Commencement

A photo of Aubree Nygaard

Aubree Nygaard: Outstanding Graduating Student

Aubree Nygaard of Brunswick, Maine is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Nygaard is a double-major in computer science and philosophy whose numerous academic awards include the Non-Traditional Student Scholarship and the Roger B. Hill Humanities Scholarship. Since 2019, she has been a developer and student representative in the […]

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A photo of Chisom Orakwue

Chisom Orakwue: Outstanding Graduating international student

Chisom Orakwue of Lagos, Nigeria is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Engineering. Orakwue, a biomedical engineering major, received the International Presidential Scholarship and the Richard E. Durst Scholarship. This academic year, she has been involved in research in professor Karissa Tilbury’s laboratory, focused on the use of spatial frequency domain imaging […]

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A photo of Amanda Sandberg

Amanda Sandberg: Outstanding Graduating International Student

Amanda Sandberg of Skurup, Sweden is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. She is a biochemistry major with a pre-med concentration, and a minor in molecular and cellular biology. Sandberg is a member of the women’s soccer team and a scholar-athlete. Her numerous honors include 2020 and […]

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A photo Jakub Sirota

Jakub Sirota: Outstanding Graduating International Student

Jakub Sirota of Kroměříž, Czech Republic is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the Maine Business School. Sirota is a double-major in marketing and management and a member of the men’s ice hockey team. He is a two-time member of the Hockey East All-Academic Team and has been a three-time University of Maine Scholar-Athlete. He […]

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A photo of Oak Hall in spring

UMaine names 2022 valedictorian and salutatorian

Political science major Dominique DiSpirito of Woonsocket, Rhode Island is the 2022 University of Maine valedictorian and Maxwell Burtis of Brunswick, Maine, a mechanical engineering major, is this year’s salutatorian. Both are students in the UMaine Honors College. “Dominique and Maxwell are truly outstanding members of our community and their UMaine student experiences are what […]

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A photo of Dominique DiSpirito

Dominique DiSpirito: UMaine 2022 Valedictorian and Outstanding Graduating Student

Dominique DiSpirito of Woonsocket, Rhode Island is the 2022 University of Maine Valedictorian and the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Honors College. DiSpirito is a political science major, with minors in legal studies, and ecology and environmental sciences, as well as an Honors College student. She is a 2021 Truman Scholar, and her other numerous […]

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A photo of Maxwell Burtis

Maxwell Burtis: UMaine 2022 salutatorian

Maxwell Burtis of Brunswick, Maine is the 2022 University of Maine Salutatorian. Burtis is a mechanical engineering major with a neuroscience minor, and an Honors College student. His numerous academic honors include the Thomas P. Hosmer Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering and the J&M Gorman Mechanical Engineering Scholarship. Since 2018, Burtis has been the co-founder and […]

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Daniel Sandweiss

Sandweiss named 2022 Distinguished Maine Professor

A longtime University of Maine professor who is a world-renowned researcher in Latin American archaeology and paleoclimatology is the 2022 Distinguished Maine Professor, the university’s most prestigious faculty award. Daniel Sandweiss is a UMaine professor in the Anthropology Department and the Climate Change Institute. He also is a cooperating professor in the School of Earth […]

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A student poses with the UMaine mascot Bananas, both dressed in graduation cap and gown, overlooking the UMaine campus mall from the steps of Fogler Library

UMaine planning May commencement for COVID-impacted graduates

Editor’s note: The first survey sent by the UMaine Alumni Association closed Dec. 1. UMaine graduates of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 who have questions can email um.commencement@maine.edu. Planning is underway at the University of Maine to host a commencement ceremony in May 2022 for graduates of the COVID-impacted Classes of 2020 and 2021. Traditional commencement activities, […]

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UMaine virtual commencement presentations available May 22

The University of Maine 2021 Virtual Commencement presentations will be available on the UMaine commencement website on May 22. The videos for students in the Graduate School, and undergraduates in the colleges and Maine Business School feature elements of our traditional in-person commencement ceremony, including messages from campus leadership, speakers, music and recordings of the […]

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