Capt. Anne McIntyre (Nautical Industrial Technology, '88; M.S., Transportation and Engineering Management, '13) never expected a part-time housekeeping job during college would launch a distinguished maritime career.

“I started college at UC Irvine and was on their sailing team,” McIntyre said. “I got a job cleaning rooms for an America's Cup crew out of San Francisco who had gone to maritime academies. I had no idea that there were schools that trained people to work on the water. So, after learning more about Cal Poly Maritime Academy, I transferred schools and it just turned out to be a great fit.”

From the start, Cal Poly Maritime Academy proved to be exactly what she was looking for. She fondly remembers her time in school, especially aboard the Training Ship Golden Bear, where classroom lessons came to life.

“Every year you got to go around the world on this training ship with all your friends,” she said. “We did a cruise to South America. We went to the South Pacific. Every year you went to different places, and it's an environment where you're learning, you're working, and then you are socializing with everybody.”

McIntyre was part of the second wave of women to graduate from the school, after women were first admitted to U.S. maritime academies in the mid-1970s. After graduation, she joined Chevron Shipping Company serving both onboard tankers and in their offices. In 1996, she started a specialized apprenticeship program and became the first woman pilot on Oregon’s Columbia River, where she worked for 23 years.

The Columbia River is a federal waterway with ports including Portland and Astoria in Oregon and Vancouver, Kalama and Longview in Washington. Commercial shipping on the Columbia River runs about 85 miles, and specialized pilots are needed to navigate the waterway.

“Every port around the world has harbor pilots because ship captains are very skilled at taking ships across oceans and managing the crew and the cargo, but they don't have the local knowledge needed to get in and out of every port because of tides, winds, currents and regulations,” she said.

After a skiing accident injured her knee, preventing her from doing some aspects of piloting, McIntyre transitioned into her current role as business director of the San Francisco Bar Pilots. 

Returning to the Bay Area has been a great way to reconnect with her alma mater and former classmates. She regularly attends alumni events, serves as a mentor to current students and remains active in supporting Cal Poly Maritime Academy. She previously served on the boards of the Cal Poly Maritime Academy Foundation and Alumni Association and on the curriculum committee for the Special Projects and Extended Learning Department. 

Recently she was given the opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Cal Poly Night at a San Francisco Giants game, which she said was a special thrill. 

“I was flattered and excited to be offered that opportunity,” she said. “I've been a Giants fan for a long time, and when I walked out on the field, I really tried to remember everything and take it all in.” 

She is excited about the recent integration of Cal Poly and Cal Poly Maritime Academy and sees a lot of potential benefits for students. 

“The future is very bright, and there's a huge opportunity for the school,” she said. “If you're an engineer there, not only do you have a bright mind, but you also learn to swing a wrench. There's a very hands-on component to all that, and it really fits into the philosophy of a polytechnic education.”

Reflecting on her career, McIntyre is happy with how things turned out and marvels at the twists and turns that brought her to Cal Poly Maritime Academy and her career.

“When I was in school, I didn't really know that I would go to work on an oil tanker,” she said. “I kind of thought I would go to law school or something like that after I finished. It all kind of fit and fell together, and it turned out that I was pretty good at it, and I liked doing it, but I wouldn't have imagined as a kid that I could have had jobs like that.”