Roald Kverndal, Th.D. has had an association with the sea from childhood. As an adult, he was a merchant seafarer, marine lawyer and, subsequently, seafarers' chaplain serving in various ports around the world. He is Co-Founder and President Emeritus of the International Association for the Study of Maritime Mission. He earned a Doctorate of Theology in Oslo, Norway in 1984. His dissertation on Seamen's Mis-sions: Their Origin and Early Growth, published in 1986 by William Carey Library, is the world's ¿rst documented history of organized mission among seafarers. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Kverndal served as Executive Secretary of the North American Maritime Ministry Association, also as Maritime Ministry Consultant for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran World Federation. Roald Kverndal was born in England of Norwegian parents. He and his wife, Ruth, reside at Mercer Island/Seattle, Washington, USA.