Recent News

September 17, 2021

Series to Promote Equality and Diversity to Debut Next Month

The UMaine Alumni Association, in conjunction with the Greater Bangor Area Branch NAACP, will present the inaugural Robert Talbot Civil Rights Speaker Series with Amy Banks and Isaac Knapper on October 21. Banks and Knapper are the authors of “Fighting Time,” a new book about Knapper’s wrongful conviction for the 1979 murder of Banks’s father,…

September 17, 2021

Meet This Year’s Distinguished Maine Professor

The UMaine Alumni Association was proud to honor Dr. Hemant Pendse with the highest faculty honor, the Distinguished Maine Professor Award. This video tribute, originally released in May as part of the Alumni Achievement Awards ceremony, now includes Pendse’s acceptance remarks, which were recorded after the tribute video’s debut. Along with being an acclaimed teacher, Dr. Pendse…

September 10, 2021

First Persons: The Wabanaki Peoples of Maine Webinar

As has been the case for Native Americans most everywhere, for centuries Maine’s original inhabitants have maintained their Tribal Nations as well as resisted and struggled against powerful political and social forces for the rights, opportunities, and protections legally retained by them as indigenous people and promised to them in treaties. While minor progress has…

Three members of the graduating class holding up their University of Maine diplomas.
August 17, 2021

UMaine Holds 218th Commencement

The University of Maine’s 218th Commencement honored the achievements of the more than 2,000 UMaine students receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in 2021. In place of a traditional face-to-face commencement, the university created a virtual commencement presentation, which included video of students’ in-person stage walks, congratulatory remarks by valedictorian Bailey West, and a keynote by…

Ben Barr holding up a #5 jersey that reads "BARR" over the number
August 17, 2021

Ben Barr Named Men’s Ice Hockey Coach

Ben Barr becomes the fifth head coach in the modern era of Maine Hockey.  Ben Barr was named UMaine’s head coach for men’s ice hockey in May. Barr comes to UMaine from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the past five years. “We are thrilled to…

August 17, 2021

West, Bennett Top Class of ’21

Bailey West, a biochemistry major from Stockton Springs, was the 2021 valedictorian and Drew Bennett, a mechanical engineering major from Brewer, was the salutatorian. West was the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and in the Honors College. On campus, she was a peer tutor and teaching assistant, and…

Harold Alfond update
August 17, 2021

Video Showcases Plans for Alfond Gift

UMaine Athletics released a video in February outlining plans for the $90 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation. The funds will advance the state’s only Division 1 athletics program and benefit athletes in addition to providing a space for community events. UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy noted that when completed, the master plan and the…

Final beam of Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center installed.
August 17, 2021

Crosby’s Legacy

Oliver Crosby, a member of the Class of 1876.  When the final beam of the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center was installed during a virtual Topping Off Ceremony in February 2021, the Crosby Clip played a part. The Crosby Clip is part of the legacy of UMaine mechanical engineer-ing graduate Oliver Crosby, a member…

Wesley Dunkle, the winner of this year's Annual UMaine Tuition Raffle
August 17, 2021

Sophomore Wins Raffle

Wesley Dunkle of Rockland, ME, is the 2021 winner of the Alumni Association’s annual Tuition Raffle. On May 6, UMaine Alumni Association president and CEO John Diamond ’77, ’89G drew the winning ticket, which Daniel ’95 and Christine Thurston Dunkle ’96 submitted for their son, who will be a sophomore in the fall. The ticket…

Fighting Time book cover
August 17, 2021

1979 Murder of UMaine Professor is Topic of Book

A forthcoming book about the 1979 murder of a UMaine history professor was the subject of a webinar co-hosted by the Alumni Association and the Maine Historical Society. Amy Banks and Isaac Knapper, co-authors of Fighting Time, have unique perspectives. Banks was the teenage daughter of Prof. Ronald Banks, who was killed in a street…

August 17, 2021

New Deans Named

Three new deans recently joined the University of Maine. Penny Bishop is dean of the College of Education and Human Development, Norm O’Reilly is dean of the Graduate School of Business, and Diane Rowland was named dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. Bishop was previously a professor of education and former…

Portland Waterfront
August 17, 2021

UMaine Establishes Portland Gateway

The University of Maine has established the Portland Gateway to provide a one-stop connection and point of access to the vast array of innovative research, education, and outreach resources, programs, and services at the state’s research university in Orono and its facilities statewide. Portland Gateway acts as the front door for the university engagement in…