Background
Stosz, Sandra Leigh was born on February 25, 1960 in Takoma Park, Maryland, United States. Daughter of Max John and Joyce Louise (Malette) Stosz.
Stosz, Sandra Leigh was born on February 25, 1960 in Takoma Park, Maryland, United States. Daughter of Max John and Joyce Louise (Malette) Stosz.
Bachelor of Science, United States Coast Guard Academy, 1982.
Previously, she was chosen by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, ADM Robert J. Papp to become the superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy in 2011. As such, she is the first woman to lead a United States military service academy. At the time of her appointment to head the Coast Guard Academy, she was the Coast Guard's Director of Reserve and Leadership.
Stosz was confirmed as a Vice Admiral in May 2015. Stosz, a 1982 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, holds a master of business administration degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. At the Academy, she competed for Coast Guard's sailing team, which became co-educational, and for the men's swimming team before women's sports were introduced.
In 1990, as a Coast Guard lieutenant, Stosz became the first woman to command a Coast Guard cutter in the Great Lakes. The cutter was USCGC Katmai Bay (WTGB 101), which, homeported in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, has operated since her 1979 launching in the Great Lakes as a unit of the Ninth Coast Guard District. The Katmai Bay is a 140-foot ice-breaking tug, with a crew of 17 (3 officers and 14 enlisted).
She has also served as the Commanding Officer of United States Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, New Jersey. Flag officer In her role as leader of the Coast Guard Reserve, early in 2011 she announced plans to raise the Coast Guard Reserve to 8,100 personnel from the 7,600 reservists available in 2010. The reason was partly experience with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, during which the Coast Guard struggled with insufficient reserve personnel to support the active-duty contingent.
Academy In 2013, on behalf of Coast Guard Academy, Stosz signed an interagencies ageement with Vice Admiral Michael S. Devany, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In April 2013, Stosz expressed to a United States Coast Guard Academy cadet that her favorite colors were "blue and shades of purple." In September 2014, it was announced that Stosz would be continuing with the Coast Guard. It had been expected that, like many former Commandants, she would retire after her hand-over.
Stosz's tenure at the Academy ended on 1 June 2015, when her successor Rear Admiral James Rendon took over. The hand-over ceremony was supervised by the Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Peter V. Neffenger. 2015- Stosz was confirmed as Vice Admiral by the US Senate on Sunday 31 May 2015, and 'frocked' in an impromptu ceremony the next day before handing over command of the Academy.
She serves in Washington as Deputy Commandant for Mission Support.
Chairman publicity committee, board directors United Way of Chippewa County, Sault Ste Marie, 1990-1992. Member International Shipmasters' Association, Upper Great Lakes Capts.' Association, United States Coast Guard Alumni Association, United States Naval Institute, Hiawathaland Law Enforcement Officers' Association, Heritage Foundation, Kiwanis.
