Royster to head Maryland Port Administration
Gov. Bob Ehrlich has appointed F. Brooks Royster III to executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, which oversees the Port of Baltimore.
Royster replaces former port director James J. White, who resigned from his post largely over a staffing dispute with the governor’s office earlier this year. M. Kathleen Broadwater, deputy executive director, served as interim head of the MPA since early March.
Royster is a 33-year veteran of the maritime industry. Prior to his appointment to the MPA, he served three years as chief executive officer of the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co. His background also includes posts as chief executive officer for the Mississippi State Port Authority and in senior management roles at private sector maritime firms throughout the southern United States.
Former U.S. Rep. Helen Delich Bentley, who headed the governor’s search committee for the new MPA director, said in a statement Tuesday that Royster was “our overwhelming choice to lead the Port of Baltimore.”