University

January 13, 2022

Accomplished Alumna Joins President’s Senior Leadership

Diane Dunn ’01G, former assistant adjutant general of the Maine Army National Guard, has joined UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy’s senior leadership team as senior advisor. During her 33 years of military service, Dunn became the highest-ranking woman in the Maine Army National Guard. At UMaine, she will focus on the President’s Council on Diversity, Equity,…

January 13, 2022

Morse Gift to Support Athletics Facilities for Years to Come

Philip and Susan Keene Morse, both members of the University of Maine’s Class of 1964, have pledged $1 million to support UMaine’s Athletics Facilities Master Plan. The master plan is part of the UMS TRANSFORMS initiative, launched by the Harold Alfond Foundation’s historic gift in 2020. The Morses, who met at the university, have generously…

January 13, 2022

University Inn Sold to Technology Company

The University Inn and Academic Suites, situated on College Avenue and overlooking the Stillwater River in Orono, was sold in December and will become an office complex for Texas-based Tyler Technologies. The familiar landmark opened in 1964, and served generations of alumni with its 48 hotel rooms. Tyler Technologies provides software and services to public…

December 9, 2021

Webinar Explores Black Feminism in Maine

Five panelists and a UMaine graduate student recently came together for a kitchen-table dialogue about the state of Black feminism in Maine as well as their roles as activists, community leaders, and change-makers. The webinar celebrated Black feminism as an ongoing, multi-faceted, transformative force in the speakers’ lives, as well as in communities across the United States and right here…

December 9, 2021

Governor Visits Campus to Address Climate Change

Maine Governor Janet Mills held a press conference outside Buchanan Alumni House on December 1 to mark the progress of the Maine Climate Council and announce new initiatives to combat climate change. Members of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute have worked with the state to advance measures to mitigate climate change. President Joan Ferrini-Mundy welcomed Gov.…

November 12, 2021

Rob Dumas: A Focus on Food Innovation

Black Bear alumni, faculty, staff, and students are among Maine’s most productive innovators and entrepreneurs. In this month’s column, chef Rob Dumas, UMaine’s food science innovation coordinator, talks about his wide-ranging work within Maine’s food system. Dumas manages the university’s Dr. Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant, a well-equipped research facility home to a sensory lab,…

November 12, 2021

Interactive Sculpture to Engage Community with Math

A new interactive sculpture that will be installed in Orono’s Webster Park has been designed to engage people with math. The sculpture features the sun’s rays, which help users visualize multiplication and division. The sculpture is the result of a partnership between UMaine and the town of Orono.  UMaine mathematics faculty members Justin Dimmell and…

November 12, 2021

What is the Blue Economy?

Join a Zoom to find out about the Blue Economy: What is it, what is its importance to Maine, and how is UMaine involved? Join us for this special event to hear leaders in the state discuss and define the Blue Economy in Maine, provide your input, and let us know how UMaine should be…

November 12, 2021

UMaine is planning the “Factory of the Future”

Boosted by $35 million in federal funding for research, UMaine expects to expand large-scale innovative additive manufacturing, or 3D, technology.  The plans include an addition to the existing Advanced Structures and Composites Center in order to accommodate “multiple printers, multiple robots working together as a team” to build things, according to Habib Dagher, executive director…

November 12, 2021

Presentation About Professor’s Murder Available Online

A new book about the 1979 murder of well-known UMaine History Professor Ronald Banks and the friendship that later emerged between his daughter and Banks’s falsely accused killer were the subjects of the inaugural Robert Talbot Civil Rights Speaker Series in October. Amy Banks and Isaac Knapper spoke on campus as part of the annual series,…

October 15, 2021

Stephen King Visits UMaine English Classes

UMaine’s most famous alumnus, Stephen King ’70, twice returned to campus earlier this month to meet with two groups of English majors. King discussed his memoir, On Writing, with one group, and with the other discussed his adaptation of his book Lisey’s Story as an Apple TV+ miniseries. He was invited back to campus by UMaine English…

October 14, 2021

UMaine Art Museum Expands

The Zillman Museum of Art opened its five new galleries in early September, expanding its exhibition space by more than 40 percent. The museum, which moved to downtown Bangor two decades ago, collects and presents contemporary art. Admission is free. Museum director George Kinghorn told the Portland Press Herald that the expansion “will enable us…