Professor of Practice

Email: wdiehl@lamar.edu

Captain Bill Diehl, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.), joined Lamar University’s Center for Advances in Port Management in 2024 as a Professor of Practice.  

From 2009 to 2023, Bill was the President of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, a maritime trade organization. During his tenure, he grew membership from 90 to over 260 companies and transformed the “Port Bureau” into the business voice for the greater Houston port region.

Working with the companies and a robust Board of Directors they identified and prioritized the top issues impacting the port and advocated practical solutions to public officials while championing the long-term value of the maritime industry and the Houston Ship Channel complex. 

Before the Port Bureau, Bill served 27 years in the Coast Guard in a variety of challenging jobs, including serving as a diplomatic liaison officer at the Panama Canal.

His last assignment was command of the largest operational unit in the Coast Guard: Sector Houston-Galveston. In this role, he led 2,600 personnel in the highly successful response to Hurricane Ike in 2008. The response included saving 235 lives, cleaning up 240 oil spills, and the largest waterway restoration effort in the history of the Coast Guard.

Bill is a 1982 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy. He obtained a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.