Following a competitive selection process, Professor Max Mejia, a former Director General of the Philippines’ Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), has been chosen to succeed Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry as the new President of the World Maritime University (WMU), based in Malmö, Sweden.
Professor Meija was selected by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim, Chancellor of the university. He is expected to take over the president’s role on 29 June 2023, when Dr. Doumbia-Henry’s term expires.
WMU was founded by IMO in 1983 as a world centre of excellence in postgraduate maritime and ocean education, research, and professional training, while building global capacity and effective implementation of the IMO Conventions and regulations and promoting maritime sustainable development. It also promotes the roles of women in the maritime and ocean sectors.
As an entity within the UN system, WMU has been delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) on education, gender equality, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, sustainable industrialization and innovation, climate action, the oceans, peace and justice, and working in partnership.
To date, WMU has 5,807 alumni from 170 countries and territories. Professor Maximo Q. Mejia Jr. is currently Director of the PhD Program and Associate Academic Dean at the WMU. He studied Political Science at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland and went on to obtain a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, United States.
He is himself a graduate of WMU, having received a Master of Science in Maritime Safety Administration in 1994. Professor Mejia also has a Licentiate of Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy from Lund University in Sweden.
Before joining WMU in 1998, Professor Mejia saw duty on board various naval and coast guard vessels, as well as in shore-based facilities in the Philippines. During a sabbatical from WMU between 2013 and 2016, Professor Mejia served as the Administrator (Director-General) of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) in the Philippines.
