Fosters Donate $1.5 Million to UMaine; Student Innovation Center to Bear their Name
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — The University of Maine today announced a $1.5 million gift from Bion and Dorain Foster of Hampden. The donation will provide support for programs at UMaine’s Student Innovation Center and Student Recreation and Fitness Center, along with scholarship funds through an endowment at the University of Maine Foundation.
They made the gift in honor of their four daughters and their families.
The Student Innovation Center, which will now be known as “The Bion and Dorain Foster Student Innovation Center,” opened in 2006. UMaine faculty and Student Innovation Center staff members work with UMaine students to develop the knowledge and skills to transform their ideas into real products and services. It is the home of UMaine’s Innovation Engineering curriculum, an academic minor that provides education, support and inspiration to student innovators and entrepreneurs.
“It is fitting that this facility will bear the name of Bion and Dorain Foster,” says UMaine President Robert Kennedy, noting that Bion Foster was named Maine’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001. “They are true innovators and entrepreneurs who have succeeded in business and become community leaders because they exemplify the skill, intelligence, work ethic and creativity that we strive to develop in our students.”
Friends, family members, students and UMaine officials attended a Thursday afternoon event to announce this gift and to thank the Fosters for their ongoing support of the University of Maine.
In recent years, the Fosters have provided financial support for UMaine in various ways, through contributions to the athletics department, the Page Farm and Home Museum, the Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition, the University of Maine Alumni Association, and the campaign to build UMaine’s Buchanan Alumni House, where a board room is named in their honor. The second-floor multi-purpose room in the new Student Recreation and Fitness Center is also named for the Fosters. They are among UMaine’s most generous benefactors, and are members of its two most prestigious organizations recognizing long-term philanthropy: the Stillwater Society and the Charles F. Allen Society.
“There is a common thread in Bion and Dorain’s philanthropy,” Kennedy says. “They always focus on what is important for our current students, and they have an eye on the future, helping UMaine develop in ways that will help us serve our students and our state in meaningful ways. They take great pride in mentoring young people, including their daughters — who are carrying on the family tradition of hard work, professional success and community service. Their legacy will continue both through their generosity to UMaine and their impact on others.”
Bion Foster, who graduated from UMaine in 1968 and earned an MBA in 1970, has served his alma mater in a variety of roles, including current service on the Board of Visitors, service on the President’s Development Council and a recent stint as chair of the University of Maine Alumni Association Board of Directors. Dorain Foster is currently on the UMaine development staff, where she serves as special projects manager.
Bion Foster’s community service resume also includes leadership roles in the Bangor Regional Development Association, Affiliated Healthcare Services, the John Bapst Memorial High School Foundation, the Action Committee of 50 and the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce. He has also assisted numerous local business through service on various boards of directors. His current professional affiliations include business development consulting, real estate development and non-profit fundraising consulting, both in Maine and in South Carolina. Bion Foster has also served as Hampden’s economic development director since 1999.
“Bion and Dorain are truly exemplary community leaders, and their long-term devotion to the University of Maine will have a positive impact for many years go come,” says Barbara Beers, UMaine’s vice president for development. “Campaign Maine is a success because people like the Fosters see UMaine as an invaluable, unique resource that is worthy of their philanthropy. We are deeply appreciative of this gift, and of the Fosters’ decades of meaningful support.”