Something most residents can agree on is Juneau’s future will heavily be about ships. The person tasked with overseeing that effort for the past 14 years, Port Authority Director Carl Uchytil, was honored by the Mayor of Juneau as the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year in 2025.

A record 1.7 million cruise passengers visit Juneau each year. Uchytil was instrumental in bringing the U.S. Coast Guard’s Storis icebreaker to Juneau this summer where it will eventually be home-ported and was officially designated as a Coast Guard City.

Carl James Uchytil was born in Marshalltown to Georgianne (Kubik) and Carl Uchytil and grew up in Toledo. He is the youngest of five children with four older sisters. He graduated from STC in 1980 where he was an athlete and in band. He had never been on an airplane or even seen the ocean before being accepted to the US Coast Guard Academy where he graduated with a degree in Marine Science in 1984. He received a master’s degree in Ocean Engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 1992.

As a Coast Guard Captain, Uchytil led three deployments to Antarctica and six to the Arctic. He spent time in Southern Florida restoring light houses along the coast and serving time in the ocean rescuing refugees and arresting drug runners.

Uchytil is a humble leader and has received numerous recognitions throughout his career. He was the past President of the Alaska Association of Harbormasters & Port Administrators and past President of the Alaska Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is currently the developer and President of the US Navy League-Juneau Council.