Spencer receives Marine Advocate of the Year award

PBSC Marine Service Technology instructor, Stephen R. Spencer was honored with the Marine Advocate of the Year award at the Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County’s (MIAPBC) Annual Member Awards dinner on January 27.

The MIAPBC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and growing the marine industry in Palm Beach County, recognized Spencer for his commitment to marine education and workforce development.

“We are proud to see Stephen recognized for his contributions to the marine industry,” said Doreen Singer, program director, Transportation Technologies Career Certificate Programs. “His leadership, industry expertise and dedication to workforce development have had a lasting impact on our students and the marine community.”

Spencer is a 31-year veteran of the United States Coast Guard, where he enlisted as a seaman recruit and advanced to master chief machinery technician, ultimately serving as command master chief for the Atlantic Area of Operations. During his Coast Guard career, he specialized as a machinery technician, responsible for maintaining and repairing a wide range of mechanical systems, including gasoline, diesel and turbine engines; reduction gears; pumps and related equipment.

Upon his retirement from the Coast Guard in 2001, Spencer transitioned into technical education and workforce training. He has taught at several post-secondary institutions, including Advanced Technology Institute in Virginia Beach, New England Institute of Technology in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach State College and Central Texas College in Europe.  

Since returning to Florida in 2015, Spencer has served PBSC as a Career Certificate Program (CCP) instructor and later as program director for the transportation programs, providing leadership and oversight for the Automotive Service Technology, Diesel Technology and Marine Service Technology programs. In 2019, he developed and launched the College’s Marine Service Technology program, teaching and growing it until 2023, when he assumed the role of program director and retired in 2024.

In 2025, when the Marine Service Technology program faced an unexpected instructor vacancy, Spencer returned from retirement to ensure continuity of instruction and student completion, a role he accepted and carried through to the end of the cohort. His professional excellence has been recognized through honors such as the NISOD Excellence Award and the American Boat and Yacht Council Educator of the Year Award in 2020, as well as multiple military and civilian performance awards.