January 2006

Dear Colleagues:

I hope the beginning of 2006 finds each of you refreshed and ready for what promises to be another exciting and productive year at UMaine. Working together, we accomplished a great deal in 2005, and I'm optimistic that this year will be even
better. I thank each of you for your important and unique contributions to making UMaine such an indispensable resource for the people of this state.

Of course, UMaine's contributions go far beyond the borders of Maine. So many of our faculty members have national and international reputations in their fields, and their work is of transcendent importance. One good recent example is the work of Sam Hess from our physics faculty. With a five-year, $615,155 National Institutes of Health grant, Sam is conducting important research into the ways in which human cells can repel viruses. Sam, whose father Tom is also a UMaine professor, is a great example of the type of UMaine faculty member working on the frontiers of their scholarly fields.

December brought news of an important and prestigious grant to a UMaine group coordinated by Kathy Hunt from UMaine's Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development's Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), the grant will provide nearly $400,000 to establish a series of collaborations that will extend UMaine's expertise to the benefit of young people in Bangor. A broad range of projects, involving many of our UMaine colleagues, will be established through the program, which will help to foster a positive environment in the city's downtown neighborhoods. I am pleased that UMaine is finding ways to reach out to our neighboring communities, and that people in those communities are so receptive to partnering with us. This is another example of that new model land-grant university that I talk about, through which universities like UMaine maximize their resources and their reach by creating partnerships with institutions and communities of all kinds. These arrangements, which we are working on developing every day, are both exciting and very important to our future.

Speaking of the Margaret Chase Smith Center and Kathy Hunt, I offer my congratulations on the news that Maine Policy Review will receive the 2006 Maine Merit Award from the New England Board of Higher Education. The publication, which comes out three times each year and provides analysis of Maine policy issues, is a great resource for policy-makers and for citizens in general. Maine Policy Review, which is published jointly with the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, has been around since 1991. Kathy has been its editor for 11 years.

Several members of our Dept. of University Relations staff were also recently honored for creative achievement. In early December, the Maine Public Relations Council recognized UMaine Today Magazine and UMaine's television advertising campaign
with Golden Arrow Awards. Congratulations to UMaine Today editor Margaret Nagle and to Ron Lisnet, Kim Mitchell and Rick Winter, who produced the television spots.

The high quality of Maine Policy Review, UMaine Today and the television ads reflects well on our university. This recent recognition is well-deserved.

Several of our faculty members also deserve special notice in this month's Go Blue Message, because they have received national or international recognition for their contributions.

Walt Abbott, an associate professor in UMaine's College of education and human development who has taught and coached at UMaine since 1960, was honored in December by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association for distinguished service. The Distinguished Service Award is presented each year to recognize length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics. Only 14 people received the award this year, and we are proud that Walt's enormous contributions have been recognized.

Jay Rasaiah from the UMaine chemistry faculty has recently been notified of his election to fellowship in the American Physical Society. This is an enormous honor, which recognizes Jay's outstanding contributions to science. No more than one-half of one percent of the society's 43,000 members are elected fellows.

We are also fortunate during this academic year to have three Fulbright Scholars in our community. Mario Teisl from the UMaine resource economics and policy faculty is currently living and working at the University of Zagreb in Croatia as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program, while Roberto Lopez-Anido from the civil and environmental engineering faculty is preparing to leave soon for a similar opportunity at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago. In the meantime, we are pleased that UMaine is serving as the host institution for Fulbright Visiting Scholar Petr Porcal, from the Dept. of Hydrochemistry and Ecosystem Modeling at the Hydrobiological Institute in the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Fulbrights represent great opportunities for scholars, and I am certain that Mario, Roberto and Petr will all benefit greatly from the experience.

For me, a real December highlight was the annual Maine Indian Basketmakers Sale and Demonstration at UMaine's Hudson Museum. I purchased a beautiful basket, which will be prominently displayed in my home. I really enjoyed the event, at which I had the opportunity to speak with many artists, craftspeople and leaders of the Native American community. Many of the artisans and others came from great distances for the sale, which featured baskets and other crafts and art created by members of the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot nations. The beauty and authenticity of these works is really impressive, and I'm already looking forward to next December's event. Congratulations to Hudson Museum Director Gretchen Faulkner and the museum's advisory board for hosting such a successful event.

Another group of artists, UMaine seniors taking a capstone course, is enjoying positive notice for their work, which is on display through Feb. 3 in UMaine's Carnegie Hall. These are exceptionally talented students, and this show represents great creativity on their part. It's a very diverse exhibit, which includes painting, sculpture, interior design and even furniture design. The show is open weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Several UMaine students represented the university with distinction at the recent Northeast Regional Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge in New York. Mike Brown of China, Maine, competed on a team that received the highest award, platinum. Emily Hastings of Bangor and Josh Bergstrom of Orono competed on teams that won gold awards, the second highest. They and fellow students Emily Hastings of Bangor, Matt Rolleston of Sebec, Kara Pietroski of Thomaston, Ken Hoyt of Eliot, Tom Lund of New Gloucester, Stephanie Beamish of Berwick, Jennianne O’Connor of Middleboro, Mass. and Katelyn Romano of Rowley, Mass. are students in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences. Associate professor and extension dairy specialist David Marcinkowski coached the students, who are now looking forward to the national competition in Twin Falls, Idaho in April. Our students so often make us proud when they represent UMaine in competitions of various kinds. They work hard, they show initiative and creativity, and they frequently do very well in competition.

I continue to be impressed with the new ideas that come from UMaine Dining Services. Last month, they hosted a sea vegetable celebration, a three-hour event during which diners at Maine Marketplace had the opportunity to sample sea vegetables, which are popular around the world and can be used in a variety of recipes. Dining Services Director Dawn Aubrey and Prof. Susan Brawley coordinated the event, which was both entertaining and another way to help members of our community learn about healthy dining options.

Late in December, we had the opportunity to honor a great friend of UMaine, and someone whose life exemplifies many of the positive attributes of "the greatest generation." Barbara Bodwell, who graduated from UMaine in 1945, has a decades-long record of community volunteerism and support of student volunteer activities. I was thrilled to be part of the ceremony when we recently dedicated the Barbara Higgins Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism in Memorial Union. This facility will be the focal point of our growing student service and volunteer activities, and it will serve as a reminder of a great alum who has done so much to help others.

Of all the exciting things that happened in December, perhaps the most significant occurred at the University of Maine System Board of Trustees meeting. At that meeting, the board granted formal approval to UMaine's six-year fundraising campaign,
which will have a minimum goal of $150 million. I continue to be excited about this effort and what it will mean to the future of this university. We have worked hard to prepare for this campaign, and I am convinced that we will be successful.

We are determined to be bold and aggressive in our efforts to create a more stable financial future for UMaine, so that we can better achieve our collective goals. The private fundraising campaign is part of the equation. So, too, is a plan that we are developing to request increased state funding for targeted university research. I also look forward to working with System officials and those at the other System universities to make the case for increased base funding. This effort will require all of us to do our part, through our work and through communicating with those who make policy decisions, to show the quality, value and relevance of all that UMaine has to offer. If we are successful, and I am confident that we will be, UMaine will become even stronger. Future students and all residents of Maine will benefit.

This month, my "Fast Facts" are a list of the Go Blue Friday events for the spring semester. Go Blue Friday's have been well-received, and have helped to add to our growing sense of community at UMaine. I hope you will note these dates on your calendars and wear blue and/or UMaine clothing to show your UMaine pride.

Go Blue Fridays
Spring Semester 2006

Friday Jan. 20 first Friday of the semester

Friday March 3 last day before spring break

Friday March 24 first Friday of spring

Friday April 14 beginning of the home softball and baseball schedules

Friday May 12 day before commencement

Sincerely,

Bob Kennedy
President