Full Name
Rear Admiral Joel R. Whitehead
Job Title
U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
Company
President of J. Whitehead & Associates, Inc.
Speaker Bio
Rear Admiral Joel Whitehead is President of J. Whitehead & Associates, Inc., a veteran-owned maritime and transportation-related consulting firm in metro New Orleans, LA. He and his associates focus on governmental relations, international and U.S. maritime regulatory compliance, support to admiralty law firms through expert witness reporting and trial testimony, hazardous materials issues, and port development (LNG, traditional and recreational). He also serves as the Execitive Vice President of the International Propeller Club, an international business network dedicated to the promotion of the maritime industry, commerce and global trade. There are more than 80 clubs in maritime locations around the world.
After retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard with thirty-four years of service in 2009, he served until 2011 as Vice President, National Security Sector of SRA International, Inc. of Fairfax, Virginia. In his last military assignment, he served for three years as Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans. There he was responsible for U.S. Coast Guard operations and oversight of the maritime and offshore oil industry in 26 states and the entire Gulf of Mexico including more than 1,200 miles of coastline from Florida to Mexico and 10,300 miles of inland waterways including the entire navigable lengths of the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee River systems.
Rear Admiral Whitehead served in a variety of operational and policy tours during his career, and upon his retirement in 2009 was the senior marine safety professional in the U.S. Coast Guard. During his 14 years’ service in Washington, DC, he served as Assistant Commandant for Governmental and Public Affairs, where he was the national media spokesperson for the Coast Guard during hurricanes KATRINA and RITA. He was Chief of Congressional Affairs from 2003 – 2005 and directed a professional staff of twenty-five working in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. From 2001 – 2003, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, where he led federal maritime homeland security response following 9/11 in the Gulf of Mexico ports, offshore oil and gas fields and Mississippi River waterway system. He also served as Chief of Strategic Planning for the U.S. Coast Guard from 1997 – 1999, developing the service’s first formal strategic plan.
His operational career in the Coast Guard was primarily as a marine safety specialist. He was trained as a marine inspector and casualty investigator at the Marine Inspection Office, NY, where he conducted hundreds of inspections and investigations worldwide for over ten years on commercial vessels, passenger vessels, barges, offshore supply vessels, and oil rigs. He also served as the Executive Officer of Marine Safety Office, Albany, NY, where he was Alternate Captain of the Port during the first “Superfund” cleanup in the nation’s history. In Washington, DC, he drafted Coast Guard regulations implementing the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and participated in international negotiations relating to MARPOL at the International Maritime Organization in London. In 1989, he was detailed as a marine safety advisor to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator in Valdez, AK, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He later led the team that drafted the Federal On-Scene Coordinator’s Report of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the official Coast Guard report of that event. Following the spill, he helped implement the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a watershed law that led to vast changes in oil spill liability and tanker construction standards worldwide. He also served as Commanding Officer of the Marine Safety Office and Captain of the Port of Boston from 1999-2001 where he had oversight of the largest LNG import facility in the U.S.
Admiral Whitehead is the Immediate Past President of the International Propeller Club of the United States, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Propeller Club, where he was named the Propeller Club Maritime Person of the Year in 2020. He serves as a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the University of New Orleans’ School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and is a Trustee of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville, Louisiana. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Science Study Committee to recommend engineering and regulatory solutions to improve small passenger vessel safety. He was appointed to and serves on Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards’ Military Advisory Council. He was a National Director of the Navy League of the United States and Chair of its Coast Guard Affairs Committee from 2011 – 2015 and continues to serve as Vice President of the Greater New Orleans Council of the Navy League. He served from 1999 – 2003 as a member, and in his final year as Chairman of the Alumni Executive Council at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, which represents more than 20,000 alumni in 120 nations. From 1996 to 1999, Rear Admiral Whitehead was a Director of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association.
Admiral Whitehead holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Coast Guard Academy and a master’s degree in public administration from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. In 2007, he was named its Distinguished Alumnus in Public Administration & Policy. From 1996 - 1997, he was a National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1998, he completed Seminar XXI, a year-long Washington, DC-based fellowship in foreign politics and international relations at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds merchant marine licenses as Master of Vessels of less than 1,600 Gross Tons upon Oceans and as 2nd Mate of Unlimited Tons upon Oceans.
After retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard with thirty-four years of service in 2009, he served until 2011 as Vice President, National Security Sector of SRA International, Inc. of Fairfax, Virginia. In his last military assignment, he served for three years as Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans. There he was responsible for U.S. Coast Guard operations and oversight of the maritime and offshore oil industry in 26 states and the entire Gulf of Mexico including more than 1,200 miles of coastline from Florida to Mexico and 10,300 miles of inland waterways including the entire navigable lengths of the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee River systems.
Rear Admiral Whitehead served in a variety of operational and policy tours during his career, and upon his retirement in 2009 was the senior marine safety professional in the U.S. Coast Guard. During his 14 years’ service in Washington, DC, he served as Assistant Commandant for Governmental and Public Affairs, where he was the national media spokesperson for the Coast Guard during hurricanes KATRINA and RITA. He was Chief of Congressional Affairs from 2003 – 2005 and directed a professional staff of twenty-five working in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. From 2001 – 2003, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, where he led federal maritime homeland security response following 9/11 in the Gulf of Mexico ports, offshore oil and gas fields and Mississippi River waterway system. He also served as Chief of Strategic Planning for the U.S. Coast Guard from 1997 – 1999, developing the service’s first formal strategic plan.
His operational career in the Coast Guard was primarily as a marine safety specialist. He was trained as a marine inspector and casualty investigator at the Marine Inspection Office, NY, where he conducted hundreds of inspections and investigations worldwide for over ten years on commercial vessels, passenger vessels, barges, offshore supply vessels, and oil rigs. He also served as the Executive Officer of Marine Safety Office, Albany, NY, where he was Alternate Captain of the Port during the first “Superfund” cleanup in the nation’s history. In Washington, DC, he drafted Coast Guard regulations implementing the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and participated in international negotiations relating to MARPOL at the International Maritime Organization in London. In 1989, he was detailed as a marine safety advisor to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator in Valdez, AK, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He later led the team that drafted the Federal On-Scene Coordinator’s Report of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the official Coast Guard report of that event. Following the spill, he helped implement the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a watershed law that led to vast changes in oil spill liability and tanker construction standards worldwide. He also served as Commanding Officer of the Marine Safety Office and Captain of the Port of Boston from 1999-2001 where he had oversight of the largest LNG import facility in the U.S.
Admiral Whitehead is the Immediate Past President of the International Propeller Club of the United States, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Propeller Club, where he was named the Propeller Club Maritime Person of the Year in 2020. He serves as a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the University of New Orleans’ School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and is a Trustee of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville, Louisiana. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Science Study Committee to recommend engineering and regulatory solutions to improve small passenger vessel safety. He was appointed to and serves on Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards’ Military Advisory Council. He was a National Director of the Navy League of the United States and Chair of its Coast Guard Affairs Committee from 2011 – 2015 and continues to serve as Vice President of the Greater New Orleans Council of the Navy League. He served from 1999 – 2003 as a member, and in his final year as Chairman of the Alumni Executive Council at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, which represents more than 20,000 alumni in 120 nations. From 1996 to 1999, Rear Admiral Whitehead was a Director of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association.
Admiral Whitehead holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Coast Guard Academy and a master’s degree in public administration from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. In 2007, he was named its Distinguished Alumnus in Public Administration & Policy. From 1996 - 1997, he was a National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1998, he completed Seminar XXI, a year-long Washington, DC-based fellowship in foreign politics and international relations at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds merchant marine licenses as Master of Vessels of less than 1,600 Gross Tons upon Oceans and as 2nd Mate of Unlimited Tons upon Oceans.
