At the Conference of California Historical Societies (CCHS) June 2016 Annual Meeting, former Director of the Port of Los Angeles and now University of Southern California Professor Dr. Geraldine Knatz received an Award of Merit for Scholar/Authorship.  The award recognizes Knatz for coauthoring the new book Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor with Naomi Hirahara, who also received the award. The book debuted at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 16th. Knatz and Hirahara’s work was also featured the hidden history of Terminal Island in a recent review by Los Angeles Times book critic David Ulin. Read it here. 

The award program praised Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor as “a book so beautiful, so emotional, and so true, that this single volume will forever be the definitive story of a place whose details only a few Angelenos can remember.” The book stands out for its beautiful storytelling of an almost-forgotten history and for its collection of historic images created with the help of photo curator Eric Lynxwiler.

In addition to the award, Dr. Knatz was also invited by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) to give a talk on Panama Canal and Global Trade with the CFR’s Development Channel. Dr. Knatz expounded on the Panama Canal expansion project and its implications for global trade and trends in the shipping industry.  Knatz also answered questions about who will be impacted by the canal, its impact on US ports, and US policies toward this project. A full record of the talk can be found here.

(Photo by Geraldine Knatz)

Dr. Geraldine Knatz

Geraldine Knatz is Professor of the Practice of Policy and Engineering, a joint appointment between the USC Price School of Public Policy and the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Dr. Knatz served as the Director of the Port of Los Angeles from 2006 to January 2014. She was the first woman to serve in this role and made a significant impact through the creation and implementation of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan She is an expert in seaport policy and management, maritime transportation, international trade, and seaport sustainability.