Maryland Department of NATURAL RESOURCES

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Admiral of the Cheaspeake Bay Award

​Criteria and Past Recipients

Instituted by Governor J. Millard Tawes in 1959, the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay is a lifetime achievement award bestowed by the governor upon individuals who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to the conservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

The prestigious honor has gone to prominent individuals from various pursuits including scientists, sailors, journalists, shipwrights, watermen, conservationists, educators, elected officials, and many others.

The award is usually presented personally by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Secretary of Natural Resources. For the first time in 2025, the Department of Natural Resources is offering a public nomination process for the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay Award. ​

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On behalf of Gov. Larry Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford presented Capt. Eldridge Meredith Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay, a special lifetime achievement award, on his 91st birthday in 2017.
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The D​epartment put the new process in place as a way to honor Vincent Leggett, an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay awardee, who worked throughout his career to highlight the often undertold stories about African-American maritime life and black watermen on the Chesapeake Bay. The new public nomination form for Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay will help ensure the Depar​tment and Governor is aware of all individuals who have made significant efforts to improve the Bay's health and Maryland's environment. The nominations will be reviewed by a new committee of staff volunteers at the Department of Natural Resources who will make a recommendation to the Secretary. Award winners will be announced publicly when chosen.

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SUBMIT A NOMINATION​​​

Recipients and date of their recognition (if available) include:

  • Presented by Gov. Tawes, 1959-1967:
  • Bill Burton, outdoor writer
  • Earl Brannock, boating historian
  • Irving Crouch, Rock Hall waterman
  • Marcellus Hall, U.S. Naval Academy caretaker
  • Orville Parks, oysterman
  • Presented by Gov. Agnew, 1967-1969:
  • Jean Spencer, Maryland historian
  • Eldrige M. “Buck” Taylor
  • Presented by Gov. Mandell, 1969-1979:
  • Harold Treadwell, Police officer
  • William Tyson, Physician
  • Presented by Gov. Lee, 1977-1979:
  • Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles legend
  • Presented by Gov. Hughes, 1979-1987:
  • Jim Richardson, Master shipwright
  • William Donald Shaefer, Mayor of Baltimore, Oct. 10, 1980
  • Presented by Gov. Schaefer, 1987-1995:
  • Mick Blackistone, Author
  • L. Eugene Cronin, Fisheries advocate, 1987
  • Bruce Farr, yacht designer, 1988
  • Presented by Gov. Glendening 1995-2003:
  • Dr. JoAnn Burkholder, ecology professor
  • Nick Carter, retiring Department of Natural Resources biologist
  • Dion Guthrie, Harford County councilman, 1997
  • Verna Harrison, Department of Natural Resources assistant secretary
  • John Kabler, League of Conservation Voters founder
  • Vince Leggett, Blacks of the Chesapeake founder, 2003
  • Dr J. Glenn Morris, professor of epidemiology
  • Marion Warren, photographer, 1998
  • Earl White, oysterman/Stanley Norman mate, 1996
  • Presented by Gov. Ehrlich 2003-2007:
  • Tom Darden, photographer
  • Gary Jobson, renowned sailor/author, Dec. 21, 2005
  • Marvin Mandel, former governor
  • John Thomas Parran, Maryland Commissioner to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Sept. 15, 2004
  • Presented by Gov. O'Malley, 2007-2015:
  • Dr James Gilford, Sportfish Advisory Commission chair, Dec. 17, 2007
  • Howard King, retiring Department of Natural Resources Fisheries director, Feb. 21, 2008
  • Gerald Donovan, Mayor of Chesapeake Beach, Oct, 2016, 2008
  • Wayne Gilchrest, former U.S. congressman, Oct. 20, 2008
  • Frank Oslislo, retiring DNR manager/Board of Public Works liaison, Nov. 5, 2008
  • Bernard “Lefty” Kreh, world-renowned fly fisherman, Nov. 12, 2008
  • Melvin Noland, lifelong Maryland forestry advocate, Jan. 19, 2009
  • Len Larese.Casanova, retiring DNR manager, Nov. 17, 2009
  • Rich Novotny, executive director, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association, Sept., 24, 2009
  • Capt. Michael Reusing, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Nov. 16, 2010
  • Eric Schwaab, retiring DNR deputy secretary, April 23, 2010
  • Shari Wilson, retiring Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, Nov 30, 2010
  • Richard Eskin, retiring MDE assistant secretary, June 04, 2012
  • Robert Gaudette, retiring DNR Boating director, June 04, 2012
  • Larry Simns, Maryland Watermen’s Association founder, Aug. 8, 2012
  • Ken Salazar, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, March 9, 2013
  • Stephen Barry, coordinator of outdoor and environmental education for Anne Arundel Count Public Schools, April 21, 2013
  • Paul Swartz, executive director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Sept. 19, 2013
  • ​Jeff Halka, director of Maryland Geological Survey, Sept. 27, 2013
  • John Williams, senior naturalist with Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Nov. 12, 2013
  • Charles Stek, president of Chesapeake Conservancy, March 27, 2014
  • Steve Koehn, forestry director for Lawn to Woodland Program (a partnership between the state and the Arbor Day Foundation), June 1, 2014
  • Jackie Carrara, Parks & People CEO, Nov. 5, 2014
  • Margaret McHale, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Dec. 1, 2014
  • Verna Pelrine, Campbell Foundation director, Dec. 10, 2014
  • James W. Gracie, trout fisherman and stream restoration advocate, January 2015
  • ​John R. Griffin, former DNR Secretary and Governor’s Chief of Staff, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Joseph P. Gill, outgoing DNR Secretary, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Richard Eberhart Hall, outgoing MDP Secretary, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Robert M. Summers, Ph.D., outgoing MDE Secretary, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Dr. Donald Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences President, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Dr. Russell B. Brinsfield, University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Ann Persiri Swanson, executive director of Chesapeake Bay Commission, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Maggie McIntosh, State Delegate, Environmental Matters Committee Chair, Jan. 14, 2015
  • Patrick Noonan, chairman emeritus, The Conservation Fund (Chesapeake Conservancy), Jan. 15, 2015
  • Will Baker, Chesapeake Bay Foundation president, Jan. 15, 2015
  • Kim Coble, Chesapeake Bay Foundation vice president of environmental protection and restoration, Jan. 15, 2015
  • Keith Campbell, founder and chairman, Campbell Foundation, Jan. 15, 2015
  • Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Maryland (MD Sustainable Growth Commission), Jan. 15, 2015
  • Tom Horton, Salisbury University professor of practice in Environmental Studies, nature writer, Jan. 15, 2015
  • Bruce Michael, DNR Resource Assessment Serviced, Jan. 15, 2015
  • Walter Boynton, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Jan. 20, 2015
  • Don Baugh, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Jan. 21, 2015
  • Presented by Gov. Hogan, 2015- 23:
  • Bruce Wahl, mayor of Chesapeake Beach, Dec. 15, 2016
  • Eldridge Meredith, charter captain, elder statesman of Black watermen community, Feb. 23, 2017
  • Jerry Gainey, Jerry’s Seafood, home of the “Crab Bomb”, June 2017 (reprint from Schaefer Administration, 1992)
  • Nick DiPasquale, Chesapeake Bay Program director, Dec. 20, 2017
  • Capt. Eddie Somers, retiring captain of the DNR vessel Tawes, Nov. 7, 2018​
  • Capt. Ed O’Brien, longtime charter boat captain appointed by four governors over 30 years to the Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission, March 10, 2019
  • James Edward, deputy director/acting director of Chesapeake Bay Program, Jan. 15, 2021
  • Nancy Kopp, Treasurer of the State of Maryland and member of many environmental boards Dec. 1, 2021
  • William Dwight Marshall, longtime waterman, two-time president of the Maryland Watermen's Association, first state boat docking champion, May 23, 2022 (posthumous)
  • Ben Grumbles, longest-serving Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment; (2015-2022); May 22, 2022
  • Frank Hamons, retired Deputy Director of Maryland Port Administration Office or Harbor Development who developed and implemented Dredge Material Management Program; May 24, 2022
  • Dates Unknown:
  • Harry John Brown
  • Walter Cronkite, Journalist
  • John Feinstein, Author
  • John Larkin, Seafood dealer
  • Henry Lyman, Conservationist