Mr. Jack
Russell was born in
Piney Point,
Maryland
in 1943. He graduated with a degree in government from the
University
of Maryland in 1965.
Mr. Russell went
into business for himself on St. George Island building the seafood
harvesting and packing operation, Sea-Fruit. In 1979, he built the
skipjack the Dee of St. Mary's. He began converting his businesses
from seafood to tourism and education in the 1980s.
In 1999, Mr.
Russell joined the teaching staff of the Harry Lundeberg School of
Seamanship in the
Paul
Hall
Center
of the Seafarer's International Union and continues to teach vessel
operations.
In 2000, he
founded the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab, Inc. a 501(c) 3 nonprofit, to
ensure the skipjack, the oyster house and their respective
educational programs would continue beyond his lifetime. He still
takes students out aboard his skipjack to teach them about the
natural and cultural history of the Chesapeake Bay.
Mr. Russell has
served on the following Boards and Commissions: Tidal Fisheries
Advisory Board for State of Maryland, from 1980 to 1984; Potomac
River Fisheries Commission; past chairman, the Maryland and Virginia
bi-state regulatory commission, from 1980-1992; St. George Island
Improvement Association, president, from 1987-1997; St. Mary's
Citizen Advisory Committee, member Comprehensive Land Use Plan, from
1988-1990; Chesapeake Bay Field Lab, director, from 2000-2001.
Mr. Jack Russell
lives on
St.
George
Island
with his wife, Viki, and their two daughters.
