IMMEDIATE RELEASE             April 11, 2003

UW-Superior to present honorary degree to Davis Helberg for his achievements in the Great Lakes maritime industry

Davis Helberg, former Duluth port director and one of the nation's leading advocates for the Great Lakes maritime industry, will receive an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Superior at its 2003 Commencement on May 17.

" UW-Superior wants to recognize Mr. Helberg for his lifetime of work and dedication to Great Lakes transportation, which has been one of Superior-Duluth's core industries for more than a century," said Chancellor Julius Erlenbach. "As a member of the advisory board to UW-Superior's Transportation and Logistics Management program, Mr. Helberg has provided invaluable insight and experience that will benefit future transportation leaders for years to come."

In addition to accepting his honorary degree, Helberg will deliver this year's Commencement Address to approximately 500 UW-Superior graduates.

The Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters is the latest honor for Helberg, who retired last March after serving 24 years as executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. Upon his retirement, the Esko, Minn., resident had served more than 40 years in the Great Lakes maritime industry. He was the longest-serving Great Lakes port director and second in seniority among the U.S. members of the American Association of Port Authorities.

His service to the industry includes serving on the boards of directors for the Great Lakes Regional Waterways Management Forum; the U.S.-Canadian Waterways Strategic Issues Forum; American Great Lakes Ports; the Minnesota Ports Association; the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota; the Minnesota Blue Ribbon Committee on Mining; and the Alworth Institute for International Studies. He has written extensively in the maritime field and is nationally recognized as an expert in ports and terminals.

Helberg recently was presented with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service Award. This is the highest recognition, other than for life-saving, that can be awarded to a person who is not a Coast Guard employee. In 1999 he was presented the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Public Service Award. He was named the 1992 Great Lakes Person of the Year by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Maritime Forum.

He began his career in 1958 as a deckhand aboard a Great Lakes freighter, and worked for a Duluth vessel agency during the St. Lawrence Seaway's early years. He divided time in the 1960s between vessel agency operations and six years with the Duluth News-Tribune. In 1968 he became the Port Authority's public relations director. He later worked for a ship pilotage company and then became president of a Duluth stevedoring firm before being named the port authority's executive director in 1979.

Helberg will receive his degree at UW-Superior's 107th Commencement beginning at 2 p.m. May 17 in Wessman Arena.

More Press Releases, 2003