The Power to Convene
Founded in Annapolis, MD in 1873, the U.S. Naval Institute serves as the independent forum for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard – a place where ideas are freely shared, challenged, and advanced.
In 2018, the Naval Institute set the goal to build a physical flagship. The venue was designed to support a wide range of professional gatherings; from conferences and executive offsites to trainings and receptions, all within a setting that is both highly functional and uniquely memorable. To that end, on 18 September 2019, the Naval Institute broke ground on the Jack C. Taylor Conference Center and completed construction in September 2021. This addition to the Naval Institute adjoins the organization’s headquarters on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Funded entirely on private donations, the Jack C. Taylor Conference Center is an inspiring, high-tech venue. It features a state-of-the-art auditorium that seats up to 400 guests, reception spaces, two indoor/outdoor terraces, five unique meeting rooms that vary in size, and a broadcast studio. Additionally, the Conference Center meets the Department of War force protection standards and has been approved by SSO Navy as a Temporary Secure Working Area, making it a venue capable of hosting classified discussions on a per-use, waiver basis up to the TS/SCI level.
The Conference Center is named for Jack C. Taylor, a decorated World War II U.S. Navy fighter pilot, entrepreneur, business leader, and philanthropist. Mr. Taylor is well recognized as an American success story who embodied Navy values and credited the Navy for his success. After combat duty flying from the decks of the aircraft carriers USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Enterprise (CV-6) in the Pacific Theater, he returned home to St. Louis and founded Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 1957, naming the company after the famous carrier from which he flew. The Taylor Family honors their patriarch with the naming of the Conference Center, carrying on his proud association with the Navy and encouraging education and learning for all.
“We look forward to partnering with naval leaders in all three Sea Services, and the U.S. Naval Academy, to make the Jack C. Taylor Conference Center a bright beacon for naval professionals.”
VADM Peter H. Daly, USN (Ret.)
Chief Executive Officer and Publisher, U.S. Naval Institute
“The Center will provide a conduit where great ideas can be shared and debated, sharpened and shaped.”
The Hon. Robert O. Work
Chair, Naval Institute Board of Directors, and 32nd Deputy Secretary of Defense
“Starting with this name, people are going to find out Jack C. Taylor’s story, which is a beautiful story and like many others, is a terrific story – not only what he achieved in the Navy, but what he achieved in business and changed people’s lives for the better.”
Mr. Andrew C. Taylor
Executive Chairman, Enterprise Holdings Inc.
