Hutchinson Center Director Selected
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO, Me. — Dr. C. Sue McCullough, a seasoned higher education administrator who currently serves as dean of graduate and extended studies at Virginia’s Longwood University, has been named director of the University of Maine’s Hutchinson Center in Belfast, Me. McCullough’s appointment, which is subject to approval at the next University of Maine System Board of Trustees meeting, takes effect March 1. She was chosen following a national search.
“Dean McCullough comes to the University of Maine with significant experience in university outreach and in building community networks and support,” says Robert White, UMaine vice provost and dean of its Division of Lifelong Learning. “Those skills and that deep experience represent the characteristics we were seeking in a new Hutchinson Center director, and we are delighted to welcome Dean McCullough to the Hutchinson Center and the University of Maine.”
McCullough succeeds Lavon Bartel, who has served as the Hutchinson Center’s interim director since last summer.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity, and I look forward to getting to know the students, faculty, staff and community members involved with the Hutchinson Center,” McCullough says. “I am impressed with the level of community support, the commitment to the center’s mission, the strong foundation already in place and the momentum to establish the Hutchinson Center as an integral part of mid-coast Maine.”
McCullough’s son, Bruce Maxwell, is a computer science professor and department chair at Colby College. He and his family reside near Benton, Me., where they raise alpacas at Bag End Suri Alpacas of ME, known as BESAME.
McCullough is a licensed psychologist with a doctorate from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She worked as an elementary school teacher, a school principal and a school psychologist before beginning her higher education career as a professor of school psychology at the University of Oregon in 1980. McCullough also served on the faculty of Texas Woman’s University and as department chair at Texas State University San Marcos before becoming a Longwood University dean in 2002.
The Hutchinson Center, which opened in 2000, provides University of Maine courses and outreach services to the people of mid-coast Maine. Students can earn UMaine bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the facility, which is also home to a robust Senior College program.
White also commended the search committee and mid-coast community members who provided valuable input during the search process.