SUNY Maritime College Annual Report 2020-2021

Joshua Burris ’21 B.A., Marine Transportation:

the advice of his tugboat Captain to pursue a maritime career, remained focused and reapplied successfully to Maritime College. With a young daughter to support back in Louisiana, the cost of tuition, books, and the required summers at sea, Burris found himself under constant financial pressure. During his first year and not yet in the Regiment of Cadets, he secretly slept in the football locker room and snuck into the dining hall because he could not pay for the cost of living on campus. After joining the Regiment in his second year he became increasingly focused and dedicated to his studies, “I had to work hard to get my GPA up, but since then I’ve made the Dean’s List twice.” Burris was deeply committed to community service long before his time at Maritime College. In New Orleans he organized a youth football program and bookbag drive that collected and distributed school supplies to 200 elementary school students. He regularly participated in Thanksgiving turkey drives and helped feed the poor and homeless. When Texas was hit by a hurricane, he collected socks, blankets and toiletries to aid in the relief effort. At Maritime College he has served as a member of the Cultural Club and led community service events, attended industry events in New York City, and organized the Black History Month dinner to raise much-needed scholarship funds. Burris graduated from SUNY Maritime College on July 9 2021 with his USCG Third Mate license and is working for Grand River Navigation on the Great Lakes as Third Mate.

It was a tough battle going to school and trying to provide for my daughter, but after graduation it was all worth the struggle.

The Captain Peter van Leeuwen Memorial Scholarship ESTABLISHED MARCH 2021

Captain Peter van Leeuwen loved the sea from a young age, a passion he passed on to his children and grandchildren. Born in Djakarta, Indonesia in 1939, Peter moved to Amsterdam, Holland and attended the Merchant Maritime Academy. He began his maritime career after graduation, sailing from 1960 to 1968 as a Deck Officer with the Dutch shipping company Royal Interocean Lines. From 1968 to 1970, he

enlisted in the Dutch Navy and flew as a Navigator on a Grumman Tracker, a long-range maritime patrol aircraft. Peter moved his family to Curacao, Netherlands Antilles in 1971 and served as Deputy Head of the Netherlands Antilles Shipping Inspectorate (DoT). He established a ship management and consulting firm in Curacao, expanded to New York in 1986, and moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1989 where it continues to operate as MMS Americas, LLC. Peter strongly believed in the importance of education and lifelong learning, receiving his Master of Business Administration degree at age 56 from Nova University. In celebration of his successful life and generosity, his family established “The Captain Peter van Leeuwen Memorial Summer Sea Term Scholarship” at SUNY Maritime College. Recipients of the full-ride, need-based scholarship must demonstrate a strong, caring spirit of community service, a passion for helping others, and excitement for their future career on the water. In honor of his legacy, the van Leeuwen family hopes that every recipient will forever find their passion for the sea where the currents will lead them to success and fulfillment.

Josh’s daughter gets a rare visit with Dad on the bridge wing, when the Empire State VI made a stop in New Orleans during the 2019 Summer Term.

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