Vice Admiral Emory S. "Jerry" Land Medal

Outstanding Accomplishment in the Marine Field
The Vice Admiral Emory S. “Jerry” Land Medalist

Joseph H.Comer III
Maritime Solutions South LLC

Joe Comer has more than forty years of experience in the marine industry. He now consults on a variety of topics from contracts and design, to ship manufacturing processes. Joe graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. After graduation, Joe worked for Jeffboat, Bender Shipyard, Halter and Alabama Shipyard (at all but Jeffboat reaching the position of Vice President of Engineering) and now Ship Architects, Inc. A noted leader in initiating culture changes in shipyard planning and engineering to migrate from ‘boat building’ to “vessel manufacturing”; he has traveled extensively to foreign shipyards in Europe and Asia to learn and transfer ship manufacturing knowledge to US shipbuilding. Lead the development of engineering and planning processes focused on the tools needed to integrate the material, drawings and work orders with the interim products being built at each work station. Since 2006 until retirement in 2018, he has been the senior principal for Ship Architects, Inc. where in addition to a talented staff of about 15 engineers, he has created a virtual support team to handle any size job such as a research vessel, passenger sailing ship conversion, new vessel proposals, new vessel designs (most recently a 15,000 hp ATB Tug) and many production designs for a manufacturing style of construction. Joe is the immediate Past -President of SNAME where he is a Life Fellow.

Established by the Executive Committee in 1952.

The award will be for "Outstanding Accomplishment in the Marine Field." The title will be "The Vice Admiral ‘Jerry’ Land Medal." The medal will be made of gold-plated bronze, hexagonal in shape, measuring 2 1/2 inches (6.25 cm) from the top to bottom across the points of the hexagon, the obverse side showing a likeness of Admiral Land and the reverse side carrying an inscription of the award. Eligibility for the medal need not be limited to membership in the Society. The proposal for award may be made by a member of the Society in good standing. The selection of the nominee for the award shall be made by the Awards Committee of SNAME. Notification of the award will be made prior to the Annual Meeting and the medal will be presented with suitable ceremonies at the Annual Meeting or at such time as the President of SNAME may arrange. The medal may be awarded annually but not more often.

Medal and Awards Nomination Form