WHOI Names New Director of Development
August 3, 1999
A 1975 graduate of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program in Oceanography will be returning to Woods Hole soon in a new capacity. Dr. Daniel H. Stuermer, a chemical oceanographer who has spent much of his career as a research scientist and in corporate management, will assume the duties of WHOI Director of Development October 1.
As Director of Development, he will be responsible for the Institution’s fundraising efforts, including planning and managing a multi-year, multi-million dollar capital campaign. He will manage all divisions of the Institution’s Development Office, and will serve as the principal staff support for and as a member of the Trustee Development Committee.
Stuermer has maintained a long-term interest in the Institution since he completed his degree in 1975 through alumni/ae affairs and fundraising activities. He was first elected to the Institution’s Corporation in June 1993 and was re-elected in May 1996. He was elected a Trustee in May 1997.
Stuermer has worked as a research scientist both in academia and government labs, and for the past twelve years has worked in the corporate sector. He has served as President of Thermo Analytical, Inc. at their laboratories in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since 1994, with responsibilities for all aspects of laboratory operations, financial performance, marketing and sales efforts, and strategic planning. Prior to his appointment as President he served as Technical Director from 1991 to 1992 and as Vice President from 1993 to 1994. Thermo Analytical Inc. is a subsidiary of Thermo Electron Corporation, a commercial chemical and microbiological firm that serves the environmental, pharmaceutical and food industries. The firm has annual revenues of $40 million and employs 650 scientists and support personnel.
“We’re very fortunate to have someone of Dan’s multi-faceted background take on this responsibility,” WHOI Director Robert B. Gagosian said. “He clearly has strong experience in science, administration and management. His organizational skills will be extremely valuable to the Institution as we start planning a new capital campaign.”
Author of 38 journal articles in the fields of chemistry, oceanography, environmental sciences and food research, Dan Stuermer received his B.A. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1970 and his Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the WHOI/MIT Joint Program in Oceanography/Ocean Engineering in 1975. His Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “The Characterization of Humic Substances in Seawater.” He was the recipient of a National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research Scholarship from 1968 to 1970, and was awarded an Arthur Vining Davis Foundation Graduate School Scholarship from 1970 to 1975.
Following completion of his Ph.D. degree, Dan Stuermer was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in geochemical research at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1975 to 1977. He then worked as a research scientist from 1977 to 1985 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. From 1977 to 1987 he also was owner/winemaker of Stuermer/Arcadia Winery. In 1985 he was named Vice President of Support Systems, Inc., a position he held until 1987, when he was named President of TMA/Norcal, where he worked until 1991. He is a Board Member of the American Council of Independent Laboratories and is a member of the Environmental Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“Dan not only brings the necessary skills and extensive experience to this job, he brings a talent and passion to market the value of science to the public and private sectors,” WHOI Associate Director for Communications and Development Jacqueline Hollister said in announcing the appointment. “Dan has very fond memories of his graduate years here at WHOI and of his visits since then to Woods Hole. He is looking forward to returning full-time to the Institution and to working with Institution staff on the next capital campaign.”
Dan and his wife, Betty, have resided in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They have bought a home in Falmouth.