Rear Admiral Lauren S. McCready (July 26, 1915 – November 15, 2007) was one of the builders and founders of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, "Kings Point."
He continued to work as a ship's third engineer until 1940 when he entered the Maritime Officers Training School at Fort Trumbull.
Shortly after graduation he joined the Washington, D.C. staff of the United States Maritime Commission as a Cadet Training Instructor.
In February 1942 he was assigned to partake in the acquisition and conversion of the Walter P. Chrysler estate on Long Island into the newly commissioned Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy.
In 1971, McCready was appointed the first director of the National Maritime Research Center at Kings Point, a department he helped establish.