Dear Colleagues,

March was an incredible month at the University of Maine. Highlights included a visit from a person who is arguably UMaine's most influential alum, national news coverage for a UMaine research project, a series of presentations by two leading experts on international affairs, a well-received Women's History Celebration and the ribbon cutting for a high-tech local business based in UMaine research.

We were thrilled last week to host Dr. Bernard Lown, a 1942 UMaine graduate who made a series of presentations organized by UMaine's Honors College. The highlight was probably the March 26 public talk. Dr. Lown, who is UMaine's 2008 John M. Rezendez Visiting Scholar in Ethics, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for his legendary work in promoting world peace and organizing physicians to draw attention to the horrors of nuclear war. Dr. Lown is also one of the world's leading cardiologists, credited with pioneering the effective use of the defibrillator as a treatment option, among several cardiac care and treatment innovations. He is truly a treasure and his presence on campus, during which he shared his life story and his unique insights with a great many students and others, will be remembered for years to come.

Interestingly, Dr. Lown was not the only Nobel Laureate to speak at UMaine in March. F. Sherwood Rowland, a pioneer in the study of the atmospheric ozone, discussed "Our Changing Atmosphere The Ozone Hole and Carbon Dioxide," in a well-received lecture sponsored by UMaine's School of Marine Sciences, Climate Change Institute, Department of Chemistry and the Maine Section of the American Chemical Society. Prof. Rowland, who is a faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1995. Thanks to Mark Wells, a faculty member in UMaine's School of Marine Sciences, for his work in bringing Prof. Rowland to UMaine.

Mary Madden and Elizabeth Allan, professors in UMaine's College of Education and Human Development, received a great deal of attention upon the recent release of preliminary results from their study related to hazing at U.S. colleges and universities. The National Study on Hazing, as the project is known, featured responses from 11,482 students at 53 colleges and universities. It is larger, by a wide margin, than any other similar study. It is also unique because it is the first major study to include responses from all across the student spectrum, instead of just student-athletes or members of Greek organizations. The results are both groundbreaking and startling, and UMaine is fortunate that Elizabeth and Mary are at the forefront of this field of study. The survey was reported in stories on hundreds of news Web sites and in untold numbers of newspapers. I was on a fundraising trip in California when the report was released, and was delighted to open the San Francisco Chronicle and find an extensive report on this outstanding work, and later to see a story on the local television news. Congratulations to Mary and Elizabeth for bringing such positive attention to their work and to UMaine.

UMaine's School of Policy and International Affairs (SPIA) continues to provide programming that brings leading experts to our area to share their insights and provoke interesting discussions about contemporary global issues. Ambassador Mark Bellamy, senior fellow in residence in the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Africa and International Security Programs, and Bruce Riedel, senior policy fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, visited UMaine on St. Patrick's Day. They spent the entire day at UMaine, visiting with students and faculty members and making two public presentations. Nearly 200 area high school students, including 65 from Ellsworth High School, attended an afternoon discussion on world affairs, which was also streamed on the Internet to high schools all over the state. Later in the day, Ambassador Bellamy and Mr. Riedel gave a public talk, "The Roots of Terrorism: From the Horn of Africa to Pakistan." Both events were a great success, providing unique opportunities for members of the UMaine community and many others with an interest in international affairs. We are fortunate indeed that both Ambassador Bellamy and Mr. Riedel are members of the SPIA Board of Advisers.

Another example of UMaine's outreach and its impact on Maine public school students comes in the form of the annual Expanding Your Horizons program for middle school girls. More than 500 students, from all around the state, came to UMaine recently for the 22nd annual edition of that program, which provides information about math- and science-oriented education and careers. Women from UMaine's faculty, staff and student population participate in this day-long event, providing excellent role models for the girls and making presentations that both inspire and educate those who attend. UMaine's Women's Resource Center, with director Sharon Barker, organizes this annual event which really helps connect UMaine with people all over the state in a meaningful way.

Congratulations also go this month to the Women in the Curriculum and Women's Studies Program, for a successful Women's History Celebration 2008. An impressive series of programs began after Spring Break and they actually continue until April 2. Through activities like this and their regular lecture series, Ann Schonberger and everybody associated with the Women in the Curriculum and Womens Studies Program do a great deal to enhance the intellectual climate at the University of Maine.

Returning to our connection with Maine's schools, I'd like to point out two more recent activities that show some of the important ways UMaine and its people influence public education in Maine. Late last week, the College of Education and Human Development faculty hosted a half-day session about the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), the challenges teachers and prospective teachers face in effectively using technology in the classroom and ways for Maine to continue to be a leader in this area. Former Gov. Angus King, who developed MLTI, participated in this important discussion. It is interesting to note that most of those Maine students who enroll at UMaine in the fall -- including those who aspire to be teachers -- were in the first seventh grade class to receive laptop computers, the cornerstone of the MLTI program.

I also heard recently about a group of business students from the SPIFFY student portfolio investment group who traveled to elementary schools in Lubec and Perry, to talk with students about the stock market and personal saving. Jon Mortimer, Joe Bocchino and Ian Burns say they enjoyed the experience and they report that several of the students say they would like to attend UMaine some day and follow in the footsteps of these outstanding representatives of our community. This kind of outreach activity is connection to a Citigroup Foundation Grant project, which provides for the UMaine students to visit schools. Incidentally, we are told that the children most enjoyed the discussion that centered on what it takes to become a millionaire.

We were pleased to welcome Sen. Susan Collins to the area last week, to help us celebrate the grand opening of Orono Spectral Solutions' new facility in Old Town. UMaine chemistry professor Carl Tripp is OSS' president, and the company is the sixth spin-off business from UMaine's Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology. Every employee (except Carl) is a UMaine graduate, and their technology is generating a good deal of interest in the sensor industry.

Prof. Stephen Miller from UMaine's history department has been elected as a fellow in the prestigious Royal Historical Society. This society, founded in 1868, is considered the foremost organization of its kind, with a membership of nearly 3,000 fellows from across the world. An expert on military history, the British Empire and South Africa, Stephen is an outstanding scholar whose work includes the 2007 book "Volunteers on the Veld: Britain's Citizen-Soldiers and the South African War 1899-1902." Congratulations to Stephen on this great honor.

The Maine Campus Compact, a consortium of 18 Maine colleges and universities that promotes community service, civic engagement and service learning, has recognized Prof. Kathleen March from the UMaine Spanish faculty for her commitment to service learning. Later in April, that organization will present Kathleen with its seventh annual Harward Award for Service Learning Excellence. This is well-earned recognition for Kathleen, who was cited for developing collaborations between UMaine and two Honduran communities, through which our students work on important service projects in areas including health, education, physical infrastructure and artistic expression. Through participation in these programs and by following Kathleen's example, our students are learning valuable lessons about the ways in which they can have a positive impact on others.

Here are a few other highlights from recent weeks at UMaine:

- We were pleased to accept a generous gift from Kleinschmidt Associates, a Pittsfield-based firm with a long association with UMaine, to establish a fund that will support the study of hydraulic engineering at UMaine. In honor of the gift, the UMaine hydraulics lab in Boardman Hall has been renamed the Kleinschmidt Hydraulics Laboratory.

- UMaine's campaign to raise $2 million in private funds to expand UMaine's Hutchinson Center in Belfast has passed the halfway point. Since the campaign began in August of last year, individuals, corporations and foundations have pledged $1 million to create a 15,000 square foot expansion for more classroom space, science labs and other facilities. The Hutchinson Center campaign is part of Campaign Maine, the university's $150 million, six-year fundraising initiative. We have recently moved past the $80 million mark in the overall campaign.

- UMaine's Forensics Team has won its second consecutive Northeast Regional Forensics Tournament, beating nine other schools, including Harvard, in that annual speech and debate contest. Suffolk University hosted this year's event.

- Congratulations to Prof. Mick Peterson and the student engineering team that recently competed in the annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge competition on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. UMaine teams compete in that event every year, taking on some of the best engineering programs anywhere, and Mick and our students always represent UMaine very well.

- Academic honors continue to come in for UMaine athletic teams and student-athletes. The Black Bear field hockey team received a 2007 ZAG/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Academic Team Award recently. The team had a 3.50 cumulative GPA, and it had ten student-athletes named to the Division I National Academic Squad.

- UMaine Cooperative Extension, the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and others organized a very successful Maine Day at the State House last week. This annual event provides an opportunity for UMaine faculty and staff members to connect with legislators and others in state government, to provide information about UMaine activities related to natural resources, community development and support for business. Executive Director John Rebar and the Extension staff created a series of one-page fact sheets, distributed to each legislator, describing Extension's initiatives and impact in that lawmaker's home county.

I will close this month with news that will provoke thoughts of summer. UMaine has received two marketing awards from the University Continuing Education Association for its Summer University promotional materials, featuring the much-anticipated annual poster designed by Val Williams from UMaine's Dept. of University Relations. Division of Lifelong Learning Dean Bob White and his staff, working with Val and others, created some exceptional marketing materials in 2007, helping lead to continued outstanding student enrollment in Summer University, the third highest total summer enrollment in UMaine's history. The poster won a Silver Award in the New York Times-sponsored competition, and the mixed media campaign won a bronze. UMaine wins in these categories just about every year, which is a testament to the creativity and skill we have in our community.

My best wishes to each of you as we move into the final weeks of the spring semester.
 

Sincerely,
 

Bob Kennedy

President