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)