Don Perkins became GMRI’s President in 1995. Don works with GMRI’s board of directors and management team to drive GMRI’s evolution as a strategic science, education, community institution serving the Gulf of Maine bioregion.

Don brings an unusual mix of private sector and not-profit sector experience to GMRI. Prior to joining GMRI, he instructed at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, directed the Marine Conservation Corps in California, served as a financial advisor to Native American tribes; and managed the operations of Binax, Inc.

Don has been active in the marine policy arena on multiple levels. He served on the boards of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, the Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council, and the Maine Legislature’s Task Force on the Development of Aquaculture. He was co-founder of Friends of Casco Bay. He currently serves on the boards of the Maine Marine Research Coalition, Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System, and Westbrook School Board.

Don was born in Waterville, Maine and has lived in a variety of Maine's coastal and inland communities. Don and his wife are raising their family in Westbrook. Don holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. His greatest sources of pleasure are his family and an early run and dip on Crescent Beach.