$12 Million Gift to Support Students In UMaine School of Forest Resources
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO, Me. — The largest donation in University of Maine history, a $12 million bequest from 1937 UMaine graduate George L. Houston, was announced this morning in Orono.
“This donation will benefit generations of students and enhance UMaine’s ability to serve our state in a unique and invaluable way,” said UMaine President Robert Kennedy in making the announcement.
UMaine will use the money to establish the George L. Houston Scholarship Fund, an endowment that will support scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students in UMaine’s highly-regarded School of Forest Resources.
Houston died earlier this year at the age of 91. He made the bequest to the University of Maine Foundation.
“Imagine the lives this gift will change, and imagine the long-term impact on our state and on the world around us,” Kennedy said.
Born in Bangor and raised in Brewer, Houston was a UMaine football player and a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity and the Xi Sigma Pi honor society. He worked for many years as an executive with the New York State Electric and Gas Company, and he developed an engineering and surveying consulting business after retiring from that company. In 1995, he donated his 217-acre family farm in Hudson to UMaine through the university’s Green Endowment Program.
Kennedy pointed out that the bequest represents a “significant milestone” in Campaign Maine, UMaine’s current six-year, $150 million private fundraising campaign. The creation of scholarship endowments is a campaign priority.
“Mr. Houston’s bequest is remarkable,” said Edward Ashworth, dean of UMaine’s College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture. “It is remarkable not only for the level of generosity, but also for the investment in future generations of foresters and remarkable demonstration of confidence that he has in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine.”
Ashworth and Prof. Stephen Reiling, interim director of the School of Forest Resources, told the audience that the school and its faculty are beginning an ambitious national recruiting effort right away,
“The continued influx of top students will enhance this already nationally-recognized program,” Ashworth said. “Excellent students ‘raise the bar’ and increase the expectations for everyone in the classroom. They push their professors with their curiosity and aspirations and thus enrich the learning environment for all.”
UMaine School of Forest Resources students Nicole Mercier (Winthrop, Me.) and Spencer Perry (Ashland, Me.) shared their perspectives on this announcement, as did UMaine graduate Patrick Strauch, executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council.