters Committee Chair, Jan. 14, 2015
Patrick Noonan, chairman emeritus, The Conservation Fund (Chesapeake Conservancy), Jan. 15, 2015
Will Baker, Chesapeake Bay Foundation president, Jan. 15, 2015
Kim Coble, Chesapeake Bay Foundation vice president of environmental protection and restoration, Jan. 15, 2015
Keith Campbell, founder and chairman, Campbell Foundation, Jan. 15, 2015
Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Maryland (MD Sustainable Growth Commission), Jan. 15, 2015
Tom Horton, Salisbury University professor of practice in Environmental Studies, nature writer, Jan. 15, 2015
Bruce Michael, DNR Resource Assessment Serviced, Jan. 15, 2015
Walter Boynton, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Jan. 20, 2015
Don Baugh, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Jan. 21, 2015

Presented by Gov. Hogan, 2015- 23:
Bruce Wahl, mayor of Chesapeake Beach, Dec. 15, 2016
Eldridge Meredith, charter captain, elder statesman of Black watermen community, Feb. 23, 2017
Jerry Gainey, Jerry’s Seafood, home of the “Crab Bomb”, June 2017 (reprint from Schaefer Administration, 1992)
Nick DiPasquale, Chesapeake Bay Program director, Dec. 20, 2017
Capt. Eddie Somers, retiring captain of the DNR vessel Tawes, Nov. 7, 2018
Capt. Ed O’Brien, longtime charter boat captain appointed by four governors over 30 years to the Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission, March 10, 2019
James Edward, deputy director/acting director of Chesapeake Bay Program, Jan. 15, 2021
Nancy Kopp, Treasurer of the State of Maryland and member of many environmental boards Dec. 1, 2021
William Dwight Marshall, longtime waterman, two-time president of the Maryland Watermen's Association, first state boat docking champion, May 23, 2022 (posthumous)
Ben Grumbles, longest-serving Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment; (2015-2022); May 22, 2022
Frank Hamons, retired Deputy Director of Maryland Port Administration Office or Harbor Development who developed and implemented Dredge Material Management Program; May 24, 2022