Stanley Cummings ’67

Stanley Cummings ’67, of Port Townsend, Wash.; July 13, of injuries sustained in an accident while riding his bicycle. After Brown, he obtained an MAT from Wesleyan University and a PhD from Stanford University. He was dean of faculty and president for the Yosemite National Institutes, where he developed curriculum content and residential field experiences for students and adults in cooperation with the U.S. National Park Service. In 1980, he was hired as executive director/president of the Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point, Calif., which later became the Ocean Institute. He held the top leadership post for 20 years. He moved to Port Townsend in 2007 after accepting the position of executive director for Northwest Maritime Center. During his tenure, he oversaw a capital campaign that constructed the Chandler Maritime Education Building and the Heritage Building. He retired in 2010 and remained active in the Port Townsend community and with the Maritime Center. He was an active member of Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and was elected to their endowments committee. During the pandemic, he served as a Sunday services video editor, making online services possible. He was instrumental in the development of a finance plan that enabled the fellowship to build a columbarium and memorial circle. He was the recipient of the 1995 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education from the National Maritime Historical Society and the 1996 Sea Education Program of the Year Award from the American Sail Training Association. A scholarship fund has been started for emerging marine scientists in his memory through the Ocean Institute based in Dana Point. He is survived by his wife, Sigrid; two daughters and sons-in-law; four grandchildren; sister Cathryn Cummings Nunlist ’70 and a brother-in-law; a brother and sister-in-law; and five nieces and nephews.