Jay Haigler
Board Member
Jay Haigler received his initial open water scuba certification from renowned International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame inductee, Dr. Albert José Jones. He is an Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) scientific diving instructor, a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, and SDI Open Water Instructor. Jay has over a dozen specialty instructor ratings including archaeology survey diver, coral reef conservation, and heritage awareness diving.
Mr. Haigler is a current board member with AAUS. He is a founding board member of Diving With a Purpose. Diving With a Purpose (DWP) is a leading international non-profit organization that provides education and training programs, mission leadership, and project support services for submerged heritage preservation and conservation projects worldwide with a focus on the African Diaspora. DWP has received national awards from the United States Department of Interior (Chairman’s Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation from The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and Take Pride in America National Award); and the White House (Preserve America Steward Designation). DWP is the 2021 recipient of the Society of American Archaeology’s Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology Award for Archaeology and Education.
Mr. Haigler is a founding board member of the Society of Black Archaeologists. The Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) centers the histories and material cultures of global Black communities in archaeological research. SBA works to increase the number of professionally trained archaeologists of African descent through promotion of social responsibility, academic excellence and the creation of spaces that foster the SBA’s goals and activities. The Society of Historical Archaeology awarded SBA’s Estate Little Princess Field School the GMAC Diversity Field School award in 2017.
He is a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Sanctuary Advisory Committee for the Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The Sanctuary Advisory Council is a permanent body that provides advice on the general management of the sanctuary. As the maritime archaeology representative, he serves as a liaison between the sanctuary and its community, disseminating information about the sanctuary to the various constituencies of members and bringing the concerns of constituents and the public to sanctuary staff.
Mr. Haigler is the author of numerous publications, speeches, symposia presentations. He has been a contributing author with NOAA’s signature publication, The Earth Is Blue Magazine. He has published in academic journals such as, Advances in Archaeological Practices. Mr. Haigler along with Dr. Albert José Jones have lectured at Harvard University’s Museums of Science & Culture and the History of Diving Museum.
He started his career as a design electrical engineer after earning his Bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America. Jay received a certificate in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate and became a chief executive for a regional commercial real estate development firm where he retired from the industry. Mr. Haigler is currently the Senior Advisor for Corporate Finance for Me & the Bees Lemonade (MATB) company. MATB is a national consumer packaged goods natural beverage company that is the third fastest growing lemonade brand in the United States.
Jay lives in Washington, DC with his wife Vanessa of 34 years. Jay and Vanessa, who is a scientific diver and scuba instructor, enjoy traveling and teaching scuba diving.