Max Mejia

Professor, Nippon Foundation Chair
Maritime Policy, Governance, and Administration
Philippines

Max Mejia is Nippon Foundation Professor of Maritime Governance, Policy, and Administration at the World Maritime University (WMU), where he has been a member of the resident faculty since 1998. He also currently serves as Director of the PhD Program.

Dr. Mejia is author/co-author of more than 70 published articles, chapters, and papers and the editor/co-editor of 11 books. His focus areas of research and teaching are maritime policy, maritime law, maritime labour law and policy, human factors, safety, and security-related issues.

He earned his Bachelor of Science at the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, Maryland, USA) and his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School (Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA). He also has a Master of Science in Maritime Safety Administration from the World Maritime University (Malmö, Sweden) and a Licentiate of Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy from Lund University (Lund, Sweden).

Before joining WMU, he saw duty on board various naval and coast guard vessels as well as in shore-based facilities in the Philippines. His assignments included, inter alia, Commanding Officer of Port State Control Office Manila, Commander of Coast Guard Station Iligan, Deputy Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Maritime Development, and Assistant Chief of Staff for Navigational Safety. Dr. Mejia took a sabbatical from the World Maritime University to serve as Administrator (Director General) of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) from 2013 to 2016. MARINA is the maritime administration in the Philippines, tasked with integrating the development, promotion, and regulation of the maritime industry. As Administrator, Dr. Mejia was chief architect and implementer of a comprehensive reform of the country’s maritime education, training, and certification system as well as other wide-ranging maritime safety improvement programs. In 2013, Lloyd’s List included Dr. Mejia in its list of the world’s 100 Most Influential Persons in the Shipping Industry.