WoodenBoat School in Brooklin has a new director
Photo / Courtesy, Billy Black
Michael Gorman, incoming director of the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin.
The WoodenBoat School, which each summer offers some 90 classes and attracts more than 800 students to its campus on the Maine coast, said it has a new director.
Michael Gorman, an experienced boatbuilder and administrator, will take over the director role in mid-November, WoodenBoat Publications Inc. said this week.
Located on a 64-acre campus in the midcoast town of Brooklin, WoodenBoat School began in 1981 as an extension of WoodenBoat magazine, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
WoodenBoat Publications was founded in 1974 by Jon Wilson, who sold the operation to Andrew Breece and Matt Murphy in January 2022. (The owners detailed some of their plans in a 2022 Mainebiz Q&A with Senior Writer Laurie Schreiber.)
Fifth director
Gorman, who will be the school's fifth director, takes over from Eric Stockinger, who had been director of both the WoodenBoat School and the WoodenBoat Store. Going forward, Stockinger will focus on the retail arm of the business.
Gorman’s most recent position was with the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, N.Y., where he established an educational and operational boatyard. Before that, he was a shipwright foreman and Maritime Preservation Specialist at San Francisco National Maritime Park. For six years before that, he managed the shipyard at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md.
“Michael Gorman brings a rare blend experience to WoodenBoat School. He has deep aptitude and experience in managing people, campuses and budgets, as well as deep knowledge of boats, boatbuilding and education. He has big shoes to fill, and Michael is ready for the challenge," said Breece, who is chief operating officer for WoodenBoat Publications.
WoodenBoat School offers classes from mid-May to late September. The school also has offsite classes in the shoulder seasons and winter months. Enrollment opens Jan. 2, 2025.
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