UMaine Graduate Paul Conway to Address First-Year Class; Belfast Native Serves as Chief of Staff to U.S. Labor Secretary
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Belfast native Paul T. Conway, a 1987 University of Maine graduate who currently serves as chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, will return to his alma mater on Friday Sept. 1 to address UMaine’s first-year student class.
Conway will be the featured speaker at the Class of 2010 Convocation, set for 4 p.m. at the Maine Center for the Arts. Fall Convocation marks the beginning of the academic year at UMaine. It is the first official gathering of the new class, which will begin studies with returning UMaine students on Tuesday Sept. 5.
“Paul Conway joins a distinguished list of accomplished UMaine alums who have have spoken at Fall Convocation since this tradition was revived in 1999,” says UMaine President Robert Kennedy. “This event is a most appropriate beginning for our new students, as it shows each of them what can be accomplished with a UMaine education.”
Other convocation speakers have included best-selling author Stephen King, high-tech entrepreneur Heather Blease, network sportscaster Gary Thorne, renowned inventor Doug Hall, state healthcare official Trish Riley and NASA official Bridget Ziegelaar-Johnson.
Prior to his current role in the Dept. of Labor, Conway has held appointments in the U.S. Dept. of Education, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM). A chief of staff at OPM, Conway was closely involved with the standup of the Department of Homeland Security. Conway has also worked as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In addition to his government service, Conway has been an associate dean of government at Regent University, has been deputy director of The Citizenship Project at The Heritage Foundation and has worked as an Executive Vice President for a Republican campaign consulting company.
Selected during his student days as member of UMaine’s prestigious Senior Skulls Honor Society, Conway was also president of UMaine Student Government. Additionally, he served as chair of the Maine State College Republican Federation.
A kidney transplant recipient in 1997, Conway is well-known as a public advocate for causes related to organ and tissue donation and transplantation.