Black Bear profiles

Nicholas Fried

Nicholas Fried: Top of his class and headed into medicine and research

Nicholas Fried of Millerstown, Pennsylvania has been named the 2016 University of Maine valedictorian. This fall, Fried will be an M.D./Ph.D. student at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies in New Orleans. He plans to become a primary care physician in a medically underserved community and conduct research […]

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Connor Smart

Connor Smart: UMaine salutatorian and top student in Maine Business School

Connor Smart of Lincoln, Maine has been named the 2016 University of Maine salutatorian and the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Maine Business School. The honors student double majored in accounting and finance, and received academic achievement awards in business and accounting. Smart was the 2012 valedictorian of Mattanawcook Academy. In the spring 2015 semester, Smart […]

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Annabelle Wilson

Annabelle Wilson: A runner with her sights set on teaching in Maine

Annabelle Wilson did not take the well-traveled path to the University of Maine. Originally from Geelong in southern Australia, she was recruited to run cross country and track for the Black Bears. So how does a young woman from a “coastal surfing area” more than 10,000 miles from Orono like it here? “I’ve loved Maine,” […]

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Liz Wood

Liz Wood: On course and full speed ahead

When Liz Wood was young she sped up and down her Virginia driveway in her battery-powered Barbie Jeep. The 22-year-old biology major with a premed concentration and captain of the women’s basketball team is still a driving force. The last four years, two of her athletic goals included an America East conference playoff title and […]

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Don Oakes

Don Oakes: Sails translate to sales for CEO of Sea Bags

When Milo native Don Oakes was a boy it was a big deal to travel 40 or so miles to Bangor to buy school clothes and supplies. Oakes, now CEO of Sea Bags, describes his life in the ’70s in the town with 2,500 people and three rivers as similar to his favorite TV show, […]

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