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August 15, 2019

Downing, Joncas Join Alumni Association Board

Elizabeth “Liz” Downing ’77 and Craig Joncas ’09 have been elected to three-year terms on the UMaine Alumni Association Board of Directors. For Downing, president of the Class of 1977, it’s a return to the Board: She previously served for several years and was asked to rejoin given her professional role as a senior official…

August 15, 2019

Several Alumni Reunion Events Set for this Fall

The University of Maine Alumni Association is gearing up for several alumni-centered events this fall including our September Reunions and the ever-growing Homecoming Weekend. The deadline for registrations for September Reunions is fast approaching. Click here to register or for more information on Reunion 2019. The classes of 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, and Senior Alumni…

August 15, 2019

Commissioner Heather Johnson ’92 Has a Big Job

As the State of Maine’s commissioner of economic and community development, Heather Finnemore Johnson ’92 coordinates the efforts of more than two dozen experts across several government bureaus. Their mission: to help communities and businesses plan and prosper through a variety of programs that provide everything from targeted tax relief to community block grants to…

August 15, 2019

Blueberries in Maine This Year Will Be Late, But Sweet

UMaine’s Cooperative Extension sheds light on this year’s Maine blueberry harvest. David Handley, vegetable and small fruit specialist with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, recently spoke with Maine Public and explained that in Maine, the harvest will be pushed back anywhere between 10 days and two weeks due to rain and colder temperatures. The bright…

August 15, 2019

Cattelle ’64 Part of Historic Apollo 12 Mission

When the mission that accomplished the United States’ first moon landing, Apollo 11, took off Dick Cattelle ’64 was a young engineer helping prepare for the Apollo 12 launch, the second moon landing which occurred four months later. On the 50-year anniversary Cattelle reflects on his experience with NASA, stating that it was an exciting…

August 15, 2019

Remembering Bumstock: Woodstock’s Legacy at UMaine

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the rock and folk music festival that became a symbol and reference point of the 1960s. That gathering inspired what became, for many UMaine students, another cultural touchstone: Bumstock, a free, outdoor, annual music festival on campus that from 1973 to 2006 attempted to mimic, on a…

July 17, 2019

Cultivating Cultural Knowledge

WHEN CLEMENT MCGILLICUDDY ’64 attended the University of Maine, one of his professors required him to read The New York Times daily. The course was introductory and not related to his major. But McGillicuddy dutifully followed through with the assignment. He passed the class and more importantly, gained a valuable lesson to view life through…

July 17, 2019

From Activist to Authority

ASK ANY COLLEGE or university administrator to list priorities, and you’ll likely hear some combination of these answers: Academic excellence. Access. Innovation. Ask Shontay Delalue ’00, ’03G? She has something important to add. “You can’t do any of that without equity and diversity,” says Delalue, who has served as Brown University’s vice president for institutional…

July 17, 2019

Maine’s Mr. Secretary

ONE DAY as then-Attorney General Janet T. Mills was struggling to take care of her family, household, and official duties during her late husband’s illness, she received an unannounced visitor: Secretary of State Matt Dunlap ’87, ’94G, who was in Farmington to give a speech. “He came in, changed into some work clothes, and went…

July 15, 2019

‘School’ is Out for Janes ’04

After more than four years and an estimated 1,250 performances, actor Merritt David Janes – “DJ” to family and friends – is taking the summer off from his leading role in the hit musical comedy “School of Rock.” Janes plays Dewey Finn, a frustrated rock-star wannabe who fakes his way into a teaching role at…