OUr National Maritime Museum in Alexandria, Virginia

Chairman

Tom Church Retired Vice-Admiral Tom Church has 36 years active military experience in leadership and staff positions. Admiral Church commanded two warships and the Navy's largest shore installation at Norfolk, Virginia. He served as Navy budget director and Inspector General spearheading the investigation which led to what became known as the "Church Report." Prior to joining USMF, he served for many years on the Board of Directors of the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Tall Ship Providence Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Vice Chairman

Hailing from the tidewater necks of Virginia, John Camp has more than 35 years of private equity investment experience, including as Managing Director of Business Development for Arbor Investments and as partner of Southfield Capital Advisors. He earned an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and a BA from University of the South. He has previously served as board member of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, and on the Finance Advisory Committee for the Virginia Historical Society.

Board of Directors

R. Latane Montague is Partner at Morgan Lewis law firm and focuses on regulatory, investigation, and litigation matters pertaining to safety and environmental regulation in the multi-modal transportation sector, including the automotive, aviation, shipping, rail, and logistics industries. He has represented leading manufacturers of cars, trucks, rail cars, and heavy-duty nonroad and marine propulsion systems in all the most significant safety and emissions crises to face the industry over the last 20 years and has represented leading automakers, engine makers, and railroad equipment suppliers in all major transportation rulemakings from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

 Board of Directors

John H. Shanahan Jr. currently serves as commander of the National Capital unit, Naval Order of the United States – the naval history and heritage organization of America’s maritime services. Based in Houston, Texas, he is a Navy veteran (destroyers, Vietnam), veterans advocate (American Legion Post commander and past commander of the Legion’s European Department) and serves as president of the Greater Houston Council of the Navy League. He has combined life-long advocacy of maritime interests and public policy with his professional work in urban planning and development, having led construction and waterfront regeneration on Rikers Island and in Manhattan as a New York City commissioner; conversion of historic properties and docks on Ford Island, Hawaii for NOAA; and for Ireland, regeneration plans for the port city of Drogheda on Ireland’s East Coast. For the historic port city of Derry in Ireland, he served as advisor on development of a new maritime museum at Ebrington on the River Foyle. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of St. Thomas and Master of Architecture/Master of Urban Planning degrees from Texas A&M University, along with post-graduate study in law and practice at University College Dublin and numerous professional society memberships and certifications in the United States and in Ireland.

President

Marion Smith is president of the United States Maritime Foundation. He has 15 years of experience as chairman, president, or CEO of national nonprofits and has been a part of a number of successful monument and museum projects, including the World War I Memorial, Victims of Communism Memorial Museum, the rebuild of Penn Station in NYC, and the Eisenhower Memorial. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wofford College in his home state of South Carolina and earned an MA from Central European University located in Budapest and Vienna.

Board of Directors

Corinne Birdsong Winburn is the founder and president of Birdsong Communications Group, a strategic communications and development firm established in 1988, where she has advised cultural, educational, environmental, and public-sector clients on strategic planning, development, project management, advocacy, coalition building, special events, and fundraising. Her work has included executive, advisory, and partnership roles  including the United Nations Association’s National Conference on Literacy, United Way of America, Wolf Trap’s International Children’s Festival, the State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms preservation effort, Virginia Opera, the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, the Corcoran Gallery/School of the Arts and Design, and Jobs for Virginia’s Graduates. An exhibited and published photographer as well as an educator, Ms. Winburn holds a B.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology and an M.A. in Instructional Design and Communications Technology, with additional graduate and executive study in international communications, strategic management, architecture, design, learning, and the arts.