Admiral James Watkins (USN-Ret.)
Chair, U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

James Watkins is Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, which earlier this year recommended a new, comprehensive national ocean policy to Congress and the President. Prior to his appointment to the Ocean Commission, Admiral Watkins served as President of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), in Washington, D.C., from September 1993 to October 2000. In September 1994, he led the historic effort to establish an expanded partnership among the more than 60 U.S. marine institutions. The effort resulted in a public-private corporation known as the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, or CORE. Admiral Watkins also served as Secretary of Energy under President George H. Bush and as 22nd Chief of Naval Operations under President Ronald Reagan.