American Shipbuilding Association

DATE:  April 2, 2009
CONTACT: Cynthia L. Brown
(202) 544-8170

(Washington, D.C.) – Cynthia Brown, President of the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA), is pleased to announce that Fred Harris, President, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), will assume chair of ASA effective April 1.

Frederick J. Harris became president of General Dynamics NASSCO on January 1, 2006. Prior to that, Harris was the senior vice president of programs at General Dynamics Electric Boat, where he was responsible for the execution of all submarine design, construction and repair programs.

Harris began his shipbuilding career in 1973 as a senior engineer for Electric Boat’s Trident ballistic missile submarine program. For his accomplishments later as program manager of the Virginia-class submarine design phase, Harris received the Maine Maritime Academy Outstanding Alumni Award for the Year 2000 and, in 2002, received the annual William M. Kennedy Award from the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. In 2003, he was included on the Maine Maritime Academy’s Wall of Honor for his accomplishments in the marine field.

Harris was born in Framingham, Massachusetts. A 1963 graduate of Hopkinton High School, he graduated from the Maine Maritime Academy in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering. He sailed for several years as a U.S. Merchant Mariner, notably aboard the U.S. registered SS Transglobe, the most decorated American merchant ship of the Vietnam War. He holds a Coast Guard Chief Engineer’s License of Unlimited Horsepower. In 1972, he received a master’s degree in business administration from Babson College, graduating with distinction.

The American Shipbuilding Association is the national trade association of the shipbuilding industry. ASA members include the nation’s six largest shipyards and over 100 companies engaged in the manufacture of ship systems and components, repair and technical services.