The Vice Admiral Emory S. "Jerry" Land Medal

Outstanding Accomplishment in the Marine Field

Mike Petters
Mike Petters
Huntington Ingalls Industries


Mike Petters is President and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries, America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of manufacturing, engineering and management services to the nuclear energy, oil and gas markets. He is also a member of HII’s Board of Directors.

Petters previously served as president of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and as president of Northrop Grumman’s Newport News sector. He joined Newport News Shipbuilding in 1987 in the Los Angeles-class submarine construction division. He held a number of increasingly responsible positions throughout the organization, including production supervisor for submarines, marketing manager for submarines and carriers, vice president of aircraft carrier programs, vice president of contracts and pricing, and vice president of human resources.

A native of Florida, Petters earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982, served aboard the nuclear-powered submarine USS George Bancroft(SSBN 643) and spent five years in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In 1993, he earned an MBA from the College of William and Mary.

Petters is a past chairman and current member of the Virginia Business Council, a member of the Aerospace Industries Association’s executive committee and a member of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. He serves on the board of directors for the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation and the National Association of Manufacturers. He also serves on the board of advisors for the Center for a New American Security, the board of trustees of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation and the distinguished advisory board for the Dolphin Scholarship Foundation.In 2017, Petters received the Committee for Economic Development’s Owen B. Butler Education Excellence Award, which recognizes an individual’s exceptional commitment to quality education, skills development and workforce development programs.

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

Land Medalists

2019    Mike Petters

2018     Joseph H. Comer III

2016     Mr. William L. Hurley, Jr.

2015      Donald T. "Boysie" Bollinger

2014      David R. Rathburn

2013      Christopher J. Wiernicki

2012      Frederick J. Harris

2011      Stephen M. Payne

2010      Joseph J. Cuneo

2009      Robert D. Somerville

2008      Robert D. Tagg

2007      Bruce S. Rosenblatt

2006      Peter G. Noble

2005      Thomas P. Mackey

2004      Robert E. Kramek

2003      Richard H. Vortmann

2002      William O. Gray

2001      William duBarry Thomas

2000      Charles R. Cushing

1999      William A. O'Neil

1998      David A. O'Neil

1997      James C. Card

1996      Robert W. Schaffran

1995      Arthur J. Haskell

1994      Norman W. Lemley

1993      Perry W. Nelson

1992      Edward J. Campbell

1991      Robert G. Mende

1990      J. William Kime

1989      Ronald K. Kiss

1988      Stanley G. Stiansen

1987      Leslie A. Harlander

1986      C.L. French

1985      Thomas B. Crowley

1984      Lester Rosenblatt

1983      Edwin Murray Hood

1982      Robert I. Price

1981      Ellsworth L. Peterson

1980      P. Takis Veliotis

1979      A. Dudley Haff

1978      William M. Benkert

1977      E. Scott Dillon

1976      Robert J. Blackwell

1975      John V. Banks*

1974      Helen Delich Bentley

1973      James F. Goodrich

1972      Andrew E. Gibson

1971      Daniel D. Strohmeier

1970      Andrew Neilson

1969      Ralph K. James

1968      Donald A. Holden

1967      James J. Henry

1966      John T. Gilbride

1965      Albert G. Mumma

1964      Richard Lowery

1963      Wilbur N. Landers

1962      Monro B. Lanier

1961      Solon B. Turman

1960      John M. Willis

1959      Richard L. Burke

1958      William E. Blewett, Jr.

1957      Arthur B. Homer

1956      John M. Franklin

1955      Walter L. Green

1954      John B. Woodward, Jr.

1953      H. Gerrish Smith

1952      Emory Scott Land