Joan Alexander: Earning a degree six decades after she started

In the late 1950s, Joan Alexander was studying at the University of Maine in hopes of becoming a teacher. At the time, career options for women were limited to education, English and home economics.

Yet Alexander was prevented from earning her degree because she wasn’t allowed to student teach while pregnant. In addition to her studies at UMaine, Joan and her husband, Jim, whom she married her sophomore year, were preparing for the arrival of their first of four children, Bonnie. Had Alexander been allowed to student teach, she would have obtained her degree in 1959. 

More than six decades later, Alexander earned a Bachelor of Science in Education. At the age of 88, she is likely the oldest undergraduate degree recipient in UMaine’s 160-year history. 

“I didn’t realize that it would mean so much to me, but I now feel that a hole in my heart has been healed,” Alexander said. 

The process of helping Alexander obtain her degree began when her youngest daughter, Tracy, contacted UMaine’s College of Education and Human Development to identify an alternative solution. Justin Dimmel, associate dean of the college, “took the ball and ran with it, enthusiastically pursuing this for me,” Alexander said. 

Following a series of conversations and research, Dimmel and his colleagues found that Alexander had met the student teaching requirement in 1980-81, about two decades after her time at UMaine. She had worked as a full-time aide for a home based preschool program in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

She worked with preschool-aged children to develop their gross and fine motor skills, verbal communication skills, capacities for imaginative play and early literacy skills. The college recognized that a year of full-time work with preschool children was comparable to student teaching, therefore meeting the final requirement needed for the degree.  

“I was moved by Joan’s story and was excited to do whatever it would take to ensure that she would be recognized for the work that she did, both as an undergraduate at the University of Maine and throughout her life. She provided an opportunity for administrators from across campus to work together to make the degree conferral possible,” said Justin Dimmel, associate dean for academics and student engagement with the College of Education and Human Development. “Joan’s commitment to completing her undergraduate education was inspiring to me, my colleagues and the graduating class of 2025. Working with Joan, her daughter Tracy and Joan’s family has been a highlight of my academic career.” 

Alexander said she had completed all of the other work for her degree decades ago, and it’s important to be recognized now so the work wouldn’t be wasted.   

“My parents did not complete college, so this was important to me,” she said. “My husband and four daughters have their college degrees, so I was the only one amongst my husband and daughters who had not received a college degree. It gives me a sense of closure and accomplishment.”

Alexander was recognized during UMaine’s afternoon undergraduate commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 11. While she was unable to participate, Tracy and one of Alexander’s granddaughters, Isabel Beck, attended in her stead. Alexander’s journey and the efforts to confer her degree were highlighted in a speech by UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, who called it “a story that characterizes what the Black Bear spirit is all about.”  

“It would have been wonderful for my mother to be able to attend commencement in person, but being there with my own daughter was very moving for me. Everyone I met was so excited to have been able to help make this happen. I really felt that my mother was seen and recognized,” Tracy Alexander said. 

Throughout her life, Alexander dedicated herself to raising her four daughters — Bonnie, Cindy, Jessie and Tracy — and volunteering. As a member of the Coast Guard, her husband frequently spent months at sea, leaving her as the sole caretaker for long periods of time. 

After her husband retired, they settled in Southwest Harbor. There, she invested her time supporting her church and the local library and helped out at the elementary school on occasion. Today, she and her husband live in New Hampshire with one of their daughters. 

“For anyone who wishes to earn a college degree,” Alexander said, “My advice is to find something you are interested in and pursue it.”

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu