Bartel Named Interim Hutchinson Center Director
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
BELFAST — Lavon Bartel has been named interim director of the University of Maine’s Hutchinson Center in Belfast. Bartel, who retired earlier this year after a decade as dean and director of University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will succeed Margaret Malmberg, who resigned to accept a professional position in the Marshall Islands.
“We sincerely appreciate Meg’s contributions to the Hutchinson Center, as director for the past year and as assistant director before that,” says Robert White, associate provost and dean of UMaine’s Division of Lifelong Learning. “We are fortunate indeed that Lavon has agreed to step in to this important role. Few people have a greater appreciation for UMaine’s statewide role and ability to positively affect people through education and outreach. I am certain that the Hutchinson Center will continue its momentum under Lavon’s leadership.”
Malmberg has served as the Hutchinson Center director for just over a year. She succeeded the center’s founding director, James Patterson, when he retired. She will become Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs and Executive Vice President at the College of the Marshall Islands, where her husband Steven is designing and building a K-8 school.
The Hutchinson Center, named for former UMaine President Frederick E. Hutchinson, opened in 2000. It brings UMaine academic and outreach programming to midcoast Maine, offering people of that region opportunities to pursue college degrees, professional development and lifelong learning.