Faculty & Staff
Skip Burdon
ABYC President/CEO, member of the Westlawn Board of Directors.
Skip
Burdon holds a B.S. in Marine Transportation from SUNY Maritime College and an M.B.A.
in Marketing and Strategic Planning from the University of North Florida. He
has a career background in both marine and nonprofit association management. In
addition to his seventeen years as an officer in the United States Navy, Mr.
Burdon has been the director of the nation's only public high school maritime
career academy.
Robert F. MacNeill
Chairman of the Westlawn Board of Directors.
Robert F. MacNeill is a graduate of the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology
and an alumnus of the Philadelphia College of Art. He is a member of the
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the American Boat & Yacht
Council, and the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, and a past director
of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Mr. MacNeill has served as
President of Carver Boats, and in various design and management positions at
Chris Craft, Viking Yachts, Four Winns, and OMC. He currently serves as Vice
President of International Marine Consulting Associates.
Dave Gerr
Director and member of the Westlawn Board of Directors
Dave Gerr is a graduate of the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology and has
studied physics at NYU and industrial design at Pratt Institute. He is the
author of The Elements of Boat Strength,
Propeller Handbook, and The Nature of
Boats, all published by International Marine/McGraw-Hill. Mr. Gerr has also
published over 380 articles on boats and boat design that have appeared in
nearly every major boating publication.
He
is president of Gerr Marine, Inc., founded in 1983. Starting with his
employment as a naval architect at the MacLear & Harris design office, Mr.
Gerr has had a 28-year career in naval architecture and boat design. He has
worked on projects ranging from consulting on the design of the crew accommodations
of U.S. nuclear attack submarines to the design of 40- and 50-foot motor and
sailing yachts, to 10-foot canoes, to 120-foot motoryachts, to 440-foot cruise
ships. He was an adjunct instructor at Westlawn until being appointed director
in 2003.
Norman Nudelman
Provost
Mr. Nudelman is a graduate of the
Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology and holds a B.A. degree from New York
University and a B.S. degree from Long Island University. He has over 20 years
experience as a distance educator having served Westlawn as instructor in yacht
design, supervisor of instruction, and vice president of education. He retired
in 1997 after serving 6 years as Westlawn’s president. Mr. Nudelman is a former
member of the American Society of Naval Engineers, The Royal Institution of
Naval Architects (UK), and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine
Engineers. He is the author of several Westlawn textbooks on yacht-design
subjects and has served as a member of the American Boat and Yacht Council’s
Structures and Arrangements Technical Committee. Mr. Nudelman re-joined
Westlawn’s staff as provost in 2004.
Patti Schulte
Student Services Coordinator
Patti
Schulte was the office administrator for Mechatronic Solutions, Inc.,
(Mechanical Engineering) which specializes in prototypes and development for
the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. Ms. Schulte also worked for 20 years for
Super*Fresh Food Markets Mid Atlantic Group Offices in which she was
responsible for all aspects of merchandising, purchasing, marketing and advertising,
and customer service. She brings an extensive background in office support,
bookkeeping, customer service, and strong computer skills to Westlawn.
Stewart Waring
Instructor
Stewart Waring is a graduate of the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology and has extensive practical experience in boat construction and
repair. He was production manager/engineer for Santa Cruz Yachts, where he was
in charge of all aspects of implementing design and supervising production. Mr.
Waring was previously president of Rocket Boats, offering engineering design
and analysis and custom fabrication of boats and refits, including advanced
composites. He was also project manager at K5 Manufacturing Ltd., where he was
responsible for the design, production, testing, and refinement of their
high-performance production racing sailboat.
Edward S.
"Ted" Brewer
Adjunct Instructor
A graduate of
The Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology, Ted Brewer began his career in the
boating industry in 1957 working for George Cuthbertson, who later founded
C&C Yachts. In 1960, Brewer moved to Connecticut to work as assistant
designer to A.E. "Bill" Luders Jr., where his work included assisting
in the modifications to Weatherly for the successful 1962
America’s-Cup defense and doing the drawings and construction supervision for
the Luders-designed 12-meter American Eagle.
In
1967, Brewer formed his own design office, in Brooklin, Maine, joined in 1969
by Bob Wallstrom. Together, they produced almost 100 custom and production designs.
That year, Brewer and Jim Betts to found the Yacht Design Institute (now
integrated into Westlawn), which taught boat design via distance learning. In
1979, Brewer moved to Washington State where he produced 150 more designs,
Brewer
has written three books and scores of magazine articles. One of the books, Understanding
Boat Design, been a standard design primer for 30 years.
Robert E.
“Bob” Wallstrom
Adjunct Instructor
Bob
Wallstrom has 43 years of experience in small-craft naval architecture, working
in the offices of Luders Marine Construction, Philip L. Rhodes, and Atkin &
Co., before establishing Brewer, Wallstrom & Associates with Ted Brewer. In
addition, Wallstrom took over YDI co-founder Jim Betts’ share of Yacht Design
Institute (now integrated into Westlawn) and eventually became YDI president.
In 1979 Wallstrom formed Small Craft
Design & Survey, which became Wallstrom, Watkins & Associates, and in
1986 became Delta Marine Small Craft Design & Survey. Work encompassed sail
and power, commercial and pleasure, in wood, steel, aluminum and fiberglass, on
vessels from 18 to 123 feet. A member of SNAME and NAMS, Wallstrom has
published numerous articles on small-craft design, marine surveying, and
maritime history. He also wrote Surveying
Small Craft in North America, a companion piece and translation of the
original UK edition of Ian Nicholson's Surveying
Small Craft.
Advisors
Carl
Cramer
Publisher,
Professional Boatbuilder Magazine
Mr.
Cramer has guided Professional Boatbuilder magazine to become the most
influential boating industry magazine in the United States. His role is to
advise the school of new and emerging technologies in boatbuilding and related
subjects.
German
Frers
Arquitectura
& Ingenieria Naval
German
Frers Yacht Design
Mr.
Frers is a major influence in the design of racing and cruising sailboats. He
is internationally known for the competitiveness of his designs. He has offices
in Argentina, the United States, and Italy. He will be advising Westlawn on the
direction of future course material on sailing yachts.
Will
Keene
President,
Edson Corporation
Mr.
Keene brings to the Board of Advisors his knowledge of manufacturing of marine
equipment and makes contributions to curriculum in the area of Systems &
Equipment.
Robert
H. Perry
Yacht
Designer
Robert
H. Perry Yacht Designers, Inc.
Bob
Perry has brought cruising sailboat design into the realm of performance
cruising beginning with the Valiant 40. Primarily a designer of racer/cruiser
and long distance cruisers, Mr. Perry reviews requirements pertaining to
sailboats.
Board
of Directors
Robert F. MacNeill, Chairman (Vice
President, International Marine Consulting Associates)
Skip Burdon (President, ABYC)
Dave Gerr (Director, Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology)
Charles Neville (Naval Architect,
Consultant)
Robert Johnson (President, Island Packet Yachts)
Pack St. Clair (Chief Executive Officer, Cobalt Boats)
Russell Lee Marks, Treasurer (Director, ABYC, Business & Technology Dept.)
John Adey (Director, ABYC, Technical Department)