Department of Political Science announces 2017–18 Nickerson Scholarship winners

The University of Maine Department of Political Science has announced the 2017–18 awardees of the John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship.

The six selected students were awarded scholarship support after being chosen by the department based on their overall GPA and faculty evaluations.

For the 2017–18 year, the recipients of the John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship are: Jeffrey Burke of Bangor, Meaghan Byrnes of Windham, Elizabeth Littlefield of North Berwick, Miranda Roberts of Hermon, Benjamin Wall of Dedham, and Thilee Yost of Damariscotta.

The John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship was established in 2014 at the University of Maine Foundation with a gift of more than $2 million from the estate of Dr. John M. Nickerson. The endowed scholarship annually supports UMaine students who, among other requirements, study political science, have attained a junior standing, are Maine residents and have made an impact in their communities.

Nickerson also established the John Mitchell Nickerson Professorship of Political Science and the John M. Nickerson Quiet Room to benefit the members, faculty and staff of the UMaine Department of Political Science.

Nickerson, a Lewiston native, was a member of the UMaine class of 1959. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Idaho in 1971 and taught for many years at the University of Maine and the University of Maine at Augusta.