Claire Labrie Strickland ’75, a longtime budget officer at UMaine, retired in December after a 45-year career at her alma mater. Strickland, whose final post was as the university’s chief budget officer, arrived in Orono in 1971 to start her college career. After graduation she took a temporary clerk-typist position in the College of Arts…
The pandemic posed countless challenges, including the logistics and safety of teaching and performing chemistry in lab classes. When classes shifted last March from in-person to remote instruction, faculty and staff had to figure out how to provide students with a supervised, safe, hands-on learning experience. The department of chemistry responded by assembling more than…
MAINE Alumni Magazine has won a 2021 Gold Excellence Award from District 1 of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in recognition of the magazine’s summer 2020 edition. The honor pertains to the Alumni Association’s special expanded edition, which it produced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The magazine featured its usual…
UMaine alumni figured prominently in the 2021 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration held on January 18 and co-sponsored by the UMaine Alumni Association and the Greater Bangor Area Branch NAACP. The annual event was webcast on YouTube and within 24 hours had been viewed live or on-demand more than 750 times. Speakers included UMaine…
Enrollment in UMaine’s master’s degree program in business administration (MBA) has quadrupled over the past three years, according to university records. During the fall 2020 semester enrollment was 344, 300 percent greater than in 2017, when 86 students were enrolled. This unprecedented growth is largely the result of academic and administrative changes within the University…
UMaine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute (FBRI) facilities in Old Town and in Jenness Hall will upgrade their equipment with $4.8 million awarded from the Defense Logistics Agency. The improved equipment will enable FBRI to continue to increase production, produce new bioproducts, and support ongoing research. The new equipment will enable researchers to study the creation…
Thanks to the Harold Alfond Foundation’s latest investment in UMaine academics and athletics, Black Bear Athletics today unveiled a master plan designed to improve the quality, accessibility, and gender equality of the university’s intercollegiate and recreational facilities. Projects include a new soccer facility that will feature synthetic turf, stadium seating, broadcast-quality lighting, and more. (See…
The Winter MAINE Alumni Magazine is now available online. Read about Erik Gundersen’s ’05 efforts to regulate Maine’s cannabis industry, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Gina Ferazzi ’84, and Brendan Walsh’s ’00 shift from hockey star to Boston detective. Meet Rep. Genevieve McDonald ’18 and other Black Bears in the Maine Legislature, and explore other features and…
A virtual Topping Off Ceremony celebrated the placement of the last beam atop the steel frame of the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center. The ceremony, a tradition in building construction, was livestreamed on Friday, Feb. 12. Earlier this month, members of the campus community were invited to sign the painted beam. Individuals could also…
Alumni of Maine’s flagship university in Orono tend to earn more than others in Maine with comparable levels of education. They also pay more in state and local taxes than the average Maine household. Those are among the findings of a first-ever study of the economic and community impact of Black Bear alumni in Maine…
UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center was awarded $2.8 million to develop and manufacture wind turbine blade molds using their 3D printing capabilities. The grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will help accelerate the development of wind turbine blades and reduce the cost of their fabrication. Senators…
The University of Maine is recognizing Black History Month with both on-campus and online events. The McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC) is hosting three events that participants can access online. On Feb. 24, MHC fellow Leela Stockley will discuss her research on racial bias in the media in relation to recent Black Lives Matter protests in…