NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Mariners’ Museum and Park’s Board of Trustees has named Howard H. Hoege III the new President and CEO. Hoege has been acting as the interim President and CEO since May 1 and also helped lead the Museum’s strategic planning process as a consultant in 2015.

The announcement was made by Board of Trustees Chair Anne Conner in late September. Conner was instrumental in bringing Hoege on board. “The Museum is fortunate to have such a visionary and transformational leader to take the institution, staff, and volunteers in a new direction, which will better serve our region and beyond,” said Conner. “The Board selected Howard because he possesses the passion and ability to energize the Museum and bring greater international awareness to our unrivaled collection.”

Hoege graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1994 and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He later earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and served as an Army JAG officer in Tal Afar, Iraq, and elsewhere. After leaving the service, Hoege was a counsel on the staff of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and later an Assistant Dean at UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Before his current role as the President and CEO of The Mariners’ Museum and Park, Hoege founded a consulting firm that advised clients on the intersection of leadership development, strategy, and culture in organizational and civic contexts. Hoege’s wife of 22 years, Cinda, is a small business owner, and the couple has two children.

When Hoege talks about The Mariners’ Museum and Park, his message is simple: “For us, it begins and ends with our purpose: We connect people to the world’s waters – to our maritime heritage – because through the water, we are connected to one another.” For Hoege and the staff and volunteers at the Museum, the positive promise of building strong community through water is not only relevant for Newport News and the Peninsula, but for Hampton Roads, the nation, and the world. “Every day, we see and hear news of the forces that tear our communities apart, that separate us. We believe that The Mariners’ Museum has a very powerful narrative to tell about about where we have come from as a maritime people and nation and the forces that bind our community together,” said Hoege.

Acting on that purpose, The Mariners’ Museum and Park reduced its admission price to one dollar during the month of August as a way to make the Museum more accessible to those in the community who might not otherwise be able to afford admission. Tens of thousands of people visited the Museum during the month.  According to Hoege, “Our collection is deep enough and broad enough to tell the powerful human stories of the cultures of our local, national, and international communities.”

Submitted by Crystal Breede, The Mariners’ Museum, October 4, 2016