Patten Native Outstanding Graduate in UMaine College

Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571, joe.carr@umit.maine.edu

ORONO — Owen McCarthy of Patten, Maine, was named the Outstanding Graduating Student in the University of Maine College of Engineering.

He will graduate May 8 with a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering.

McCarthy, the 2006 valedictorian of Katahdin High School, came to UMaine as a Top Scholar.

“UMaine’s great engineering program was a big draw,” he says. “I knew about UMaine through my grandfather (Gordon Kulberg, a UMaine emeritus dean and professor) and by coming to sports camps through the years. I didn’t even apply anywhere else. (At UMaine) there’s no better return on investment.”

McCarthy was a founding member and class agent of the Class of 2010 Council. He received a Sigma Phi Epsilon Balanced Man Scholarship, a Durst Scholarship and a Pulp and Paper Foundation Scholarship. McCarthy also received the Sigma Phi Epsilon Northeastern Outstanding Senior Award.

This past academic year, McCarthy was president of University of Maine Student Government. His other leadership roles included president of both the UMaine chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sophomore Owls.

McCarthy also was a member of Order of Omega, Tau Beta Pi and Senior Skulls. In 2008, he was elected UMaine’s Homecoming King.

“I really enjoyed the leadership opportunities and extracurriculars,” McCarthy says. “I like positively affecting people.

“At the University of Maine, there are so many opportunities to get involved. It’s a tight-knit community. Faculty and administrators listen and care about students, and want to help as much as possible.”

McCarthy is now co-authoring a book with James Morin on how to utilize networks, habits and knowledge to get the most out of college beyond the classroom.

For the past two summers, he was a technical sales intern with the global specialty chemical companies Hercules Inc., Dayton, Ohio, and Ashland Inc., Worcester, Mass. McCarthy has accepted a job with Ashland.

McCarthy is the son of Martin and Rachel McCarthy.