Board

Charles B. Anderson comes from a family with long maritime traditions. His father, Commodore John W. Anderson, was the longest serving master of the SS United States (1952-1964), and his grandfather, Capt. Charles R. Beard, was a steamboat pilot operating on the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers in the early 1900’s. Mr. Anderson served on destroyers in the U.S. Navy and currently holds the rank of Commander in the US Naval Reserve. He was educated at Columbia College and graduated in law from Columbia Law School. He received a master’s degree from Princeton University and was a George C. Marshall fellow at the University of Copenhagen under a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation. Since 1998 he has been head of Skuld North America, New York representatives of Assuranceforeningen Skuld, a leading marine mutual underwriting association based in Oslo, Norway. Previously he was a partner in Holland & Knight, an internationally recognized maritime and transportation law firm which he joined in 1980, and where he specialized in admiralty and environmental law. In 1998 he was elected a Titulary Member of the Comité Maritime International in recognition of his work in the area of international shipping and environmental law. He is also the co-author of Shipping and the Environment, published by Lloyd’s of London Press, now in its second edition.

Susan Gibbs is the granddaughter of William Francis Gibbs, the naval architect and marine engineer who designed the SS United States. During World War II, her grandfather’s firm designed some 70 percent of the nation’s wartime vessels. Over the span of his career, her grandfather designed some 6,000 ships as well as several unique firefighting vehicles. Susan serves as president of the SS United States Conservancy and is at work on a book manuscript about the SS United States and her grandfather's role in the ship's creation. She also serves as an independent consultant advising foundations on global health, population and environmental funding themes and trends. Some of her recent clients have included the Wallace Global Fund, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Garfield Foundation. She has held program positions with the Summit Charitable Foundation, the Pew Global Stewardship Initiative, and the Pew Charitable Trusts, and has lived and worked in Pakistan, Egypt, India and Switzerland. She holds a Masters Degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor's degree from Brown University. She and her husband Theodore Piccone live with their three children in Washington, D.C.

Jeff Henry is a 15 year veteran of the fire service, and is the Chief Engineer of the Glenside Fire Department in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Jeff teaches pump operations, arial apparatus operations, master stream and water flow operations, as well as water flow hydraulics, to new & veteran firefighters and pump operators. He also oversees the departments front line firefighting apparatus. Jeff is also employed by an independent fire equipment company that performs maintenance, pump flow & pressure testing, arial testing, and emergency 24 hour service on fire apparatus in four different states. A ship lover since childhood, Jeff first read about the SS United States when he was in grade school. When the ship was towed to Philadelphia in 1996, he instantly became involved in the effort to save the her. Since then, he has hosted 10 annual meetings and spoken for numerous groups and organizations about the ship. In 2001, he formed the first 501c3 chapter of the SS United States Foundation, and served as that organization’s President & Vice President. Jeff currently lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife & daughter.

Captain Dan McSweeney is the founder of INTERSECT, a New York-based strategic communications and business development consultancy. He has contributed to diverse projects in the public, private, and non-profit sectors in the U.S. and abroad. His previous positions include Associate New York Regional Director at Business Executives for National Security, Executive Coordinator for Counterterrorism Strategy at the New York City Fire Department, and National Program Director at Third Millennium, a "Generation X think tank". He has appeared in numerous print, broadcast, and online media outlets. He served as an Active Duty Marine officer from 1999 - 2005, both overseas and at the Pentagon and continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves. McSweeney holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Eugene Lang College of The New School. He is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs and Valley Forge Military Academy. His personal pursuits include travel, writing, and media production. He serves on the boards of several alumni, professional development, and historical preservation organizations. He was born in New York City to parents who immigrated from Scotland and Puerto Rico. His father came to America to work aboard the SS United States, the legendary passenger ship.

Greg Norris’s association with the SS United States began at a very early age. He made his first crossing on the SS United States when he was only one year old and, over the next sixteen years, an additional seven. Intrigued early on by memorabilia saved from his many voyages in many different ships including the America, Liberte, Ile de France, and Queens Elizabeth and Mary, Greg became infatuated with ocean liners; the SS United States was always his favorite. In 1980 Greg wrote a history of the “Big U” for the Steamship Historical Society Journal, Steamboat Bill, in which he revealed numerous previously unreleased details about the ship. In 1982 Greg and a friend formed a partnership called the Maritime Preservation Group and persuaded then owner Richard Hadley to sell the organization numerous artifacts from the ship. These were sold at auction in February and November of the following year by Sotheby’s, New York. Over the years Greg has amassed a formidable storehouse of personal, historical, and technical information about the vessel, and he is a frequent lecturer about the SS United States and ocean liners in general. He has an extensive collection of SSUS artifacts, which includes furniture, china, and ship’s hardware, including many one of a kind items. Greg lives in Florida and works in the financial services industry wherein he has over thirty years experience.

Mark B. Perry is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning television writer-producer who lists amongst his credits such series as The Wonder Years, Picket Fences, Law & Order, and Party of Five. Most recently, after helping to successfully launch the second season of ABC’s hit series Brother & Sisters, Mark is now a writer-producer on CBS’ Ghost Whisperer. In 1997 Mark was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for episodic drama, and has multiple nominations for The Humanitas Prize. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Mark earned his bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism at the University of Georgia. Mark has been an ocean liner fan since a chance viewing of The Last Voyage as a child introduced him to the aesthetics of 20th century nautical interior design. A moderator of the Yahoo Ocean Liner Collectibles Group, Mark’s passion for the SS United States began in the early 1990s when he started amassing a large collection of table service ware, furniture, ephemera, signage, as well as vintage home movies, photos, and slides taken aboard the ship in her heyday. In 2008, collaborating with director Robert Radler, Mark produced the award-winning documentary SS United States: Lady in Waiting which is currently airing nationwide on American Public Television.

Joe Rota was a member of the Publication Dept. of the N.Y. Herald Tribune from 1952 to 1954. He then tried for two years to become a member of the National Maritime Union. In April of 1955, he was very fortunately assigned a pier head jump, (job on a ship leaving the same day) by the NMU on the SS United States as a First Class Elevator Operator. It was not a relief job but a steady job which was extremely rare in 1955. Joe sailed in several capacities in the Stewards department. Finishing the last two years as ship’s photographer. From 1959 to 1963 he sailed on the America, Independence, Constitution, and the United States as First Class deck steward, bell captain, and several other steward department ratings. In 1964, he left the sea ( went on the beach ), and was appointed as highway patrolman on the Bergen County N.J. Police Department. He served as police academy instructor, SWAT sniper, hostage negotiator, SCUBA division training officer, and detective. He retired in 1979, as a result of an accident while on duty. During this period of time he managed two years at Rutgers University. Joe again retired in 2005 and is now serving as a member of the town’s planning board.

All material on this site copyright the SS United States Conservancy.

John Milligan was born in Scotland. He entered the shipbuilding industry at age 18 where he graduated after four years of study and direct involvement in a famous Scottish shipyard. Moving to Canada, he worked for over 25 years in shipbuilding and marine consultancy. Relocating to Annapolis, Maryland then Houston, Texas, he is now supervising engineering design for a large oil drilling company. John describes the SS United States as the most significant ship ever built and has no comparison. To him, she is the most beautiful expression of shipbuilding design, power and grace. His respect for W.F. Gibbs knows no bounds having an appreciation of what he produced, the most subtly perfect form of a ship in its elegant hull, ever produced. If the hull shape is perfect it follows the interior will be close, if not actually the same, in all respects.

Steven B. Ujifusa has been fascinated with ships and the sea since childhood, when his grandmother told him about her travels aboard the great liners. He is currently working on a book tentatively titled The Ideal Ship: America's Greatest Naval Architect and the Quest for the SS United States, to be published by Twelve Books in 2010. Steven has also written numerous articles on architectural history and city planning for PlanPhilly.com. He has also done historical consulting work for the Philadelphia Department of Records and other clients. He received his B.A. in history from Harvard University and his masters from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. A native of New York, he now lives in Philadelphia, where he enjoys music and rowing. He was appointed to the Conservancy board in March 2009.

SS United States Conservancy Advisory Council
Walter Cronkite (1916 - 2009), Honorary Chair

Former CBS Evening News Anchor and correspondent was a passenger aboard the SS United States in 1953 on his way to cover the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. Often referred to as “The Most Trusted Man in America”, Mr. Cronkite has followed the ship’s fate closely since then and was featured in the documentary film “SS United States: Lady in Waiting.” In the film, he expressed his admiration for the ship and his outrage at her current condition. He stated that just looking at the SS United States in her heyday “could thrill you with pride and wonder” and that she had the “perfect design.” He lamented that watching the ship each year get “rustier, dirtier, windows broken…” was a “crime against history.” According to Mr. Cronkite, saving the SS United States would be a “restoration of American pride in something it should be very proud of.”

Mary K. Villalba’s interest in the SS United States stems from her father’s participation in measuring the top speed of the ship during the speed trials in 1952. Mary currently owns AZTEC Communications, LLC, which works with mid-sized companies to provide long-term strategic planning and implementation of marketing. Other leadership positions include: Distinguished Governor, first female Governor, Rocky Mountain District Kiwanis International, President, Greenwood Village Chamber of Commerce, President, Denver Ear Institute; President and Co-Founder, World Hearing Network. Mary has been active in the University of Colorado, Leeds School of Business, 50 for Colorado Leadership program, where she received the “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Award.” Additionally, she held board positions with the Colorado Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Program and the world renowned Denver St. Patrick Day Parade Grandstand Committee. Mary was the Press Manager and host for national news media during the international visit of the Global Village. Mary led the professional services industry in cause marketing, garnering the American Marketing Gold Peak Award for her public service campaign, “NEVER HURT A CHILD! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!” This nationally recognized public awareness campaign was one of the first major initiatives, “cause marketing,” of its kind for a CPA firm.

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Robert M. Jones has nearly 40 years of experience in the Aerospace Industry, including both the Government and Industry sectors. He holds both a Bachelor and a Master of Aerospace Engineering degree from Auburn University. His professional work experience includes: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as a co-operative education student; military service in the United States Air Force in Air Force Systems Command as a Research & Development Officer for strategic nuclear systems; and, aerospace industrial experience with TRW-Northrop Grumman, a major aerospace/defense corporation, taking retirement at the end of 2007. During his military service, Mr. Jones worked at key developmental sites in California, Washington, D.C., and in Virginia. During his Industrial service, his assignments included California, Alabama and Virginia. He led or supported activities in several diverse markets, including Alternative Energy and Ballistic Missile Defense, with related domestic and international Business Development in several countries (US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan). Throughout his professional career, Mr. Jones served in successively challenging and diverse management and staff positions before retiring at a senior level, during which time he developed a keen appreciation of an “art form” skill not easily taught, namely, how to get like-minded people with vastly differing backgrounds and objectives to effectively communicate, coordinate and collaborate to achieve a common but difficult goal. Mr. Jones established a consultative services endeavor in early 2008 designed to apply collaborative processes, learned during the ten years when working in the Washington DC area, to challenging issues in the US and internationally. He now lives in Huntsville, AL, with his wife and family, where he serves on several non-profit Boards and Community activities. His hobbies include genealogy, social and political science, and travel (including, transatlantic passenger liner voyages).