William Donald Needham

William Donald Needham retired as a captain in the U.S. Navy after a 30-year career operating and repairing nuclear submarines from Holy Loch, Scotland, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He spent the last 20 years as an environmental advocate in the Washington, D.C., area, becoming a Sierra Club life member and a Master Naturalist in his home state of Maryland. This culminated in the 2020 publication of his award-winning account of hiking and nature, The Compleat Ambler. William holds degrees in science from MIT, engineering from Duke, education from Troy and business from Central Michigan. Ten years as a docent at the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington, D.C., affords his credentials as an historian.