Posted on September 9, 2021
On August 30, Nashville, Tenn., headquartered Ingram Marine Group held a re-christening of four vessels that are now M/V Youngsuk Chi, M/V James Hamilton, M/V Kent Freeman and M/V Adolpho A. Birch III.
“At Ingram, we name our vessels after Ingram associates and affiliates who have made a huge difference to our business, which makes these events an incredibly special time for all of us,” said Orrin Ingram, chairman of Ingram Barge Company and CEO of Ingram Industries. “I thank the four men being honored for all that they’ve done for Ingram and the marine industry at large, and I look forward to seeing their namesake vessels on the rivers.”
Each vessel is named after a marine transportation or Ingram professional who has shown excellence through their work.
Adolpho A. Birch III serves on the Ingram Industries Board of Directors and is also the senior vice president, business affairs & chief legal officer for the Tennessee Titans. Prior to joining the Titans, he had a 23-year career with the National Football League in New York City.
Youngsuk Chi is a member of the Ingram Industries board of directors, and a longstanding leader in the media and technology sector. YS began working with Ingram in 1992 at Ingram Micro, and then joined Ingram Book Group before co-founding and becoming Chairman of Lightning Source. He has since moved on to serve as non-executive chairman of Elsevier.
Kent Freeman worked for 30+ years for Ingram Content Group and now serves as the president of VitalSource Technologies —an educational technology company Ingram recently sold. Over the years, Freeman worked in a number of different capacities, including serving as the chief strategy and development officer for seven years. He then went on to lead VitalSource through a critical transition to becoming one of the country’s leading education technology companies.
James “Jim” Hamilton is a member of the Ingram Industries board of directors and the retired global head of transportation for JP Morgan. He led global transportation investment banking teams for over 34 years and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve for 12 years. He is an active community member, involved with a variety of marine industry boards.
