Rear Admiral Arthur Bright Engel, retiring superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., was born and brought up in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Graduated from the Academy with a bachelor of science degree and a commission as an ensign on Jun 2, 1938, he served on board the cutters Chelan and Cayuga, operating out of Boston, Mass. From May 1941 to June 1943, he served as deck watch officer on board the cutter Duane on North Atlantic convoy escort duty. He was then assigned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a master's degree in Naval Construction and Engineering.
He served as engineering officer of the cutter Pontchartrain homeported in Boston, Mass., 1945-47; executive officer of the icebreaker Mackinaw in the Great Lakes, 1951-53; and commanding officer of the cutter Klamath, homeported in Seattle, Wash., 1959-61. Between cutter assignments, he had tours of duty at Coast Guard Headquarters in the Naval Engineering Division and at the Coast Guard Yard as Design Superintendent.
Rear Admiral Engel served as head of the Department of Applied Science and Engineering at the Coast Guard Academy from 1961 to 1965. His subsequent assignment as commanding officer of the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Md., earned him the Coast Guard Commendation Medal for outstanding performance of duty. On June 1, 1967 he was appointed to his present rank and became superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy.
The Secretary of Commerce, Maurice H. Stans, announced on June 10, 1970 that Rear Admiral Engel had been selected for appointment as Superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Long Island, New York. Rear Admiral Engel's retirement from the Coast Guard was effective June 30 and he assumed his new duties at the Merchant Marine Academy on July 1.
Rear Admiral Engel is married to the former Edna K. J. of Pelham, N.Y. They have two sons, Douglas B., a 1964 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, and Bruce J., a Coast Guard reserve officer now serving on active duty. Their daughter, Elizabeth J., is a student at Gettysburg College.