Command and Governance

Rear Admiral Michael J. Johnston assumed the duties of the 43rd Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut on May 26, 2023. He reported to the Academy after serving as the Ninth District Commander from May 2021 to May 2023. In this capacity, he was the senior Coast Guard Commander for the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway, an area that encompasses eight states, a 1,500-mile international border, and a workforce of over 6,000 Coast Guard active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliary men, and women.

Rear Admiral Johnston previously served as the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Acquisition and Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO). As CAO he directed efforts across all Coast Guard acquisition programs, acquisition support, personnel, finance, contracting, and research and development activities to execute the service’s acquisition portfolio.

Rear Admiral Johnston graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. After serving two consecutive tours afloat, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology to complete a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. He then served as a project manager and senior communications network engineer for the Vessel Traffic Systems and the Differential Global Positioning System.

He was selected to serve as Aide to the Commandant of the Coast Guard from 2000 to 2002. During this tumultuous timeframe, his work helped restore the Nation to normalcy following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also helped to transition the Coast Guard into the newly formed Department of Homeland Security.

In 2008, Rear Admiral Johnston graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science in Management and Systems Engineering. A DHS Level III Acquisitions Program Manager, he went on to serve as the Deputy Project Manager of the C4ISR acquisition program, delivering significant capabilities to the newest cutters and aircraft for the Service.

From 2011 to 2014, Rear Admiral Johnston served as the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard’s Command, Control, and Communications Engineering Center. He was responsible for the development, deployment, sustainment, logistics support, training, and configuration management for all C3 systems in the Coast Guard.

His other senior-level assignments include serving as deputy chief of the Officer Personnel Management Division where he was responsible for all officer accessions, assignments, and qualifications. In June 2015, he was selected to be the Executive Director or the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support (DCMS) with responsibilities for coordinating mission support functions across the Coast Guard.

Captain Eva J. Van Camp assumed the duties as Assistant Superintendent on July 2023.  Prior to reporting to the Coast Guard Academy, she was the Commander, Sector Long Island where she oversaw the daily Coast Guard operations in Connecticut and Long Island, NY comprised of over 2,000 active duty, reserve, civilian and 1,300 auxiliary members across the Sector.

Captain Van Camp graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Marine and Environmental Science in 1997.  Following graduation, she reported for her first tour of duty as a Deck Watch Officer onboard USCGC LAUREL homeported in Mayport, Florida.

After serving aboard Laurel, she was assigned to the Seventh District Command Center as a Command Duty Officer coordinating law enforcement and search and rescue response missions in the nation’s busiest area of responsibility.  Other operational tours include Chief of Response at Sector Hampton Roads, where she coordinated Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, and Incident Management covering 3000 miles of Virginia’s navigable waterways, supervised five 87’ Patrol Boats, six small boat stations, and a specialized Sector Boarding Team. Chief of Waterways and Chief of Enforcement at Sector New Orleans, and Navigator of the USS DECATUR (DDG-73).  In 2010, as the Chief of Enforcement, she synchronized the initial and follow-on contingency response for the Deepwater Horizon Spill, which became the largest man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Captain Van Camp served in several staff positions including Executive Assistant to the Director of Governmental and Public Affairs for the Coast Guard, Senior Strategic Analyst in the Emerging Policy for the Deputy Commandant for Operations, Comptroller and Operations Department Head at Base Los Angeles Long Beach, Senior Portfolio Manager for the Office of the Deputy Commandant for Operations Administration and Coordination Staff, and Aide to the Pacific Area Commander.

In 2003, she earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Master in National Security Strategy from the U.S. National War College in 2020.  Additionally, she completed the Joint Professional Military Education Certification from the U.S. Air Force Air University.

Captain Van Camp is married to retired Coast Guard Captain Timothy Schang and has a daughter Madison and son Blair.

Master Chief Evan C. Burch assumed duties as the Academy’s Command Master Chief in June 2023. His primary responsibility is to advise the Academy Superintendent on issues and initiatives pertaining to the entire Academy workforce. Further, he helps to carry out Command intent and facilitates communications and the effective functioning of the chain of command.

Master Chief Burch served as the CMC of Patrol Forces southwest Asia (PATFORSWA) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Master Chief Burch’s previous assignments include the Ceremonial Honor Guard in Alexandria, VA, Group Air-station Corpus Christi, TX, Telecommunications Specialist (TC) “A” School Petaluma, CA, Communications Area Master Station Pacific (CAMSPAC) Pt. Reyes Station, CA, CGC WALNUT in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, CGC SHERMAN Alameda, CA, National Security Cutter C4ISR School TRACEN Petaluma, CA, Vessel Traffic Center Sector New York, NY, District 17 Command Center Juneau, AK, CGC STRATTON Alameda, CA, and Command Senior Chief USCG Base Los Angeles Long Beach, San Pedro, CA.

Master Chief Burch is a proud graduate of the Chief Petty Officer Academy Class 192, Coast Guard Senior Enlisted Command Master Chief Course, Coast Guard Senior Enlisted Leadership Course (class 60), and both Phase I and II of the Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education Course.

He enlisted in the Coast Guard and graduated from boot camp in March of 1995. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals, the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, as well as other personal and service awards.

He has been married to his beautiful wife for 25 years; they have a 24 year old son, and a 22 year old daughter.

Dr. Amy Donahue is Provost and Chief Academic Officer at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Dr. Donahue provides primary leadership and direction for all academic activities and faculty affairs at the Academy. She is responsible for ensuring the quality of the Academy’s educational programs and maintaining the standards necessary to accomplish the Academy’s mission to develop leaders of character who serve as officers in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Dr. Donahue is also professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Connecticut (UConn). As a social scientist, her research has focused on executive leadership, homeland security, and disaster preparedness. She was principal investigator on research funded by the Department of Homeland Security as part of the Center of Excellence for the Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management. She is engaged in policy work at the state level, helping design Connecticut’s new policy and curriculum for police use of force, and at the national level, serving on NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, which advises the NASA Administrator and Congress on safety and risk management.

From 2011 to 2018, Dr. Donahue served as UConn’s Vice Provost for Academic Operations and Chief of Staff to the Provost. She was responsible for operational decision-making, policy development, strategic workforce management, labor-management relations, financial resource oversight, crisis planning and response, capital planning, faculty and staff professional development, and compliance management for an academic enterprise of fourteen schools and colleges and five regional campuses. As part of a small team of executive leaders, she was a key partner in developing the $1.7 billion Next Generation Connecticut program, crafting the University’s academic vision, guiding program development to support excellence in teaching and learning, preparing the University for reaccreditation, and building a new regional campus.

Prior to her service in the Provost’s Office, Dr. Donahue headed UConn’s Department of Public Policy for five years, leading a department that included a nationally respected Master of Public Administration program, top ranked in public finance. Previously she advised the Chancellor of Louisiana State University immediately following Hurricane Katrina and was the founding director of LSU’s Stephenson Disaster Management Institute, a research institute focused on the challenges of managing large disaster responses.

From 2002 to 2004, on an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment, Dr. Donahue was Senior Advisor to the Administrator for Homeland Security at NASA. She was the agency’s liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Council and was responsible for identifying opportunities for NASA to contribute to homeland security efforts across government. In 2003, she had a major leadership role in the field response to the crash of space shuttle Columbia. From 2004-2007, Dr. Donahue served on the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, a federal advisory committee that advises NASA on how to improve safety performance. She was recently reappointed to the panel for a six-year term.

As the Distinguished Military Graduate of Princeton’s Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1989, she began her career serving in the U.S. Army on active duty in the 6th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Her military assignments included serving as Officer in Charge of a Forward Surgical Team, as the Training and Operations Officer (S3) for the 706th Main Support Battalion, and as Chief of Mobilization, Education, Training, and Security for Bassett Army Hospital. She moved on to manage a 911 communications center, and to volunteer and work part-time as a firefighter and medic in Fairbanks, Alaska and upstate New York.

Dr. Donahue holds her Ph.D. in Public Administration and her M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Geological and Geophysical Sciences from Princeton University. She was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in 2011. She is certified as a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician.