The UMaine 2025 Commission was composed of faculty and staff from across UMaine as well as of leaders from a number of sectors across the state (including health care, finance, and state government). The Commission met for a series of high-level discussions focused on the following themes: the COVID-19 pandemic, renewed calls for racial justice and equity, the threats of climate change, and the need to educate for the challenges of today’s society. These meetings were supported by presentations from faculty and external thought leaders. The Commission met six times, three meetings each in the spring and fall terms of 2021, with a synthesis of the group’s ideas and recommendations conducted in spring of 2022. Biographies of Commission members are below. Presentation materials and presenters for each session can be found under the Visioning Session tab.
Pankaj Agrrawal
Professor of Finance | University of Maine
Professor Agrrawal joined UMaine in 2005 with over nine years of executive experience in quantitative portfolio management at global asset management firms based in San Francisco, Boston, London, and Philadelphia. Over that period, he was also visiting faculty at Golden Gate (San Francisco), Harvard and Drexel Universities where he taught graduate financial courses, in their evening programs. His research has been featured in the Wall Street Journal (2011) and the New York Times (2019) and in numerous finance journals. In 2012 he produced the Fintech iApp “Total Returns Dividends” which has been downloaded in over 30 countries. He has been the team advisor for the Maine Business School’s finance teams, who have won the Maine State CFA Research Challenge championship, in 2020 and 2021. He came to the United States in 1991 as a doctoral student at the University of Alabama after graduating from the University of Delhi (India). He enjoys tennis and cricket and lives with his wife Tanja Leber Agrrawal, of Basel, Switzerland and their children Annika, Nicholas, and Sophia — all Mainers. His faculty website is umaine.edu/business/agrrawal.
Sven P. Bartholomew
Senior Vice President | Camden National Bank
Mr. Bartholomew has spent many years working in the communities of Maine, having worked with thousands of Maine employers and has working relationships with many across the state in almost every industry and governmental affiliation. Sven has also had the unique opportunity to help many of these clients through challenging economic climates and changing industry workforce needs.
Currently, Sven works for Paychex, Inc. a fortune 1,000 company where he oversees several bank relationships in Maine. Previously he was the Senior Vice President of Bangor Savings Bank, one of state’s largest financial institutions. He has an undergraduate Degree (BA) in Business / Economics from the University of Maine at Farmington, a Master’s Degree (MBA) from Husson University and is a Certified Payroll Professional (CPP).
Sven’s commitment to higher education in Maine started with his role in the President of The University of Maine at Farmington’s Alumni Council and later as part of the University of Maine at Farmington Board of Visitors. Sven is also involved in workforce and economic development in Maine as Corporator and Board Member for Eastern Maine Development Corporation in Bangor.
Catharine “Cat” Biddle
Associate Professor of Educational Leadership | University of Maine
Dr. Biddle’s research focuses on ways in which rural schools and communities respond to social and economic change in the 21st century. She is particularly interested in how schools can more effectively leverage partnerships with external organizations or groups to address issues of social inequality and how non-traditional leaders—such as youth, parents and other community members—may lead or serve as partners in these efforts. Her interests are driven by her professional background in community development that leverages schools. Prior to joining the faculty at UMaine, she spent five years as a research affiliate with the Center on Rural Education and Communities at the Pennsylvania State University and two years as the managing editor of the Journal of Research in Rural Education. Dr. Biddle also served as the executive director of the Nanubhai Education Foundation, an international education nonprofit working in rural India, and as an out of school time educator for the national nonprofit organization Citizen Schools. She is currently program chair for the American Educational Research Association’s rural education special interest group.
Jen Bonnet
Librarian for Anthropology, Communication & Journalism, Native American Studies, and Nursing | University of Maine
Jen Bonnet is a foster parent, educator, baker, and outdoor enthusiast. As a subject librarian at the University of Maine, she engages in a wide range of outreach, instruction, consultation, and research. Jen has taught workshops on everything from fake news and misinformation, to finding grants and foundation funding, to becoming a power researcher. She has also designed and taught a credit-bearing course on information literacy, and has collaboratively designed curricula, research protocols, presentations, and publications with faculty and student colleagues. Jen is an active member of UMaine’s Professional Employees Advisory Council, and serves on the Orono Public Library Board of Trustees and the Omo Valley Research Project Board of Trustees. She holds a Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland.
Andra Bowen
Director of Residence Life | University of Maine
Andra Bowen was born and raised in Western Maine (Fryeburg). She earned a bachelor’s in foreign languages and art history at Elmira College in upstate NY in 2004, and returned to Maine in 2007 for a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Development here at UMaine. Andra has worked in Residence Life continuously for 21 years, from her first years as an RA at Elmira College through the present, where she is the Director of Residence Life here at UMaine. Andra lives in Orono with her husband Jon and their 5-year-old son Brody. If you’re into fun facts, she is a live liver donor — she donated 60% of her liver to her dad in 2007.
Cheryl Coffin
Professor Emerita of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology | Vanderbilt University
Board of Visitors | University of Maine
Cheryl M. Coffin, M.D. is Professor Emerita of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to retirement from clinical practice in 2013, she was the Goodpasture Professor of Pathology, Vice Chair for Anatomic Pathology, and Director of Translational Research in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt. Previously, she held tenured professorships at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Utah, where she was Division Head of Pediatric Pathology, Associate Chair of the Department of Pathology, and the H.A. and Edna Benning Professor of Pathology. She also served as Medical Director of Pathology Services and Chair of the Department of Pathology at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Early in her career, Dr. Coffin held faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota and Brown University.
A native of Bangor, Maine, Dr. Coffin received her A.B. (Magna Cum Laude) from Bowdoin College and her M.D. from the University of Vermont. She completed an internship and residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and a fellowship in surgical pathology at the University of Minnesota. Later, she received a certificate in Leadership for Physicians from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah and postgraduate certification in Conflict Resolution from the University of Utah. She completed the Hedwig van American Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women at MCP Hahnemann University (now Drexel University), the IHC Advanced Training Program in Health Care Delivery Improvement at Intermountain Health Care in Salt Lake City, and the Vanderbilt Quality and Patient Safety Pioneer Program in Nashville.
Dr. Coffin has served as President of both the International Paediatric Pathology Association and the Society for Pediatric Pathology. She has also been active in the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, International Academy of Pathology, College of American Pathologists, Association for Directors of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology, Arthur Purdy Stout Society of Surgical Pathologists, and Children’s Oncology Group. She served on consensus panels for the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors. She has authored over 250 peer reviewed publications, reviews, and book chapters.
Currently Dr. Coffin is an emeritus member of SPPRITEs (Sarcoma Pediatric Pathology Research Interests, a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary group focused on pediatric sarcoma research and education) and serves on the editorial board of Pediatric and Developmental Pathology. She serves on the University of Maine Board of Visitors, the External Advisory Committee for the UMaine Institute of Medicine, the External Advisory Board for the Graduate School of Biomedical and Engineering at the University of Maine, the Museum of Art Alliance at the Zillman Museum of Art at the University of Maine, and she is a co-chair of Leaders in All Walks of Life: 50 Years of Women at Bowdoin, a celebration planned at Bowdoin College for September 2021.
Susan Corbett
Director | National Digital Equity Center
Ms. Corbett is a preeminent authority and advocate for digital equity and digital inclusion, and works closely with economic development and rural organizations to promote broadband adoption. In the fall of 2017, Ms. Corbett launched the National Digital Equity Center, a program of the Axiom Education & Training Center, collaborating with local and global change makers, relentlessly driving disruptive strategies to close the digital divide in Maine and across the United States.
Ms. Corbett serves as a consultant of the Axiom Education & Training Center, (AETC) a 501c3 non-profit corporation, with a mission dedicated to furthering the life-long educational and professional development of residents and businesses in Washington County and Maine.
Ms. Corbett is the former Chief Executive Officer of Axiom Technologies, a provider and advocate of fast, affordable, and reliable broadband services for rural communities. In 2005, Ms. Corbett joined Axiom Technologies as Chief Financial Officer. Under her leadership, the telecommunications company designed and constructed more than 100 access points connecting more than 2,500 square miles in one of America’s roughest terrains — rural Maine. She has written and managed numerous grants for broadband development and adoption. Ms. Corbett is a public speaker, educator, and advocate who is dedicated to providing broadband access, digital equity and digital inclusion to rural communities everywhere.
Habib Dagher
Executive Director, Advanced Structures and Composites Center; Principal Investigator DeepCwind Consortium; Professor of Civil/Structural Engineering; BIW Professor of Structural Engineering | University of Maine
As the founding Executive Director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, Dr. Dagher is a world-leading advocate for high-performance and cost-effective composite materials in advanced structural applications. The UMaine Composites Center is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to the development of novel advanced composite materials and technologies that rely on Maine’s manufacturing strengths and abundant natural resources. Novel advanced materials are applied in six, world-renowned program areas: defense composites, industrial testing, nanocomposites, offshore wind, civil infrastructure, and wood composites.
Dr. Dagher earned his Ph.D. in structural engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and joined the University of Maine faculty in 1985. He has chaired national committees focused on structural bridge engineering and composite materials. He has testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, advocating for a national commitment to research and development of deepwater offshore wind energy as a pathway to national energy independence.
Sandra De Urioste-Stone
Associate Professor of Nature-based Tourism | University of Maine
Growing up in a tourism-oriented country, and being an avid athlete, led me to engage and appreciate travel and tourism early on in my life. I am captivated by the cultural and natural diversity of the world and committed to promoting sustainable tourism planning and development. I greatly enjoy working with indigenous groups and understanding how people interact, benefit and care for the environment. I am fortunate to have a beautiful family that shares with me the passion for learning about different cultures, traveling around the world, and enjoying the outdoors!
Before joining the University of Maine, I was department Chair, Instructor and Researcher at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala on sustainable tourism, global changes, collaborative management; and Ecotourism Program Manager for a conservation non-profit organization in Guatemala working with indigenous/rural communities.
Robert Dumas
Food Science Innovation Coordinator and Facility Manager | University of Maine
In his role as the Food Science Innovation Coordinator and Facility Manager for the School of Food and Agriculture at the University of Maine, Robert is responsible for leveraging the resources of the University system to support economic growth in Maine’s food and Ag sector. He is uniquely connected to several of the University’s bodies and can utilize that connectivity to support producers. In addition to the School of Food and Ag, Robert also works as part of the Cooperative Extension and the Office of Innovation and Economic Development. Throughout that network there is an enormous depth of knowledge and resources that he can leverage to find solutions for Maine’s producers. Furthermore, Robert directly manages two commercial food production facilities located in Hitchner Hall on the Orono campus which exist to facilitate research, education, and direct support to producers.
Nicholas A. Giudice
Ph.D., Founder & Chief Research Scientist | VEMI Lab
Professor of Spatial Informatics | University of Maine
Nicholas Giudice is Professor of Spatial Computing in the School of Computing and Information Science at the University of Maine and founder and Chief Research Scientist of the Virtual Environments and Multimodal Interaction (VEMI) Lab. VEMI is a leading experiential research facility combining immersive virtual reality, augmented reality, and interactive technologies for studying human-technology interactions and developing bio-inspired information access technologies. Nicholas’s specific research deals with the design and evaluation of accessible multimodal technology supporting multisensory graphical access, mapping, and autonomous navigation. His work is relevant to blind and visually impaired (BVI) people, older adults experiencing vision loss, and sighted folks in eyes-free situations. He has published over 100 scientific papers in these areas, is on the editorial board of two accessibility journals, the board of directors of two blindness-related organizations, the scientific advisory board of two information-access companies, and the co-founder and Chief Research Officer of a Maine-based start-up company designing innovative multisensory technologies promoting inclusive information access.
Caitlin Howell
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering | University of Maine
Caitlin Howell is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering. She earned her PhD in Physical Chemistry from Heidelberg University, Germany, studying the organization and orientation of biological molecules and cells at abiotic surfaces using spectroscopic techniques. She then completed a postdoc as a Technology Development Fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering where she designed and tested bio-inspired surfaces for use in industry and medicine and worked toward moving those technologies to market. Her current research focus as head of the Biomimetics and Biointerfaces Lab at UMaine is on the development of new surface-based strategies for controlling biological systems at interfaces. She is currently leading projects developing bio-inspired approaches for making water filtration more efficient, capturing SARS-CoV-2 out of the air for analysis, creating low-cost diagnostic platforms using legacy paper-making equipment in collaboration with the Maine paper industry, and developing a smartphone app that uses machine learning to detect surface contamination. In addition to her research, Caitlin serves on the board of the BioScience Association of Maine, the Veazie Community School Safe Opening Committee, and is an active member of Welcoming Immigrant Neighbors, a Bangor-based charity.
Kirsten Jacobson (co-chair)
Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy | University of Maine
Kirsten Jacobson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maine. She specializes in 19th and 20th century Continental philosophy, and her research interests include the phenomenology of spatiality, the nature of home and dwelling, and the use of phenomenology to conduct novel analyses of psychological and physiological illnesses as well as issues of “existential health.” In 2009, she created a philosophy outreach program called Philosophy Across the Ages, which brings together undergraduate philosophy students with local high school students and occasionally retirement community members for seminar-style discussions of accessible and exciting philosophical texts. In 2015, Professor Jacobson received the University of Maine’s top two awards for teaching and advising—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Outstanding Faculty in Teaching and Advising Award and the Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award. She is co-editor of Perception and its Development in Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology (University of Toronto Press, 2017).
Gregory “Grog” Johnson
Retired Admiral
Admiral Gregory “Grog” Johnson, is a native of Westmanland, Maine. He was a 1964 graduate of Caribou High School and a 1968 graduate of the University of Maine with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science Following graduation he enter the U.S. Navy, was commissioned in 1969 following graduation from Aviation Officer Candidate School, and designated a Naval Aviator in 1970.
Sea duty assignments from 1970 to 1995 were in carrier based squadrons and air wings flying tactical aircraft primarily the A-7E Corsair lI and F/A-18 Hornet deploying in USS Independence, USS Nimitz, and USS Forrestal, Marine Air Group Twelve in Iwakuni, Japan, USS Eisenhower, and USS Theodore Roosevelt. He commanded Attack Squadron VA-105 and Carrier Air Wing THREE .
Shore duty assignments included: Command and Staff Course, Naval War College (graduating with highest distinction); Systems Analysis Division (OP-96) of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; F/A-18/A-7 Readiness Officer on the staff Commander Naval Air Force, U. S. Atlantic Fleet; Joint Chiefs of Staff as Head of the European Command/Central Command Branch of the Joint Operations Division (JOD), Operations Directorate (J-3); and Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Executive Assistant to the Chairman, General Colin L. Powell.
Admiral Johnson was selected for flag rank in February 1995. His initial assignment was as the Director of Operations, Plans, and Policy (N3/N5) on the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet staff. In February 1996, he reported as Commander, Carrier Battle Group EIGHT/USS Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group where he served until August 1997. In September 1997 he reported as the Senior Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Dr. John Hamre, and in May, 1999 was assigned as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, The Honorable William S. Cohen. Admiral Johnson then assumed command of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and Allied Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe in October 2000. A year later, he reported as Commander of both U.S. Naval Forces, Europe in London, UK and NATO’s Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy. He retired from active duty on December 1, 2004 after 36 years of Naval Service.
Admiral Johnson’s decorations and awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (two awards), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), NATO Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and various service and campaign awards. He is the recipient of awards from France, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Kosovo. In 2004 he received the Naval War College’s Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award. In May 2009, his Alma Mater, awarded Admiral (Ret.) Johnson an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree.
Upon retiring, Admiral Johnson founded Snow Ridge Associates, which provides strategic advice and counsel. He serves on several public and private sector boards and is active in public policy, civic, community, and educational boards and activities. He resides in Harpswell, Maine and spends as much time as possible with his grandchildren and fly fishing.”
Marcus LiBrizzi
Professor of English | University of Maine at Machias
Marcus LiBrizzi (Ph.D. in English from McGill University; M.A. in English from UMaine; M.F.A. in Creative Writing from USM; B.A in English from Bard College at Simon’s Rock) is the author of five books. Lost Atusville: a Black Settlement from the American Revolution ranked among the top three books on race by The New Republic and was mentioned in the online editorial page of The New York Times. His book Dark Woods, Chill Waters inspired an ABC TV Extreme Make-Over—Home Edition episode in Millbridge, Maine, as well as a Weather Channel American Supernatural episode on Black’s Woods in Franklin, Maine. The PBS New England Folklore series featured his book The Nelly Butler Hauntings. His book Ghosts of Acadia has contributed to cultural tourism by providing the basis for haunted history tours and cruises of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island. At the University of Maine at Machias, Marcus has been the recipient of three teaching awards. His areas of expertise include creative writing (literary horror, dark fantasy, and historical fiction), critical theory, and folklore of the supernatural. He is the Managing Editor of the University of Maine at Machias Press and serves on the President’s Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as well as the DEI Summit Planning Committee “UMS Transforms.”
Lateef O’Connor
Sr. Associate Director of Admission | University of Maine
Lateef O’Connor is a UMaine class of 1999 graduate with a B.S. in Elementary Education. Lateef has worked at UMaine in admissions since 2005.
Scott Oxley
President | Northern Light Acadia Hospital
Scott was appointed as Northern Light Health senior vice president and president of Northern Light Acadia Hospital in October 2017. Prior to being appointed as president, Scott served as Northern Light Acadia’s chief operating officer for two years. He has served in various roles at Northern Light Health during his 28 years with the company with a primary background in healthcare finance. He is a graduate of Husson University, the UMaine MBA program and is a certified public accountant. Scott enjoys all outdoor activities and time with his wife of 27 years and their two college-aged children.
Hannah Pingree
Director | Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future
Hannah Pingree was appointed to lead Governor Mills’ Office of Policy Innovation and the Future in January 2019. Hannah previously served as Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives from 2008 to 2010. She also served as the Maine House Majority Leader, Chair of the Committee on Health and Human Services, and as a member of the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs during her terms in Maine Legislature from 2002 – 2010. Hannah spearheaded successful legislation on energy, broadband, housing, environmental health, and health care during her time in office. Hannah has worked for a technology start-up in New York City; managed several family small businesses; led the development of rural housing, energy efficiency, and eldercare projects for a coalition of community non-profits; chaired her local school board; and served on numerous state and community non-profit boards.
Darren J. Ranco
Chair of Native American Programs, Associate Professor of Anthropology, and Coordinator of Native American Research | University of Maine
Darren J. Ranco, Ph.D., a citizen of the Penobscot Nation, is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Native American Programs at the University of Maine. He has a Masters of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School and a PhD in Social Anthropology from Harvard University. His research focuses on the ways in which indigenous communities in the United States resist environmental destruction by using indigenous science, diplomacies, and critiques of liberalism to protect natural and cultural resources. He teaches classes on indigenous intellectual property rights, research ethics, environmental justice and tribal governance. As a citizen of the Penobscot Nation, he is particularly interested in how better research relationships can be made between universities, museums, Native and non-Native researchers, and indigenous communities.
Matthew C. Rodrigue (co-chair)
Co-Head and Managing Director | Miller Buckfire
Matthew C. “Matt” Rodrigue (B.S. Electrical Engineering ‘04, BS Computer Engineering ’04, Harvard Business School MBA ‘08) is currently Co-Head and Managing Director of Miller Buckfire & Company, a leading investment bank focused on helping clients address complex transformational issues – recapitalizations, acquisitions, sales and divestitures, and debt and equity financing transactions. Matt has advised on some of the largest and most complex corporate and municipal restructuring transactions ever, including General Growth Properties, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Matt also invests in real estate in Maine and elsewhere in the Northeast. He resides in Windham, New York and South Orange, New Jersey with his wife Carissa and two kids, Andrew, 7 and Michael, 9. Memberships: Boston Executive Club (former member); UMaine Board of Visitors; University of Maine System Board of Trustees (2002 – 2004), President’s Club, Stillwater Society, Charles F. Allen Society.
Jasmine Saros
Professor School of Biology & Ecology, Associate Director of the Climate Change Institute, and
Director of Ecology & Environmental Sciences | University of Maine
Matthew C. “Matt” Rodrigue (B.S. Electrical Engineering ‘04, BS Computer Engineering ’04, Harvard Business School MBA ‘08) is currently Co-Head and Managing Director of Miller Buckfire & Company, a leading investment bank focused on helping clients address complex transformational issues – recapitalizations, acquisitions, sales and divestitures, and debt and equity financing transactions. Matt has advised on some of the largest and most complex corporate and municipal restructuring transactions ever, including General Growth Properties, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Matt also invests in real estate in Maine and elsewhere in the Northeast. He resides in Windham, New York and South Orange, New Jersey with his wife Carissa and two kids, Andrew, 7 and Michael, 9. Memberships: Boston Executive Club (former member); UMaine Board of Visitors; University of Maine System Board of Trustees (2002 – 2004), President’s Club, Stillwater Society, Charles F. Allen Society.
Dianne Tilton
Executive Director | Downeast Institute
Dianne Tilton has served as Executive Director of the Downeast Institute in Beals since 2015, helping a team of devoted and passionate people work to sustain commercial fisheries through research, innovation and education. Incorporated 25 years ago, the Downeast Institute serves as the Marine Science Field Station of the University of Maine at Machias.
Dianne has worked for and with nonprofits for over 30 years, and spent 13 years as the founding Executive Director of the Sunrise County Economic Council in Machias. During that time, she served as a founding and long-term board member of the Downeast Institute. She was a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 2008 to 20012. She served on the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources, the Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Energy Future, and the Joint Select Committee on Regulatory Reform.
She is a native of Harrington, Maine, receiving her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Maine (81). She has had numerous education and professional acheivements including her participation in 2009 in the Emerging Political Leaders Program at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. She was a member of Leadership Maine’s Epsilon Class, and the Washington County Leadership Institute’s Alpha Class. Her awards and recognitions include MaineBiz “Next” List (citizen’s shaping Maine’s economic future), the Deborah Morton Award (University of New England award for Outstanding Maine Women), the Kenneth M. Curtis Leadership Award (Maine Development Foundation), Maine Public Administrator of the Year (ME Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration), and Economic Developer of the Year (Finance Authority of Maine – FAME).
In her spare time, Dianne serves on UMM’s Board of Visitors and other volunteer boards, and spends time with her children and grandchildren.
Grace Garland
Project Director UMaine 2025
Grace Garland is currently a higher education consultant for Maine Center Ventures, working in support of the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center in Portland. She returned to Maine in 2012 as the Director of Corporate and Foundations Relations at Bowdoin College. Prior to that, she worked for 15 years at the University of Oxford in the UK in both research and academic administration, including as Head of Research Services for the Medical Science Division and Senior Tutor at Merton College Oxford. She holds an A.B. in English from Bowdoin College and an M.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. She lives in Cumberland Foreside with her husband Tim and daughter Elizabeth, 11.
Jason Charland
Senior Advisor to the President and Director of Research Development | University of Maine
Jason Charland serves as Senior Advisor to the President and Director of Research Development at the University of Maine. He is responsible for executing the university’s strategic research initiatives and implementing university-wide extramural funding strategies for federal, state, foundation, and corporate funding. Mr. Charland also oversees the Office of Research Development’s provision of proposal development services to faculty. He holds a master’s degree in social work and bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMaine.
Paige Holmes
Philanthropy Officer | University of Maine Foundation
Paige Holmes is a Philanthropy Officer with the University of Maine Foundation, in Orono, where she enjoys connecting individuals, companies, and foundations to opportunities to invest in their vision for the future and empower UMaine and its students. Prior to joining her parents’ alma mater, Paige served as the Director of Annual Giving and Advancement Services for another higher education institution; owned Holmes Consulting and served clients in fundraising, government relations, and project management; worked as a Lobbyist for Pineau Policy Associates at the Maine State House; and served as Finance Director for several statewide political campaigns.
Paige is currently a student in the UMaine MBA program and holds a Bachelor of Science in International Relations from Connecticut College. She lives in Orono with her husband, Jim, their two young boys, and two goofy dogs.