When asked if I would serve as the Chairman of Webb’s Board of Trustees, I gave a great deal of thought to whether I would be able to fulfill the many responsibilities that the position entails. I also gave a great deal of thought to what the Webb education has meant to me and what that education means today in the context of our national needs and objectives. I have summarized my thoughts in this document with the hope that it may serve to answer peoples’ questions, encourage supporters and respond to those harboring doubt of the relevance of what Webb is and does in the environment of the 21st Century.

In a time when the national demand for capable engineers is far greater than the supply, Webb Institute is indeed a national asset, as relevant in 2006 as it was in 1889 when the school was founded by William H. Webb. Systems engineering, hard work, a culture of giving back, honor and integrity, the ability to take on and master new challenges, an appreciation of many of the other aspects of life--these are all essential components of a Webb education. While the education is focused on the design of ships and other floating marine vehicles, four years at Webb involves far more than just ship design. Students receive the educational underpinnings to work in a number of different engineering disciplines, and outside the classroom they learn many useful lessons about life and professional activities.

Webb Institute attracts the country’s best and brightest young students interested in pursuing an engineering education. Webb’s focus is on quality, not quantity. The freshman class of between 20 to 26 students is carefully selected from over 100 of the nation’s best high school graduates desiring to pursue an engineering education. The total student body usually is within the range of 65 to 80 students. Admission to Webb includes the award of a full four-year tuition scholarship, enabling Webb to compete for and attract highly motivated, highly qualified students.

With 146 credits packed into a very structured four-year curriculum, no one who has successfully completed four years at Webb and has received his or her degree will disagree with the comment that Webb graduates “earn” their degrees. The program and curriculum undoubtedly provide one of the most intense engineering educations offered in the United States, or anywhere else in the world. A ship is the equivalent of a floating city, incorporating all aspects of a self-sufficient entity when supplied with necessary food for its crew and fuel for its power plant. The philosophy of the Webb education is to equip its graduates with the knowledge to design all of the necessary components and to integrate them into a completed unit. That process represents the very essence of systems engineering, an essential component of a good engineer’s training. By their very nature, “naval architects” were “systems engineers” long before “systems engineering” existed as an engineering discipline.

The Webb humanities curriculum is as extensive as that offered at any engineering college. Small class size, with individual discussions and faculty interaction make this aspect of the program very intensive. Traditional courses in literature, history and philosophy are enriched by a Monday lecture series, by the Alfred M. Zeien endowed lecture series, and by senior seminars with guest industry leaders. This aspect of the program reminds students that there is more to being a successful engineer than simply being competent in mathematics and the sciences, and it exposes them to leaders of both maritime and other fields of expertise.

The senior thesis, a final requirement to earn a Webb degree, teaches students to select and initiate a project, develop an implementation plan, and complete the project on schedule, working under the guidance of a faculty advisor. The students are required to make presentations of their theses projects to an audience of the faculty and their peers, further enhancing their communication skills, essential to success in the engineering marketplace today.

The intensity of the curriculum teaches students to organize, to prioritize and to manage a very heavy workload. The process requires students to evaluate the extent of effort expended day in and day out versus the required results, balancing time and effort against deadlines and quality of results. This is an essential lesson that successful engineers must learn. Many aspects of the four-year program require teamwork, collaboration with fellow students and faculty, the process of working together with peers and those with greater knowledge to achieve a common goal. This is also an essential element of good engineering practice.

The Winter Work program, the essence of apprenticeship, teaches students to absorb and integrate “real world” practical experience with theoretical knowledge; to associate with, support and enjoy other individuals of varied backgrounds and experience; and to broaden perspectives. Freshmen are required to work in the “trades” at a shipbuilding facility, and sophomores go to sea working in the engine room and on the bridge of commercial and government-owned ships. Juniors and seniors work in engineering design offices around the world, applying the lessons learned in the classroom to current challenges in naval architecture and marine engineering. Juniors and seniors are increasingly experiencing the international character of the marine industry first-hand by seeking and securing employment abroad. Few schools offer such challenging and comprehensive total life learning experiences. Moreover, these work experiences often lead to full-time employment opportunities after graduation.

The Beaver Program, requiring underclassmen to participate in physical work projects unrelated to their academic training, but directed at maintaining the physical plant at Webb, provides an important lesson in the need to give back to the school that devotes itself to providing the students’ education. Freshmen work under first-line supervision of sophomores, with overall direction of the program provided by faculty members. This program provides early exposure to the process of organization, responsibility, lines of authority and leadership, all vital components of the learning and living processes.

An active and comprehensive student self government program adds another dimension to the educational experience at Webb. Students must manage and be responsible for their everyday lives at Webb. This is an essential element of a comprehensive education in any field of endeavor. A vital part of this self-government is the Webb Honor Code, a system by which each student is accountable for his or her own behavior. This environment fosters an ethical and moral sense and encourages maturity and integrity, both essential components of successful engineers’ ability to perform in their chosen profession with dignity and competence.

Both intra-mural and inter-collegiate varsity sports activities and a fairly comprehensive social program for a school as small as Webb also adds to the learning experience in teaching teamwork, competition and interaction with peers from other colleges far larger than Webb. An active chorus and theatrical troupe teach teamwork and expand the students’ horizon beyond the technical disciplines.

Employers often say that new Webb graduates “hit the ground running,” that they are able to tackle new problems without much guidance, and that they are hard workers who are productive from the outset. All Webb graduates were bright young people when they came to Webb as freshmen. Webb channels that talent into creating productive engineers, second to none. This doesn’t happen by chance, for the Webb graduate has been exposed to and conquered a myriad of challenges in four short years, far more than almost any other college graduate has had the good fortune to encounter during his or her college education.

All of these learning experiences are intended to produce well-trained, capable engineers with an appreciation of and exposure to the qualities that produce leaders in their chosen field. While some leaders are born, others are made by the circumstances and challenges they meet. Webb offers a fertile environment to nourish born leaders and to develop those characteristics in others.

Webb Institute is a unique institution of higher learning. It is one of the smallest colleges in the United States, devoted to teaching a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines focused on the design of ships, boats and other marine structures. The full-tuition scholarships substantially minimize the financial burdens and concerns that might otherwise take attention from the learning or might make it impossible for qualified students to pursue an education of the quality and breadth offered by Webb. The achievements of Webb alumni in both the maritime and other wide-ranging fields of endeavor and the participation of the alumni (Webb has the highest percentage of annual giving of any college or university in the nation) are testaments to the school’s success.

World trade is an ever-increasing part of the world economy, and the best hope for an eventual peaceful existence of mankind. Most of this trade results in products and commodities requiring transportation by sea. The resources in and under the oceans are essential components of world progress, and the challenge of effective development of these resources is never ending. As trade grows and as the world’s demand for additional resources expands, the challenges grow with them.

Webb has met these challenges for over one hundred years, but there is much work still to be done. Webb, like any successful organization, is a living institution, modernizing and adjusting curriculum to meet the needs of an ever-changing marketplace. The rapid internationalization of the world economy and the maritime industry, the development of new technologies, and increased competition for promising, gifted students, are all challenges that Webb must face and overcome. The task is great, but Webb excels at meeting and overcoming challenges.

Webb Institute’s assets are many: the endowment, the wonderful campus and its proximity to New York City, the reputation for excellence, but most importantly the people – faculty and administration, students and family, friends and alumni. Webb needs your support, now more than ever, in order to meet the challenges and to preserve the character and quality that makes a Webb education unique.

A Webb education offers a systems approach to engineering; a challenging curriculum that emphasizes hard work and self discipline, an honor code that promotes ethical conduct and a strong sense of professionalism, invaluable work experience that supplements classroom study, a culture of giving back, and a range of other courses and extra-curricular activities that round out the “Webb experience.” As the premier school of naval architecture and marine engineering in the United States, Webb Institute is indeed a national asset.

See the December 2007 update from the Chairman of the Board