Dennis Doyle ’67 Gives to UMaine Athletics

May 5th, 2009

As a successful entrepreneur, Dennis Doyle ‘67 can attest to the excellent business education he received at the University of Maine. His classes provided him with a strong background that went a long way towards helping him launch a handful of thriving businesses. As testimony to the College of Business exposure, he is listed in the U.S. Library of Congress as the author of 65 textbooks on financial planning topics.

But Dennis, retired founder, chairman and president of Educational Training Systems, a leading provider of online training for the financial services and insurance industries, says it wasn’t only his classroom experiences that gave him the tools for a rewarding career.

A member of the Black Bear football team, Dennis says it was “on the field” that he gained valuable life skills that have stood him in good stead over the years. He names a few:

· Life is hard work and playing a sport is hard work; work hard no matter what you do.

·  Remember you’re part of a team; getting along with people is essential.

· Be disciplined.

· Don’t accept mediocrity – strive constantly to improve yourself.

· Consider competition a good thing; it makes you work harder.

· Be persistent.

· Focus; don’t lose sight of your goal.

A native of Auburn, Maine, Dennis lives with his wife Patricia in Southborough, Mass. An active and loyal alumnus, he is a generous contributor to the Black Bear football program and he has helped garner support for UMaine capital campaigns. In 1996 he and his brother Joseph established the Doyle Family Athletic Scholarship fund for student athletes.

“UMaine gave me an athletic scholarship, so I want to pay back the favor,” Dennis says.

Being a Black Bear athlete was the highlight of Dennis’ years at UMaine, affording him the opportunity to make a host of close friends and many wonderful memories.

”We had a terrific bunch of guys and some great, great coaches.”

The pinnacle of his UMaine football career came in 1965 when the team was selected to participate in the Tangerine Bowl against East Carolina.

“We lost the game, but we played hard,” Dennis says. “We were there and we did our best. It was a terrific experience. The whole state supported us. There was a parade when we returned. It was a thrill for all of us guys and our coaches.”

To date, his team remains the only one from UMaine to have competed in a bowl contest.

A member of Phi Mu Delta and the Sophomore Owls honor society, Dennis was busy both on and off the football field.

“I’ve always had a warm feeling toward the university. I really enjoyed my time here. My experience was so positive that my four younger brothers and sisters all decided to come here. It became a family thing.”

Nowadays, Dennis stays busy traveling, playing golf, and managing several health and fitness clubs which he co-owns.  He has kept in touch with many of his former classmates.

“Forty two years later, a dozen of us still get together every summer with our wives and kids,” he says proudly.

Each football season he follows the Black Bears and attends as many games as he can. He credits President Robert A. Kennedy, Athletic Director Blake James, Coach Jack Cosgrove, and Assistant Athletic Director for Development Patrick McBride for his renewed interest in supporting UMaine athletics.

He praises them for being wonderful advocates for UMaine.

“They are the magnet that attracted me to become more involved with the university.”

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Central Maine Power Provides Scholarships for Electrical Engineering Technology Students

May 1st, 2009

Central Maine Power has given a financial boost to students in the University of Maine’s Electrical Engineering Technology Program.

The public utility company, which has hired many UMaine graduates over the years, provided a gift and four-year pledge for annual scholarships for four or more deserving undergraduates representing all class levels from first-year to seniors. The scholarships may be renewable for four years based on satisfactory academic performance and continued enrollment in the EET program.

“Maine companies are already competing for people with degrees and experience in power engineering, and I think we’ll see new opportunities in the state’s emerging renewable energy industries,” said Sara Burns, president of Central Maine Power. “We want to help the university attract top students to the EET program, and we’re especially hopeful that these scholarships will be used to encourage young women to pursue careers in the industry.”

Six EET students have received the first Central Maine Power Electrical Engineering Technology Scholarships. They are: sophomores Jack Bruce and Tyler Harvey; juniors Ben McPheters and Patrick Buchanan; and seniors Abby Snow and Brandy Chase. Two more scholarships will be awarded to first year students. The scholarships may be renewable for four years based on satisfactory academic performance and continued enrollment in the EET program.

“These scholarships will allow us to recruit and retain students and provide a continuous source of talent,” said Paul Villeneuve, assistant professor of electrical engineering technology. Many EET students are the first in their family to attend college and these families often lack the financial capabilities to support their children’s education, he pointed out.

“Scholarships will help these students pay for a portion of their schooling.”

Judith Pearse, associate professor and coordinator of the electrical engineering technology program, called CMP’s gift “a wonderful boost.

“We’ll certainly use it to attract and retain exceptional students who can be assets on the CMP team someday,” she said. “With many changes occurring in the power industry and many people retiring, we need qualified power engineers in Maine.”

CMP Vice President of Technical Services Stephen Robinson ’80 said his company is excited about helping to support the College of Engineering and build the next generation of engineer leaders.

“UMaine is where we look first for potential hires. UMaine graduates come to us with a strong educational and technical foundation. They’re quick learners and they’re enthusiastic. “

Across the country, power engineering programs are “few and far between,” Robinson said. Many utility companies in other states must convince universities to create these programs to fill the demand.

“We at CMP feel very fortunate because UMaine has an engineering program that already boasts a strong power component,” he said.

Robinson, who handed out the scholarship awards to the six students during a recent ceremony, said it turned out to be a wonderful way for CMP to have a presence.

“It was fun for me personally as a past student of the program,” he added. “I was able to see a few old friends and make some new ones.”

Scholarship recipients said after the event that they greatly appreciated the financial shot in the arm from CMP.

“This will be very helpful,” said Jack Bruce. “I really had to struggle this year. Now I won’t have to worry so much about tuition.”

Patrick Buchanan seconded that notion. “This is a huge help to me, especially as an older student who’s on my own.”

Based in Augusta, CMP delivers more than 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly to 600,000 retail electric customers in central and southern Maine. CMP’s 11,000-square-mile service area contains about 78 percent of Maine’s population.

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UMaine’s Congressional Internship Program Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Washington, D.C., Celebration Hosted and Sponsored by Peter Madigan ’81

April 6th, 2009

The University of Maine’s Congressional Internship Program turned 50 last month with a celebration hosted and sponsored by Peter Madigan ’81 at his Washington, D.C., lobbying firm of Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart.

Attending the reception were nearly 80 guests including current and former UMaine interns from the offices of Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Rep. Michael Michaud. Also on hand were UMaine faculty and staff and UMaine Honors College students, as well as former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and former Maine Governor John Reed.

Professor Emeritus Kenneth Palmer, who directed the prestigious internship program from 1969 to 2004, traveled to Washington, D.C., from his home in Kittery for the event.

“People very much appreciated the opportunity Peter afforded us to get together and meet the many alumni of the Congressional Internship Program,” said Professor Palmer, noting that interns representing all five decades of the program attended the event.

“For the first time I met alumni who had participated in the program before I took over in 1969,” he continued. “I mean people in their 60’s and not far from my age – 72. It was great! ”

“The event was terrific,” said William Kourakos, a 1977 UMaine graduate and former congressional intern who spent the final semester of his senior year working in Sen. Edmund Muskie’s office.

“It was great to get together with other former interns to see how they viewed their experience,” said Bill, who lives in New York City but remains close to his Maine roots and maintains a residence in Cape Elizabeth.

“Listening to remarks by Peter Madigan, Professor Palmer, Gov. Reed and Secretary Cohen made me feel like I was going back 32 years.”

Bill credits the internship program with paving the way for his career in finance. After graduating from UMaine, he spent a year in Portland working at a newspaper start-up before returning to Washington to work in Sen. Muskie’s office. That job enabled him to finance his graduate school education at George Washington University where he earned an MBA.

“The program opened my eyes to the outside world and sent me on a journey that I never would have taken,” said Bill, now a partner with Perella Weinberg Partners, LP, a financial services firm in New York City.

For Peter Madigan, a congressional intern with Congressman David Emery who later worked with Sens. William Cohen, George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe, the program was a life-changing experience that helped him launch an illustrious career. He was appointed to a senior position in the Treasury Department in the Reagan administration, and has been a strategist for Fortune 100 companies, non-profit organizations, small businesses and foreign heads of state in presenting their issues to Congress.

Other former interns have similar stories.  More than a quarter of the 200 UMaine students who have participated in the program are involved in public service or some form of government activity, according to Professor Palmer. “We regarded the program as an especially valuable learning experience for motivated students who wanted to gain exposure in national politics.”

UMaine’s Congressional Internship Program was established in 1957 by Professor Edward Dow, chair of UMaine’s then Department of History and Government, who wanted to provide students with practical government experience to complement their classroom work. Dow knew a number of Maine politicians, including Sens. Frederick Payne and Edmund Muskie, who liked his idea and helped him launch the program.

Since 1972 every member of Maine’s Congressional Delegation has had a UMaine intern. These young people are regarded as full time staff members. They monitor hearings and debates, write press releases, deliver documents to the Capitol, conduct research, attend meetings and events, and correspond with constituents.

The program at UMaine is unusual because students are paid a monthly salary by the congressional offices which helps defray the costs of living in D.C. and ensures that the offices are guaranteed a good worker for the whole semester. Selected each year according to their academic records as well as personal maturity and professionalism, the interns are given a significant amount of responsibility, an indication of the reputation and success of UMaine’s program.

“I believe our program is the gold standard – it is also one of the oldest in the country,” said Professor Palmer. “Right from the beginning it was a partnership between the political science faculty and the Maine delegation members and their staffs. It worked so well because the students did a great job, becoming contributing members of their staffs, and also because we in Orono did our part too. We carefully screened students and made sure the team every year was strong. We worked closely with the congressional delegation and their office staffs. For example, we visited each of the Washington offices every year to check on the progress of the interns.

“We told newly selected interns that they were ambassadors from the University of Maine and that their work would have an impact on how well the Congressional Internship Program operated the next year. Their performance was always excellent and it made a positive impact on both public policy and their individual careers, for which I’m enormously proud.”

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Office of Development and Dr. Paul Mayewski, Director of Climate Change Institute, Host Antarctic Cruise

March 17th, 2009

“You can’t protect what you don’t know.”
– Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer who led the first tourist expedition to Antarctica in 1966

Dr. Paul Mayewski, director of the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, has explored more regions of the Antarctic than anyone else in the world. Over the last four decades, he has led dozens of scientific expeditions to this most pristine of continents that serves as an early warning system for greenhouse gas warming. Known worldwide for his global scale collection and analysis of ice core samples, he has demonstrated the existence of abrupt changes in climates of the past and the impact of humans on the climate, and has made important predictions about the future.

Last January, Paul returned to Antarctica – this time as an expert scientist with a group of 90 tourists as part of an 11-day cruise organized jointly by the University of Maine Office of Development and Travel Dynamics International (NYC). The travelers – including 15 adventurous UMaine alumni and friends – were eager to experience the dramatic beauty of the “white continent” and gain a better understanding of how climate change is affecting our environment.

Aboard the 297-foot Corinthian II, a luxury cruise ship ice-strengthened for voyages into Antarctic waters, Paul presented lectures and seminars to the enthusiastic travelers who hailed from all parts of the U.S., as well as from Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, England and Australia. Utilizing the fleet of Zodiac inflatable crafts, he, with the expedition staff, conducted shore landings and excursions so the group could explore the unspoiled wilderness of the islands, visit scientists at weather and research stations, and enjoy up-close encounters with penguins, seals, whales and icebergs.

Departing from Ushuaia, Argentina, sometimes referred to as Fin del Mundo (End of the World), the travelers began their adventure by crossing the Drake Passage and entering the Southern Ocean which surrounds Antarctica and is a key region in determining global climate. As the ship made its way through scenic waterways, passengers were treated to a panorama of icebergs, glaciers and snowcapped mountains.

“It was really an outstanding trip,” said Dan Churchill ’63, a retired businessman who lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Betty. “Paul’s lectures were a major contribution to our experience. We came away with an increased understanding of climate change as well as a better appreciation of the vibrant beauty of Antarctica. It was a wonderful opportunity to observe such abundant wildlife in this beautiful and unique part of the world and to realize how very vulnerable it is to changes man is making to the environment.”

The Churchills, who have been associated with the Climate Change Institute for many years through their support of graduate research, said Paul has a knack for making complex scientific information understandable and interesting. He offered a fascinating look at how Antarctica is being affected by climate change and explained the implications this has on the rest of the world.

The Antarctic is changing rapidly because human activities have led to greenhouse gas warming of the lower atmosphere and ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere, according to Paul. “When we first started working there we thought of it as absolutely timeless. But it is beginning to show dramatic changes. The edges of the ice are melting and contributing thus far to a small amount of sea level rise. We’re seeing the early effects of human source pollutants and we’re seeing stronger winds because of ozone depletion.” People can help mitigate climate change and its impact at the local level by driving more fuel efficient cars, building energy efficient homes, and buying locally grown foods, he told the group.

On the forays ashore, he provided much-needed perspective on global warming as the group toured the Vernadsky Research Station where scientists discovered and now track the Antarctic Ozone hole that is the direct consequence of humanly engineered CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) that are so efficient at destroying the ozone that protects Antarctica from solar radiation.

“He provided a great deal of information on climate history and on the increases in the principal greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane which are now driving this change,” said Dan. “We had many opportunities to ask questions, observe, and learn throughout the trip.”

The Churchills agreed that the shore expeditions were the highlights of the voyage. “The Antarctic Peninsula has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. We were lucky to have such great visibility,” said Betty, noting the sunny days and 30- to 40-degree temperatures typical of the Antarctic summer during which the sun rises at 5 a.m. and sets at 11 p.m.

One minute the voyagers were gazing in awe at craggy peaks and rocky precipices, massive glaciers and spectacular ice formations both above and in the polar waters. The next found them marveling at the diverse marine life and laughing as hundreds of inquisitive Adelie penguins descended upon them, grunting and barking.

“The penguins really are very endearing,” Dan said. “Both the adults and juveniles are curious and without any natural fear of man…they come up and peck at your clothing and gaze at you in a very studious manner. We saw many different seals including a large leopard seal which put on quite a show, investigating us and tasting our Zodiac before porpoising through the sea in pursuit of a penguin which successfully fled for its life.”

Paul, who calls himself “truly passionate about translating science to the public,” said cruise ship expeditions are particularly valuable in helping people become aware of the impact of climate change.

“They are an opportunity to spend several days with people who are excited about the Antarctic and who can become ambassadors and tell others about the importance and beauty of this region,” he said. “This is a place very few get to visit. Once you see a place, it’s easier to appreciate it. Antarctica has the cleanest air on the planet so you can see long, long distances. And the only thing you can hear is the sound of the natural system – nothing else. There’s no other continent on the planet about which you can say that.”

Sustaining our quality of life requires some effect on the environment, he said. But once people see the Antarctic’s dramatic beauty and learn how it has been altered by human activity, “they will have a better idea of what we’re trading off and how much we’re willing to trade off.”

The cruise created an important link between UMaine and supporters, according to Pat Cummings ’89,’44H, director of development for the College of Engineering. Serving as the university’s representative on the voyage, Pat said the Development Office’s first-ever sponsored trip “highlighted the Climate Change Institute – one of UMaine’s Centers of Excellence – and gave people a chance to get to know Dr. Paul Mayewski, one of our premier researchers, and see the impact of what he does.”

In addition to the Antarctic, Paul has led scientific expeditions to many remote places including the Arctic and the Himalayas. Through his groundbreaking research, he has observed the historic impact of humans on climate, reconstructed past atmospheric conditions, and demonstrated associations between climate and disruptions to civilization. He has received numerous awards and citations for his seminal contributions to the understanding of climate change.

Author of “The Ice Chronicles,” which was published in 2002 and documents 100,000 years of climate history, Paul speaks to hundreds around the world each year and has appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, Fox News and NOVA and been interviewed by more than 350 newspapers including the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Christian Science Monitor, as well as by National Public Radio.

As director of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute, he coordinates more than 50 faculty/staff members and researchers plus nearly 30 graduate students who are experts in the fields of climatology, archaeology, glaciology, geochemistry, ecology, history and marine geology. He founded and currently leads a 21-nation program called the International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE), whose goal is to understand the climate change of the last 200-1000 years in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean.

For Paul, it was as important to educate travelers about the strides UMaine has made in climate change research as it was to educate them about climate change. The university “has been one of the primary sources of researchers working in the Antarctic in the country if not the world,” he said. “We have made a name for ourselves – not just because of the numbers of people and expeditions that UMaine and the CCI have sent to Antarctica, but because of our discoveries.”

UMaine researchers have demonstrated the existence of abrupt climate change, contributed to the understanding of humans’ impact on the climate system through burning fossil fuels and polluting with toxic metals, determined what parts of the Antarctic ice sheet are susceptible to rapid melting, and provided a long term perspective on how the climate is changing, Paul said.

Christopher Stobart, a London businessman who took the cruise along with his wife Diana, said he came away wowed by UMaine’s accomplishments. “I was impressed by the extent of their efforts and the amount of traveling which Paul and others do to collect fresh samples from distant parts of the world. It was very impressive and interesting to see the conclusions and predictions which they derived from their analyses – for example that global temperatures can jump two-three degrees in two-ten years. This was something quite new and startling to me.”

Calling Paul “a knowledgeable and charming man – quite modest as well,” Chris said climate change is a subject most everyone’s concerned about. “It was a great treat and a privilege to speak to someone who is really dedicating his life to finding some serious answers.”

Chris said he enjoyed the Black Bear spirit that was evident throughout the voyage. UMaine alumni and friends regaled their fellow travelers with the Stein Song, one of the most recognized collegiate songs in the U.S. Even those not affiliated with UMaine happily joined in. A game of Maine trivia was met with the same enthusiasm. Answers to such questions as what is Maine’s highest peak, what is the name of Maine’s national park, and who is UMaine’s most famous alumnus (author Stephen King) were accompanied by plenty of laughter and prizes. Flagship pins, Maine Ice Age Trail Maps, and blue and white M & M candies –representing UMaine’s colors – were handed out to everyone.

For their part, the Churchills are grateful for the unique opportunity to help raise awareness about the Antarctic and its vulnerability to human activity. They said the UMaine trip helped them nurture a deep sense of environmental responsibility and that they have indeed been inspired to talk to others. They know they are educating people every time they share pictures and stories about their adventures.

“People really do become ambassadors for the Antarctic once they appreciate the beauty and the vulnerability of the region and understand the risks of climate change,” said Dan.

The UMaine Office of Development plans to offer a cruise to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic from July 31-Aug. 15, 2010, featuring Dr. Paul Mayewski as lecturer. For more information, call Dorain Foster at 581-1159.

Click here for the Climate Change Institute website where you will find “Maine’s Climate Future: An Initial Assessment,” a University of Maine report presented to Gov. John Baldacci in February 2009

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KeyBank Provides $25,000 to Name Elevator in Collins Center for the Arts

February 18th, 2009

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