Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to provide my monthly update to UMaine faculty members, staff members and friends. As always, I welcome these opportunities to share the good news created by the outstanding efforts of UMaine's wonderful faculty, staff and students.

Summer is certainly tourist season in Maine, and many visitors to our midcoast region are enjoying the spectacular new Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Prospect. Not only are the views from the bridge's observation tower breathtaking, but the bridge also features some cutting-edge engineering and design features, as described in a recent New York Times story. UMaine engineers Roberto Lopez-Anido (quoted extensively in the Times story), Vince Caccese and Keith Berube, along with several UMaine students, have been closely involved in this work, lending UMaine expertise and experience to the creation of this ambitious and impressive structure.

Speaking of mid-coast Maine, UMaine's Hutchinson Center in Belfast continues to be a very busy place this summer. Just yesterday, we hosted the UMaine Board of Visitors' quarterly meeting at that facility, and plans and fundraising are well underway for a building expansion there. We are also involved in a leadership transition at the Hutchinson Center, as director Meg Malmberg -- who has been instrumental in the center's growth -- has moved on to a professional position in the Marshall Islands, where her husband Steven is designing and building a K-8 school. Lavon Bartel, who recently retired after a decade leading UMaine Cooperative Extension, has agreed to take over as interim director, and I am certain that the center will continue to thrive with Lavon in a leadership role.

Five distinguished citizens have joined our Board of Visitors, which was created by law in 1997. The board's members provide advice and input to the university's leadership, and it has an important advocacy role. Each of the University of Maine System's seven universities has its own Board of Visitors. Our new members are Bion Foster, Peter Haynes, Michelle Hood, Ann Jenkins and Gregory Johnson. Mike Trainor is beginning his term as the board's chair and Cathy Newell is vice-chair. We are fortunate to have these individuals and their board colleagues serving in this important role.

Congratulations to Dean of Students Robert Dana and his staff on the recent news that UMaine will receive a total of three grants from the state and from the Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership (HEAPP). The funds will be used to support UMaine programs aimed at reducing the abuse of alcohol and other drugs at UMaine. Lauri Sidelko, UMaine's director of Alcohol and Drug Education Programs, and others in the Dean of Students area work very hard to develop and implement effective programs, which go a long way toward making our community safer and more productive.

UMaine's capacity to help bring highly regarded experts to this part of our state represents one important way that we contribute to the local communities and to the state in general. A great example is the Bangor Foreign Policy Forum, organized by UMaine's School of Policy and International Affairs. Prof. Bahman Baktiari is instrumental in this activity, which brings recognized scholars and others to Bangor for discussions that increase community awareness related to international affairs. The forum had a terrific turnout recently for a talk by Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy. He talked about U.S-Iranian relations, and he got rave reviews for his presentation.

During the past week, UMaine served as host to the Association of Field Ornithologists' 2007 Annual Meeting. Co-sponsored by Maine Audubon and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, along with UMaine, the meeting brought more than 100 ornithologists from North America and the U.K. to our campus and our state. UMaine Prof. Rebecca Holberton organized the event, which also offered participants the opportunity to enjoy summer in Maine while discussing current avian research.

UMaine's College of Education and Human Development hosted an important conference in July, bringing educators to campus for the 2007 Dropout Prevention Summer Institute. The conference dealt with a series of issues related to alternative learners and alternative education.

Our campus is also a great summer resource for youngsters. Sports camps, music camp and the like provide important ways for us to connect with young people at an early age, and it is always interesting to see the various kinds of activities that our faculty and staff develop and offer. Examples include CAD (Computer Assisted Design) Camp, robotics activities and a unique program offered by the Page Farm and Home Museum, where youngsters learned about life in rural Maine between the Civil War and World War II. Another Page Farm and Home Museum program, "Passport to the World," gave children the opportunity to learn about traditions, games, culture and history in other countries.

When I speak to groups in Maine and beyond, I often point out that UMaine faculty members are among the world's leading experts in their fields. This month, we have several examples that demonstrate the degree to which UMaine experts are in demand to participate in international discussions, to present their research and, in many cases, to accept recognition for their contributions.

Prof. Mac Hunter from UMaine's Dept. of Wildlife Ecology has been recognized by a professional association, the Society for Conservation Biology. At its July meeting in South Africa, that organization honored Mac with its Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to that field of study. Mac is a UMaine graduate and a highly-regarded member of our faculty. It is nice to see him receive this well-deserved international recognition.

I also wish to recognize and congratulate Prof. Laurie Connell from the UMaine School of Marine Sciences, who, along with her research team, has been recognized by the Pan American Marine Biotechnology Association for research involving clams and their relative resistance to the toxin associated with red tide. Laurie and her fellow researchers recently received that organization's first Marine Biotechnology Award for Excellence Prize.

Vivian Chi-Hua Wu, a professor in UMaine's Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition, also has significant international stature in her academic field. She was in China recently, where she gave a research presentation at a professional conference and served on a panel discussing technology.

Stephen Gilson and Elizabeth DePoy, UMaine professors in the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, recently published their seventh book, a text called "The Human Experience: Description, Explanation and Judgment." Liz and Stephen also continue to be active on the international level in their discipline, having made July research presentations at two conferences in Europe.

Another UMaine professor, Kathleen March from our Spanish faculty, presented a paper at the First International Conference on Service-Learning in Teacher Education last month in Belgium. The paper, "From Maine to Honduras: Global Spanish," addressed the links between service learning and second language instruction.

UMaine Cooperative Extension is a remarkable organization, and we can all be proud of the various ways in which it serves the needs of Maine's people. Through programs in various areas such as small business, nutrition and youth development, Extension brings UMaine expertise to people all across Maine. During the summer months, it is also impressive to note the degree to which Extension faculty and staff members create and deliver programs to support Maine's vital agriculture industry. In just the past few weeks, Extension has presented programs in areas including grain production, goat farming and organic gardening. Faculty and staff also given Yankee Woodlot trails tours and hosted a "Moon Garden Celebration," in recognition of the July full moon, at Rogers Farm.

I was delighted to learn recently that the television program "Bill Green's Maine" featured the work of UMaine students and others at UMaine's Forestry Summer Camp. Participants work during the summer to restore vistas along the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. This work, based on J. D. Rockefeller's vision when the roads were built, has been part of forestry camp since 1989. UMaine forestry and engineering students also had the opportunity to demonstrate a logging system that they designed and built themselves.

Last month, we welcomed new UMaine women's basketball coach Cindy Blodgett. I'm pleased to report that Cindy is working hard, putting together a coaching staff and scouting and recruiting prospective players. Athletic Director Blake James also recently announced the hiring of Skip Nitary as UMaine's men's and women's swimming coach. I hope you will all join me in welcoming Skip to UMaine.

The next few days promise to be very exciting at UMaine, as a huge group of athletes, ranging in age from 30-94, participate in the 2007 USA Track and Field Masters Championships from Aug. 2-5. Participants come from just about every state, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. The field includes seven Olympians, and people from our own community, including Prof. Doug Allen. It's a great event, and UMaine is fortunate to once again serve as host.

I look forward to providing my next update on Sept. 1, when I will share the good news about the Class of 2011, which will begin studies at UMaine next month. The beginning of the fall semester is an exciting time of year, and the arrival of new students is one of the primary reasons. The Class of 2011 will begin studies at a unique point in UMaine's history, with access to new facilities and programs that are certain to enhance their UMaine experience.

Sincerely,
 

Bob Kennedy

President