Friday, January 29, 2010
Charles W. Foster, president of C. Foster Consultant Services in Hercules, Calif., was recently named to the University of Maryland Board of Visitors by President Thelma B. Thompson.
“Mr. Foster brings a wealth of business acumen from his many years of high-level managerial experience in the commercial transportation industry,” said President Thompson.
Foster, a 1962 graduate of UMES, was CEO of the Port of Oakland, Calif., the fourth largest port operation in the U.S., from 1995-2001. During that time he oversaw an annual operating budget of $200 million and a five-year capital budget of $1.7 billion. In 2001, the seaport served 33 oceangoing container carriers and moved 1.5 million containers through gateway, and the airport handled 11 million passengers and over 1.5 billion pounds of air cargo.
Foster has worked in the aviation and maritime industry for 37 years. He is also a retired captain in the U.S. Navy. His company provides consultant services to airports and seaports in administration, operations, facility maintenance and development and trade development, and provides assistance to local governments on military base conveyance.
Foster received honorary doctorate degrees from UMES in 1998 and from Golden Gate University in San Francisco in 1997. He and his wife, Laverne Marbray Foster, reside in Hercules.
The UMES Board of Visitors is an advisory body providing assistance to the president in the areas of community relations, institutional development, governmental issues and alumni affairs. It has no legal or fiduciary responsibility for the operation of the university.
For more information about the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, contact the Office of Public Relations at 410-651-7580 or go to www.umes.edu.
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Gains Hawkins, vice president of institutional advancement, UMES, 410-651-7773, ghawkins@umes.edu.
Gail Stephens, assistant director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-651-7580, gcstephens@umes.edu. x
