![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aapw01.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/Hortons.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter more than 34 years of\nservice to the port industry, long-time president and CEO of AAPA, Kurt Nagle,\nis retiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kurt began his work at AAPA in\n1985 as the membership services director. In 1995, he was appointed AAPA\u2019s\npresident and CEO, a position he has held for 24 years. He has been with AAPA\nfor almost a third of the association\u2019s 106-year history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The late Steven M. Cernak,\nAAPA\u2019s immediate past chairman of the board and former chief executive and port\ndirector at Port Everglades, lauded Kurt\u2019s AAPA leadership and service to the\nhemisphere\u2019s ports. \u201cWe\u2019ve been extremely fortunate to have Kurt lead our\nassociation these past 24 years. The association, its services to the port\nindustry, as well as its profile and advocacy have grown exponentially during\nKurt\u2019s tenure. He\u2019s been adept at keeping a very diverse hemispheric industry\nunified, which has been vital to the overall well-being of our member ports and\ncritical to advancing the priorities for the association\u2019s U.S. members in\nWashington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AAPA\u2019s chairman of the board,\nWilliam D. Friedman, president and CEO at the Port of Cleveland, concurred.\n\u201cKurt will be sorely missed, but he will leave behind a lasting legacy and a\nlong list of achievements of immense benefit\u2026Over the years, Kurt has developed\nand led a strong and stable headquarters staff, and has the association well\npositioned to carry on its valued services to our membership and the port\nindustry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before sailing off into the\nsunset, Kurt took some time to share with Seaports magazine some of what made\nthe ports industry so dear to him \u2013 especially his time at AAPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n