UMaine Leadership Transition Announced
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Peter S. Hoff, the 17th president of the University of Maine, has resigned from that position effective Aug. 15, it was announced today by University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal. Westphal also announced that Robert A. Kennedy, UMaine’s executive vice president and provost, has been appointed interim president.
Hoff has been UMaine’s president since Aug. 1, 1997. His tenure in that role is the longest of any UMaine president since 1965. During his presidency, student enrollment has increased by more than 25 percent and there has been measurable progress in such areas as extramural research funding and private giving to the university. There has been more infrastructure development than any other point in UMaine’s history, with more than $150 million in construction and renovation projects either completed or started.
Hoff will assume a five-year position as University of Maine System Professor, a non-tenured position. In that role, he will work as a scholar and researcher on higher education and related policy issues.
“Peter has been an imaginative and innovative administrator who has developed a team that has delivered significant results in the development of programs, the improvement of infrastructure, growth of the university and outreach to alumni and other important constituencies,” says H. Allen Fernald, chair of the UMaine Board of Visitors. “He has been a strong advocate in the Legislature, where he has many friends. Peter has earned our respect and our thanks for his many accomplishments during his tenure as president.”
Hoff has a Ph.D. in English and Humanities from Stanford University. He is a Wisconsin native who has worked in public higher education in Wisconsin, Indiana, Georgia, California and Maine. Before coming to UMaine, he served for four years as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs in the California State University System.
“Peter Hoff was easily the strongest candidate for president back in 1997, and, overall, he has lived up to the search committee’s high expectations.” says UMaine history professor Howard Segal, who was a member of that committee. “He is himself a proud graduate of another land-grant institution, the University of Wisconsin, and he came to UMaine with a commitment to bringing the institution into the twenty-first century within the land-grant tradition. He understood from the outset that UMaine needed to stop relying on the state for so much of its funding; to increase its undergraduate and graduate enrollments; to seek greater external research and development funds from government and business; to establish partnerships with area corporations, research labs, and hospitals; and to balance the sometimes competing interests of liberal arts programs with science and engineering programs.”
Ann Leffler, dean of UMaine’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since last summer, measures Hoff’s leadership in the context of the national higher education scene.
“I have been impressed with his ability to maintain UMaine’s momentum despite serious resource challenges,” she says. “He has upheld the tradition of strong UMaine presidents, supporting the extraordinary accomplishments of UMaine’s faculty and students.”
Kennedy has been at UMaine since July 2000, serving first as Vice President for Academic Affairs. In 2001, he was promoted to the position of Executive Vice President and Provost. At UMaine, Kennedy has played a central role in developing and executing the university’s teaching, research and statewide public outreach mission. He has led the university’s strategic planning process, which has helped to provide direction for progress in critical areas.
“Bob Kennedy will guide UMaine through a period of continued momentum,” Leffler says. “He has earned high marks on campus and in the community for his vision and openness, strengthening friendships between UMaine and supporters throughout the state. His insights – and his ability – will strengthen UMaine’s ability to meet the challenges it faces.”