Former Governor John H. Reed Portrait Unveiling at UMaine Sept. 21
Contact: Amos E. Orcutt, President/CEO, University of Maine Foundation (207) 581-5100
ORONO — A portrait of former Governor John H. Reed, painted by his grandson Reed Duford, will be unveiled at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21 in the Grand Foyer of the University of Maine’s Buchanan Alumni House.
Gov. Reed, who was born in Fort Fairfield, Me., graduated from the University of Maine in 1942 with an Agricultural Business Management degree. A World War II U.S. Navy veteran, Reed was elected to Maine House of Representatives in 1954 and served one term before being elected to the Maine Senate. At the start of his second senate term he was elected Senate President, an office that in Maine is first in the gubernatorial line of succession. When Gov. Clinton Clauson died in office in 1960, Reed became governor. Maine voters elected him to that office in 1962.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Reed to head the then newly established National Transportation Safety Board, where he served for nine years. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford appointed him U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka and later the Republic of Maldives. And in 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Reed to serve again as ambassador to Sri Lanka.
Reed will also be the featured speaker at the Charles F. Allen Society luncheon, which will be held prior to the unveiling. The Charles F. Allen Society was established in 1995 to recognize alumni and friends who share the intent to support the University of Maine by will or other form of planned or deferred gift $10,000 or greater.