A Farewell to Director Linda Duguay
In our bittersweet goodbye, our team announces that Dr. Linda Duguay is retiring from the Directorship of the USC Sea Grant Program after 23 wonderful years. We are honored to have had Dr. Duguay’s long-tenured leadership at USC Sea Grant. Further, she is not only the longest-serving director at USC Sea Grant, but she also holds the title of the longest-serving female Sea Grant Director within the National Sea Grant Program.
The USC Sea Grant Program is part of a national Sea Grant network of 34 university-based programs located throughout the nation and administered and supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For over 56 years, Sea Grant programs work with community members to generate, translate, and deliver cutting-edge, unbiased, science-based information to address complex issues in the nation’s coastal marine and aquatic ecosystems.
Although sometimes it is hard to think of Dr. Duguay outside of the world of Sea Grant, she had a flourishing, productive research career before coming to Sea Grant. Born and raised on the east coast, she spent over 30 years along the Eastern Seaboard, developing her education and research portfolios. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from the University of Rhode Island in 1968. She then got her M.S. in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1979, both in biological oceanography, from the University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, where she primarily researched calcium metabolism and photosynthetic carbon fixation in benthic Foraminifera (a phylum of primitive of single-celled organisms) with symbiotic microalgae.
Following her education, Linda headed to the Northeast, where she held research faculty positions at the Marine Sciences Research Center of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at the Center for Environmental Sciences of the University of Maryland. She also held teaching positions at Southampton College of Long Island University and St. Mary’s College, Maryland. From 1990-1999, Dr. Duguay served as a program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Virginia, in the Biological Oceanography Program and the Office of Polar Programs in both the Antarctic and Arctic Sciences.
In 1990, this “east-coaster-for-life” found herself heading west with her husband, Dr. Doug Capone, to prestigious positions at USC. Linda took on the position of USC Sea Grant’s Director, and Doug was hired as faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences, where he is currently Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.
“Over 23 years as our director, USC Sea Grant wouldn’t be where it is now without Linda’s incredible wisdom, insight, and values,” shares Phyllis Grifman, USC Sea Grant’s Executive Director. “She has been a most supportive and nurturing leader to our team, and her tenacious spirit in supporting our program has led to tremendous successes.”
Linda has always been a fighter for USC Sea Grant, one of the smallest programs in the national network by staff size and funding. Despite its size, Linda displayed persistence in showcasing that USC Sea Grant was one of the original participants in the National Sea Grant College Program, receiving some of the earliest funding in 1969 and officially establishing its Sea Grant program 50 years ago. USC Sea Grant serves one of the most populous and diverse metropolitan regions in the nation. Serving five counties of over 19 million residents speaking over 140 languages, Linda led the change in making this a prime region to study the effects of urbanization on our coastlines and the impact of the ocean on the diverse, urbanized environment.
“Linda’s integrity and commitment are second to none,” says Ruth Dudas, USC Sea Grant’s Contracts and Grants Coordinator. “She truly values people, and it is inspiring how much she made our team feel like a family. She has a beautiful humanity about her.”
One example of Linda’s passion for USC Sea Grant’s Urban Ocean theme and commitment to the diversity of the region was her instrumental role in ensuring the success of COSEE West, an NSF-funded partnership with UCLA to bridge science research and K-12 education. “She recruited scientists from all of the disciplines of ocean sciences to share their expertise with hundreds of educators and thousands of students over the lifetime of the program,” said Linda Chilton, USC Sea Grant’s Education Programs Manager. “The nationwide program introduced ocean literacy, helped graduate students and early career scientists to hone communication skills, and supported the creation of marine science classes in programs that had very few science opportunities.”
Linda held other leadership roles as well while she served as Sea Grant Director. At USC, she served roles as both Deputy Director and Director of Research for the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies since 1999, and she served as the Executive Director of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement from 2000 to 2008. She’s been a Research Associate Professor of Marine Environmental Biology since 2000 and was the Director of the Environmental Studies Program from 2000-2002. Linda also was committed to raising the profile of women in science and engineering, serving as a leader of USC’s WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) Program aimed at faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate, and undergraduate students, as well as high school and middle school girls.
She also served in many other leadership roles outside of USC, including President of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography from 2016-2018; Chair of the NSF-supported Centers of Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Network; two terms as the Biological Oceanography Section secretary of the Ocean Sciences section of the American Geophysical Union; member of the American Society of Limnology informal science education committee; and Treasurer of the Sea Grant Association and the Sea Grant Association Board.
“It’s been such a pleasure to work with Linda for the past 20 years, who, aside from her friendship, has been an indefatigable advocate for the USC Sea Grant Program,” expresses USC Sea Grant’s Extension Director, James Fawcett. She’s the grande dame of Sea Grant Directors, and both USC and the National Sea Grant College Program will miss her experience and wisdom.”
“USC Sea Grant is saying farewell to an exceptional director and friend,” adds Phyllis Grifman. “But as we reflect upon our 50th year as a National Sea Grant Program, we are inspired by Linda’s legacy and leadership in making USC Sea Grant the leader that it is in addressing the challenges posed by the urban ocean environment. We will continue this legacy as we begin our next 50 years.”