East Part of Campus
View Map
East
Part of Campus
(Narrated by Rachel Peters & Naomi
Cyr)
This
tour begins at the steps of the Memorial Union – which is to your
right if you are on the steps of Fogler library facing down the
mall.....
1.)
Memorial Union
- MP3 audio tour (9 Mb)
There are many women behind the scenes and on the front lines who
make the Memorial Union an important focal point for the
university community. Margaret Baker from the
Information Center is retiring after 35 years on campus.
She schedules the rooms and oversees activities in the
building. In the Marketplace, you will find Interim Director
Dawn Aubrey. The cashiers include Norma Ewer
and Debra Harris, who are mother and daughter, and
Ewer's daughter-in-law, Shirley McClure.
A
number of women work in the University Bookstore: Floor Supervisor
Colleen Gagnon does all the hiring, training and
everyday running of the front end of the bookstore; Connie
Laughlin, who supervises the back of the bookstore, can be
found at the information counter for general books and textbooks.
Minya Lynch is the textbook manager, handling all
the textbook orders; Diane Holmes is the general
merchandise associate, buying everything you see on the shelves;
and longtime administrative assistant Betty Campbell
directs all incoming calls.
Upstairs the Office of Student Services is staffed by Carole
LeClair, who has been in student-related support positions
for more than two decades. Among her many, many responsibilities,
she organizes what used to be called Family and Friends Weekend.
Down the hall in the Commuter Lounge is Barbara Smith,
staff associate for Campus Activities and Events, Commuters and
Nontraditional Student Programs. Smith has been a leader in campus
life since 1980. After 25 years working in residence life, Smith
moved to Campus Activities and Events specifically to provide
advocacy, services and programs for commuter and nontraditional
students. She also is responsible for events planning for such
large events as the Maine Hello, which welcomes new students and
assists them in moving in to the halls, First Year Family Day, and
Maine Day.
On
the third floor, is the Office of Residence Life, directed by
Tara Loomis. Longtime administrative assistant Doreen Thibodeau knows everything about the workings of
Res Life. Associate Director Anne Marie Reed works
with living and learning programs, and hiring and training staff.
Lauri Sidelko directs UMaine's alcohol and drug
education programs for students.
The
Student Affairs Office also is located on the third floor, where
Kenda Scheele is senior associate dean of students,
responsible for supervising residence life, campus recreation and
the connections program, as well as student employment and
volunteer programs. Andrea Gifford is the assistant
to the dean and Linda Deshane is the administrative
assistant. Longtime Administrative Assistant Nancy Morin
is the first person to greet you when you call or stop by the
office. It is interesting to note that until the late 1960s, there
was a separate Dean of Women and Dean of Men. The two positions
became one, called Dean of Student Services. From the early 1930s
to the late 1950s, Edith Wilson served as the Dean
of Women. She was an administrator and committee woman who took a
prominent role nationally in such organizations as AAUW. Velma Oliver taught English here for a number of years,
then held various administrative positions. Oliver was best known
for her work in housing, but she also served on many university
and alumni committees, was the long-time secretary of Phi Kappa
Phi, and held various positions in the local, state and national
AAUW.
The
Career Center on the third floor is directed by Patricia
Counihan, who started out 25 years ago reviewing resumes.
She now administers all aspects of the Career Center, including
career counseling and organizing large events, such as the Career
Fair and Resumania that are attended by hundreds of students
seeking employment or internships. Two longtime employees
who have been here since graduating from high school include
Janice Madore, the administrative associate who does all
the budgets, and Cindy Trimm, the technology
specialist in charge of all the computers, software, job databases
and the center's Web site. Sherry Treworgy is the
associate director; her primary responsibilities include student
career planning and counseling. Treworgy also is a Myers-Briggs
specialist. Cathy Marquez is assistant director for
employer relations, overseeing on-campus recruiting programs,
resume referrals and job searches for graduating students. In the
Career Center, you'll also find Crisanne Kadamus-Blackie,
a health professions/pre-law adviser.
Also
on the third floor is the Office of Student Employment. This
office is where you find the only room in the union solely named
for a woman – the Barbara Higgins Bodwell '45 Center
for Service and Volunteerism. It is directed by longtime employee
Mary Skaggs, who oversees all student employment and
volunteer programs. The assistant director is Lyn Dexter,
who works with Black Bear volunteers and Alternative Spring Break.
On
the ground floor, toward the back, in the Wade Center for Student
Leadership, named for Miriam K. Wade and her
husband, are student organizations such as the Panhellenic
Council, the governing board for UMaine sororities; Student
Government, which has had a few women presidents in its history;
and WMEB Radio, where many women have been station managers, and
news and music directors.
In
terms of women's programs, The Women in Curriculum Luncheon series
is one of the oldest and most visible. Scheduled weekly in the
Bangor Lounge of the Memorial Union, the series features lectures,
panels and performances that reflect current scholarship on
women's issues. The series provides visiting scholars, university
faculty, staff, students and other community members the
opportunity to present their work to a diverse audience.
There are many organizations at the university that involve women,
but sororities have 100 percent women memberships.
Currently, there are six sororities on campus: Pi Beta Phi, Alpha
Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Zeta, Phi Mu, and Alpha Omicron Pi . In the
1970s, there were 10 UMaine sorority chapters. The first sorority
was Phi Gamma, founded in 1896. It became Delta Sigma in 1903 and
was renamed Alpha Omicron Pi in 1908. It is the oldest women's
sorority on the University of Maine campus; Pi Beta Phi is
nation's oldest. Three percent of women undergraduates are
members of a sorority.
Sororities at the University of Maine are built on scholarship,
leadership, community service and social activities. Sorority
life is based on academic achievement through study programs,
opportunities for scholarships and minimum GPA requirements.
Members develop skills in leadership, time management,
decision-making and group dynamics. Each sorority supports a
national philanthropy through fundraising. In addition, many look
for local events to help improve the local community, such as
sponsoring campus events, serving meals at the local soup kitchen,
donating food and participating in blood drives. Unlike the
fraternities, the sororities do not have their own housing, unless
a fraternity is no longer on campus and the sorority rents their
house. Sororities have chapter rooms located in the basements of
the various residence halls.
Student Government is where longtime employee Sue Polk-Ash
can be found. While changes in Student Government officers occur
each year, Polk-Ash has served as a constant for this office,
providing continuity. There have been five women presidents of
Student Government: Trish Riley, the first woman
president, serving in 1972-73, followed by Tamara Davis,
Jennifer Nelson and Lyn McLaughlin in
the 1990s, and Kate O'Brien in 2005. Not surprising,
many of these women have gone on to important leadership
positions. For example, Trish Riley has dedicated
her career to promoting sound public health policy and advocating
for the elderly. Riley's service has included work for the Maine
Committee for the Aging, the Bureau of Maine's Elderly, and the
Maine Public Health Association. In 1981, Riley was a delegate to
the White House Conference on Aging and, in 1985, she was the
first woman to be honored as Maine's Public Administrator of the
Year by the American Society for Public Administration. Her
current position is in Gov. John Baldacci's administration.
Women have come a long way since the early 1900s, when such groups
and activities included the Better Halves Club, to involve the
wives of male students in various university activities, such as
the basketball team, rifle team and Maine Masque. In addition,
there once was the Thursday's Club for wives of faculty members,
and the Mrs. Maine contest for campus wives.
The
fountain and landscape sculpture located outside of the Union was
designed by art professor emeritus Deborah de Moulpied.
The
college newspaper, Maine Campus, has been in existence since 1875.
It has had many women writers and a handful of women editors,
including Kristin Saunders.
The
Military Room lists the names of women who have served in the
military.
The
Faculty Development Center is located in the Union's lower level.
There you will find Fran Daly, who leads the faculty
and staff training in Microsoft Office.
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2.)
South Stevens
Hall - MP3 audio tour (321 Kb)
In
South Stevens is the Maine Folklife Center, the nation's leading
collection of folklore, oral history, traditional music and
photographs of Maine and Eastern Canada. Several oral history
collections relate to women. They include women in World War II
and the Depression, women's textile arts, and women veterans, and,
more recently, women in the paper industry. Associate Director
Pauleena MacDougall is an associate in anthropology,
and teaches courses in linguistics and Native American Folklore.
She has published numerous papers on the Penobscot Indian
language, culture and history, including a book called The
Penobscot Dance of Resistance: Tradition in the History of a
People. She is the editor of the Maine Folklore Center's
annual monograph series and co-chairs the President's Council on
Women. The Maine Folklife Center also has an archivist, Pamela Dean, who is currently preparing a major proposal
to establish a regional digital archive to preserve sound
recordings throughout Northern New England. Bethany
Haverlock is the administrative assistant.
Also
in South Stevens is the Department of Anthropology, whose faculty
includes archaeologist Kristin Sobolik, the current
chair and associate director of the Climate Change Institute. She
is the first woman tenured and promoted in both Anthropology and
the Climate Change Institute. Her research focuses on the analysis
of biological remains from archeological sites, such as plants,
animals and humans. A newer faculty member in Anthropology is
Constanza Ocampo-Raeder, who studies modern indigenous
people of the rainforests of Peru.
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3.)
Stevens Hall - MP3 audio tour (723 Kb)
Stevens Hall is the heart of the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences. The dean of UMaine's largest college is Ann
Leffler, who oversees 21 academic departments, programs
and institutes within the college. Associate Dean Kathryn
Olmstead an associate professor of journalism who was
honored by the American Association of University of Achievement
Citation, presented annually to a Maine woman for distinctive
contribution to community, region and state for pioneering efforts
in her field of endeavor. Olmstead is the editor of the magazine,
Echoes. A previous associate dean, retired faculty member
Elaine Gershman from psychology, served for many
years in this position and is still active today in the campus
community. Her contribution was her special programs focusing on
helping first-year students succeed in their transition to
college. Gershman established scholarships in memory of her
daughter and husband. The Dr. Melanie Gershman-Tewksbury '77
Scholarship provides scholarships for meritorious
pre-medical students, with preference given to students in the
Honors College and/or students whose curriculum includes a strong
emphasis in the humanities, while The
Professor Melvin Gershman Scholarship funds provides
scholarships for meritorious science students with preference to
students in the Honors College, whose curriculum includes a strong
emphasis in the humanities.
Also
in Stevens is the Department of History. Among the women on the
history faculty are architectural historian Martha McNamara,
who played a major role in the development of the Campus Heritage
map; and historian of American History Marli Weiner,
who co-authored Of Place and Gender, Women in Maine History.
Weiner is an active member of the board of the Maine Humanities
Council.
The
longtime staff person in the History Department is Suzanne
Moulton. The Alice R. Stewart Seminar Room
in Stevens is named for the late historian and faculty member who
helped establish UMaine's Canadian American Center. Today, the
center is the largest and one of the most prestigious in the
United States. Stewart also was instrumental in establishing the
Association of Canadian Studies in the U.S.. Today, Betsy
Beattie is head of the important Canadian Collection in
Fogler, and author of the book, Obligation and Opportunity:
Single Maritime Women in Boston, 1870-1930.
Alumna Marion E. Martin, a 1935 graduate in history,
was a major figure in Maine government for more than 40 years,
beginning with her election to the legislature in 1930 and ending
with her retirement as commissioner of labor and industry in 1972.
While serving as a member of the Maine Senate, Martin became the
first woman to be chosen assistant chair of the Republican
National Committee. During that period, she founded the National
Federation of Women's Republican Clubs. Being a top leader in the
Republican Party wasn't the only "first" for Martin. In 1947, when
she became Maine's commissioner of labor and industry, she was the
first woman ever to head a state department. In fact, for many
years, she was the only woman in the nation to hold such a high
state job.
Alumna Tabitha King, a 1971 graduate in history, is
a renowned author of seven works of fiction, one of her latest
being Survivor. All revolve around Maine women whose lives
are definitely not out of fairy tales. She also published
Playing Like a Girl, a work about the high school basketball
career of UMaine athlete Cindy Blodgett. An active philanthropist,
she is president of the family foundation that focuses on
libraries, literacy, healthcare, homelessness and hunger in Maine.
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4.)
North Stevens Hall
- MP3 audio tour (709 Kb)
In
North Stevens, you'll find the Department of Political Science.
Associate Professor Amy Fried, who joined the
faculty in 1997, became the first woman tenured in the department.
Among her many courses is one specializing in women and politics.
She has recently been promoted to Associate Dean of Research for
the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
One
of the most outstanding graduates of the university to serve in
public office is alumna Olympia J. Snowe, a 1969
graduate with a degree in political science. She was elected to
the United States Senate in 1994. Before that, Snowe represented
Maine's Second Congressional District for eight terms in the U.S.
House of Representatives. When she was elected to the Congress in
1978 at the age of 31, she was the youngest Republican woman and
the first Greek-American woman in Congress. Sen. Snowe is a
well-known champion for women's issues, particularly women's
health. In addition, her life and her achievements serve as an
inspiration for girls and women in Maine and around the nation.
Another more recent alumna is Melissa Reynolds O'Dea,
a 1992 graduate with a degree in international affairs/political
science. As a Maine assistant attorney general for the past six
years, she has taken a lead role nationally in enforcing the 1998
settlement agreement between 47 states and the major tobacco
manufacturers. Under that agreement, those corporations are giving
large sums of money to states for use in health related issues.
Currently, she is the lead attorney in a federal court action in
Maine defending the new state law that closely regulates the
delivery of tobacco products sold on the Internet and by
telephone. Another international affairs graduate, alumna Jill McGowan, graduated in 1982 and is a fashion designer.
Also
in North Stevens is the Department of Public Administration, where
the faculty includes Carolyn Ball, who
teaches courses in public management, human resources,
administrative theory and statistics. Her research interests
include performance measurement, human resource diversity issues,
community policing and domestic violence. Ball is a founding
member of Research Collaborative on Violence Against Women. Former
faculty member Jean Lavigne left the Public
Administration faculty in the mid-1990s when she was diagnosed
with AIDS; she has been a driving force in raising awareness about
this issue and its effect on women.
Also
located in North Stevens is UMaine's Office of Equal Opportunity,
led by Karen Kemble, who has a law degree, and
assistant director Bonita Grindle who has been on
campus for decades and a lifelong learner. Except for one year,
all past Equal Opportunity directors have been women: JoAnn
Fritsche, Suzanne Estler, Evelyn
Silver and Susan Nichols. This office
promotes a campus climate supportive of equity and diversity
through advice, education and intervention. The office advocates
for the fair treatment of legally protected individuals and
groups, and for compliance with federal and state civil rights
laws, as well as university nondiscrimination policies. They are
responsible for such things as investigating and informally
resolving complaints of sexual harassment, coordinating the campus
compliance with Title IX, and preparing the annual affirmative
action plan.
Behind Stevens Hall.....you can see:
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5.)
Advanced Manufacturing
Center - MP3 audio tour (61 Kb)
The
Advanced Manufacturing Center is where student engineers get
hands-on experience in the latest manufacturing technologies. The
new facility also is home to the College of Engineering's Dean's
Office, whose staff includes longtime employee Doreen
Vaillancourt, an administrative associate.
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6.)
Little Hall - MP3 audio tour (1.3 Mb)
The
Department of Modern Languages and Classics is in Little Hall.
Among its many women faculty members are Cathleen Bauschatz,
professor of French, and Tina Passman, who
researches and teaches about women's spirituality and ancient
religion. She is an ordained minister of spiritual peacemaking,
and is very involved in both the Honors College and Peace Studies.
Kathleen March is a professor of Spanish and
director of the Critical Languages Program. March is a longtime
leader in Faculty Senate and is very involved in service learning.
Kathryn Slott is an associate professor of French.
Jane Smith conducts sociolinguistic research on
Franco-American French and Susan Pinette directs
Franco-American Studies.
A
former staff member, Marion Buzzell, a Maine
graduate in French in the early 1900s, came back to the university
in the mid-1920s and retired in 1958. She was especially
effective as a teacher in beginning French classes and served on
many faculty committees. She was secretary of Phi Beta Kappa for
much of her tenure.
Examples of amazing alumni in languages include:
Elizabeth Hanly Danforth, class of 1915. In her 30
years living in Brazil, Danforth gained a reputation both as an
ambassador of good will and a poet. She was a director of the
Niteroi Rest Home for the elderly for more than 15 years;
president of the American Women's Club; an officer and director of
the Institution Brasil-Estados Unidos; a patron of the American
Society; a member of the Brazilian Federation for the Advancement
of Women; and a contributing supporter of the Cultural Ingles and
the Academia Britanica. The American Society of Rio de Janeiro
established a Memorial Fund in Danforth's name. The Academia
Britanica dedicated the Poetry Section of its library to her.
Ann Green Robison, a 1924 graduate in French, gained
international recognition as a non-governmental observer at the
United Nations. She was a National Council of Jewish Women's
representative to the U.N. from 1947 –51. Her broadcasts on the
Berlin Airlift and the Displaced Persons Camps were heard
throughout the United States. She did radio and television
broadcasts for Israel in the late 1940s from across the globe.
Robison was listed in Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in
World Jewry, and many others. A girl's dormitory was named in her
honor at the Fairleigh Dickinson University campus in 1964 and a
Medal of Merit was given to her by Fairleigh Dickinson. She holds
an honorary doctorate from the University of Maine.
Mary Crowley Mulvey, a 1930 graduate in Latin, started
her work with the elderly in the 1950s, while earning her master's
degree. Her thesis, Changes in the Mental Ability and Social
Adjustment of People as They Grow Old, was a pioneering work and
with its release, Mulvey became an instant authority on older
Americans. She was a major force in the drafting and passage of
historic legislation, such as the Older Americans Act and
Medicare. She was a participant in the first White House
Conference on Aging in 1961, and subsequent ones in 1971 and
1981. She was cofounder and vice president of the National
Council of Senior Citizens. And in 1979, she was appointed to the
Federal Council on Aging under President Jimmy Carter. The
University of Maine awarded Mulvey an honorary degree in 1991.
Also
in Little Hall is the Department of Psychology, whose faculty
includes researchers Cynthia Erdley-Gardella
associate professor of psychology who teaches courses on child and
adolescent psychology, conducts research on girls' friendships and
serves as the undergraduate coordinator; and Shannon McCoy,
assistant professor in psychology, whose research focuses on
how women cope with sexism – as well as
processes that lead to "comfort food eating" among women in
response to stress. Marie Hayes and Sandy Sigmon are the first women full professors in
psychology to rise through the ranks in the UMaine department and
were the only women in the department for many years. Hayes is a
developmental psychologist who studies neurobehavioral development
in infants, focusing on sleep and arousal systems as it relates to
syndromes like SIDS, prenatal brain damage, and prematurity. She
is one of only a handful of women to serve as president of the
Faculty Senate. Sigmon is one of the three researchers in the
U.S. trying to better understand psychological contributions to
the development and maintenance of Seasonal Affective Disorder
(SAD). SAD episodes occur more frequently in women, individuals
who live in northern latitudes, and approximately 10 percent of
the population of Maine. She also is regarded as one of the
foremost experts on another cyclical stressor, menstrual cycle
reactivity, in which she focuses on the relationship between the
experience of anxiety symptoms and premenstrual symptoms in women
with panic disorder and in women vulnerable to developing panic
disorder. Rebecca Eilers, a developmental
psychologist and former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, teaches courses on parenting and developmental
psychology. Her research has focused on language development in
cross cultural populations. Instructor Linda Yelland
has research interests in belief systems and stereotype change.
The
Michele Alexander Scholarship is named in honor of
the popular professor who died in an automobile accident in 2003.
Alexander, an assistant professor of social psychology at the
University of Maine until her death, did significant research on
the relationship among personal values, stereotyping and
prejudice.
Many
alumni from psychology have gone on to do great work. For example,
Mary Vesta Marston-Scott graduated from UMaine in
1946. She worked at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, then
returned to school, earning her master's in nursing from Yale.
She was employed in the Commissioned Corps of the United States
Public Health Service in Washington D.C. Through her research and
the numerous papers, Marston-Scott made major contributions in the
field of nursing. In 1985, the Social Science Index identified
Marston-Scott as the most-quoted nurse author.
Leigh Saufley was the first woman ever to serve as
chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and the youngest
chief justice in Maine's history. A 1975 graduate in psychology
and the University of Maine School of Law in 1980, she served as
one of Maine's first female deputy attorney's general.
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7.)
Boardman Hall - MP3 audio tour (411 Kb)
Boardman is home to several engineering programs. Women who are
engineering faculty members include Kate Beard, who
chaired the Department of Spatial Information Science and
Engineering for eight years and who was the first woman to be
promoted to full professor in engineering. Associate Professor of
Spatial Information Science and Engineering Peggy Agouris
does research focused on developing new automated image analysis
techniques. Both women are affiliated with the National Center for
Geographic Information and Analysis.
In
Civil and Environmental Engineering is Jean MacRae,
who studies the ways microorganisms affect pollutants in treatment
systems and the environment.
In
Mechanical Engineering Technology is Karen Horton,
who in 2003 became the first woman faculty member in the School of
Engineering Technology to be tenured and promoted to the rank of
associate professor. Her technical specialty is the testing and
analysis of industrial vibration problems. She also advises the
University of Maine chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, an
organization dedicated to community service and open to all
engineering students. It is an important link between women
engineering students, alumnae and faculty.
The
first woman engineering graduate was Margaret Chase Morrill.
She graduated from civil engineering in 1943. Today, a scholarship
exists in her honor.
A
number of women students in engineering have gone on to make
important contributions, including Joan Brooks, who
received her undergraduate and graduate degrees here, specializing
in peat engineering and science. She now works locally and
globally in conservation and waste management, and has received
numerous awards for her work. A mechanical engineering graduate,
Bridget Zeigler Johnson, dreamed of working for NASA
for as long as she could remember. Today, she is the "Voice of
Houston," working as NASA project manager for extravehicular
activities.
Across the street you can see...
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8.)
Bennett Hall - MP3 audio tour (105 Kb)
Bennett Hall is the home of the Physics Department, with alumna
Susan McKay. Professor McKay achieved many "firsts" in
physics. She was the first woman to chair the department, and the
first and only woman in the department. She was in the first class
of women who graduated with a degree in physics from Princeton,
and the first woman to receive her degree in theoretical physics
from MIT. She also directs the Center for Science and Mathematics
Education Research, and the Master of Science in Teaching (MST)
Program.
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9.)
Barrows Hall/Engineering
Science Research Building - MP3 audio tour (122 Kb)
In
electrical engineering technology is professor Jude Pearse,
who specializes in digital systems and microprocessor
applications. She has many years of industrial experience from
firms such as Bath Iron Works to her own private corporation,
Robash Unlimited. She also is a registered professional engineer
in Maine. Rosemary Smith is a professor of
electrical and computer engineering, specializing in
nanotechnology. She is affiliated with the Laboratory for Surface
Science Technology.
Across the street is...
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10.)
Cutler Health
Center - MP3 audio tour (265 Kb)
Dr.
Mary Dietrich was instrumental in bringing a women's
health specialty clinic to Cutler Health Center in the late 1970s.
Today, two nurse practitioners, Rashelle "Shellie" Morcom
and Bonnie Clark, provide a range of women's health
services, including pap smears/annual exams, birth control
services, emergency contraception, screening and treatment for
sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy testing, options
counseling, and referral. Many other women are on the staff of
Cutler Health Center, including Judy Mateja, an
X-ray technologist whose been on staff for 30 years, and Ency Whitehill, the financial manager for Cutler Health
Center. Ruth Lockhart a previous health educator at
Cutler Heath Center has been active in the women's movement since
the 1970s. She was one of the first AIDS educators trained in the
country and was a member of the Governor's Task Force on AIDS. She
currently directs the Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center in
Bangor.
On
the side facing Gannett Hall is the Counseling Center, where you
find Wanda Cunningham, who has worked for 40 years.
She answers all calls and schedules appointments. You will also
find longtime counselor April Boulier, who
specializes in eating disorders.
From the corner of Flagstaff and Long Road..... you can see up the
hill to:
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11.)
Doris Twitchell Allen Village and
Patch Hall - MP3 audio tour (170 Kb)
DTAV,
as it is known, is named for Doris Twitchell Allen,
the Old Town native and UMaine alumna who founded Children's
International Summer Villages and was nominated for a Nobel Peace
Prize in 1977. The village includes four housing units named for
other UMaine people, including Eunice Bauman-Nelson,
a distinguished librarian, teacher and peace activist.
Patch Hall, housing 200 students, opened in the Fall 2003 and is
named for Edith Patch Hall, the international expert
on entomology.
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12.)
Hilltop - MP3 audio tour (394 Kb)
Hilltop is the headquarters for Student Auxiliary Services. Many
of the staff members at Hilltop and the other UMaine dining
commons are longtime UMaine employees. They include such women as
Loretta Wasson, who began working there as a high
school student, and Claire Lint, now Dining Services
manager for York Commons. She is a UMaine alumna known for her
photographs of lighthouses that are often on display in the
commons. Dietician and interim assistant director of resident
dining, Laura Honeycutt, is headquartered at
Hilltop.
Also
in Auxillary Services is Robin Toderian, assistant
vice president, who oversees several divisions, including computer
and technical services, dining and catering, and the Maine Card
office.
Jennifer Moreau is responsible for communications and
marketing, and is involved with UMaine cable.
The
Housing Office is located in Hilltop. Several longtime employees
include the two custodial services supervisors Carolyn King
and Jodie Dowling. They are the day-to-day eyes and
ears of the custodial and maintenance program in the residence
halls. Sue Tracy is a longtime custodian and team
leader for custodial services, making sure the residence halls are
kept clean and furnished. Bonnie Bates is the key
contact for students with issues related to housing assignments
and dining, and Becky Binnett is a data processing
supervisor.
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13.)
Student Recreation and Fitness
Center - MP3 audio tour (230 Kb)
The
85,000-square-foot Student Recreation and Fitness Center opened in
2007, with Associate Director Kristie Deschene
overseeing intramurals, Maine Bound, fitness and sport clubs.
Hundreds of women participate in intramural sports, from
basketball, volleyball, soccer, flag football to water polo.
Women dominate in terms of participation in fitness, wellness and
nutrition programs. In addition, hundreds of women are active in
sport clubs, which compete against other teams off-campus in areas
such as fencing, cricket, rugby and lacrosse. The rec center
offers many leadership positions for women, from leading trips and
serving as sport officials to being instructors, working with day
camps and being facility supervisors, Campus Recreation's highest
undergraduate position.
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14.)
Neville Hall - MP3 audio tour (1.13 Mb)
In
Neville Hall are the Departments of English, Computer Science, and
Mathematics and Statistics. Among the women faculty members with
offices here are Associate Professor of English Patricia
Burnes, who received the 2005 Presidential Outstanding
Teaching Award and who oversees the First Year Writing program;
Margery Irvine, who teaches Maine literature; Deborah Rogers, an 18th-century literature
scholar and an international authority on Ann Radcliffe; Laura May Cowan, associate professor of modern British
literature and coeditor of the National Poetry Foundation's
journal, "Paideuma: Modernist Poetry and Poetics"; and
Naomi Jacobs, who teaches women's and utopia
literature. The English Department is chaired by Margaret
Lukens, whose specializations include Wabanaki literary
history and American women's literature. Former English professor
Nancy MacKnight became associate provost and
eventually a vice chancellor of the University of Maine System -
one of the highest-ranking women. The late Constance Hunting,
a poet and author of numerous books of poetry, taught creative
writing; served as Chair of the National Poetry Foundation in
1989; and founded Puckerbrush Press and Puckerbrush Review.
Many
women alumni in English have made important contributions,
including Christine Hastedt, a 1968 graduate in
English who helped establish the right to fair hearings for the
poor before courts and agencies; worked on laws that protect
workers who lost their jobs due to plant closures; and helped
expand healthcare to children and their parents. She also is the
person who came up with the idea for the Maine Parents as Scholars
program. In 2002, Hastedt received the Bernard Lown '42 Alumni
Humanitarian Award from the University of Maine Alumni
Association.
Alumna Janine Digiovanni was a 1983 graduate in
English. Few people have witnessed more world conflict and
inhumanity than she has. As an independent journalist and then as
a foreign correspondent for the Times of London, DiGiovanni
has covered armed conflicts and human rights abuses in Israel,
Lebanon, Bosnia, Rwanda, Zaire, Liberia, Chechnya, Kosovo, East
Timor, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Iraq.
Alumna Manette A. Ansay a 1987 graduate, received a
phone call from Oprah Winfrey in 1997 telling her that she had
just read her first novel and wanted it to be an Oprah Book Club
book. Ansay soon found out what an impact the popular television
host has on the book market. Vinegar Hill, the story of a
woman coming to terms with dark family secrets, had 18,000 copies
in print before Oprah's call. There are now well over 1 million in
print.
Elise Turner chairs the Department of Computer Science.
She does cutting-edge research on artificial intelligence. Her
research interests and publication areas include: communication
during multiagent problem solving; discourse processing; planning
in real-world domains; the interaction between communication and
problem solving; and distributed artificial intelligence, in
particular, cooperative distributed problem solving and cognitive
science. The administrative assistant for Computer Science is
long-time UMaine employee, Ellen Johndro.
Pushpa Gupta is the only woman professor of
mathematics. She teaches statistics. One former professor who
stands out is Esther Comegys, who was competent in
advanced work at a time when her department had few people who
could teach mathematic courses at that level. She retired in 1960.
Alumna Beryl Warner Williams, a 1935 graduate in
mathematics, received many honors, including Outstanding Educator
of America Award and Woman of the Year. She received the key to
the City of Bangor and, in 1972, received an honorary degree from
UMaine.
UNET,
the University of Maine System Network, also is located in
Neville. Here you find longtime employee Kim Yerxa
in the computer tech office, doing all document imaging for the
seven campuses. UNET also houses directory assistance for the
campus. To contact people and programs at the University of Maine,
on-campus callers can dial 0 on weekdays to be connected to
UMaine's switchboard operator Lori Parker. A 24-hour
automated campus directory with a female voice is available by
dialing 581-1110.
Across the street is:
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15.)
Jenness Hall - MP3 audio tour (128 Kb)
Here you find the office of Anja
Nohe, assistant professor of chemical and biological
engineering, who is part of the Functional Genomics Program. She
also is an adjunct scientist at Jackson Laboratory. Her research
focuses on the effect of nanodynamics on embryonic development,
especially that of the skeleton. She focuses on the development of
new tools for treatments of skeletal and vascular diseases, such
as osteoporosis, primary pulmanary hypertension and cancer.
Next to Jenness is:
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16.)
Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center - MP3 audio tour (135
Kb)
Roberta Laverty is the communication specialist with
the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, which focuses on
the development of new wood products for Maine's forest economy.
She has worked in rural economic development in Maine and has been
a board member with several organizations focusing on women and/or
economic development. Among other longtime UMaine women employees
at AEWC is Doreen Boutin, the administrative
associate to the director.
On your right, after Neville you can see the back of East Annex,
which is the white building:
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17.)
East Annex - MP3 audio tour (633 Kb)
East
Annex is home to a number of programs, including Peace Studies,
which over the past decade has been led by Director Phyllis
Brazee and Barbara Blazej, the Youth
Violence Prevention Project director. Together, they teach an
online course on forgiveness and reconciliation, and organize such
events as a speaker series, Diversity Dialogues, middle and high
school peer mediation trainings, and Peace Week.
Ann Smith directs Disability Support Services, one of
UMaine's College Success Programs, and chairs the President's
Council on Disabilities. Smith and staff members like Sue
Spaulding address the accommodation and inclusion needs of
more than 300 UMaine students with disabilities.
Another College Success Program is Onward, one of the Student
Support Services TRIO programs that enable access for students who
often lack the academic credentials required to be accepted into
UMaine in the traditional manner. Onward students take pre-college
courses to build their academic skills before moving into the
college of their choice. The Mary Ann Devoe/Fern Stearns
Mathematics Prize for First Year Onward Students was
established in 2003 by the former Onward mathematics teachers.
Ellen Woodhead works in the Faculty Senate Office, a
role that Helen Young held for decades. Previously
known as the Council of Colleges, its membership tends to be
heavily weighted in male faculty members. However, several women
have served as president: Ruth Nadelhaft (1984-85),
Barbara Barton (1987-88), Virginia Gibson
(1993-94), Kathleen March (1996-97), Mary
Ellen Symanski (1998-99), Gloria Vollmers
(1999-00), and, most recently Marie Hayes (2005-06).
Also
located in East Annex is The Safe Campus Office, which works to
promote a safe community for all. This office strives to reduce
sexual assault, dating violence and stalking by encouraging
healthy and consensual relationships. Carey Nason
serves as the coordinator and Renate Klein is the
director. Klein's research focuses on gender-based violence,
conflict management, intercultural communication and social
change. She coordinates the European Network on Conflict, Gender,
and Violence, and was instrumental in founding the campus Research
Collaborative on Violence Against Women.
Next to East Annex is a building with turquoise panels.... This is:
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18.)
Shibles Hall - MP3 audio tour (1.3 Mb)
Most
of the College of Education and Human Development faculty have
offices in Shibles Hall. The associate dean of the college is
Anne Pooler, who has been here three decades, and who
recently co-chaired a task force on No Child Left Behind with Sen.
Susan Collins. The late Kay Hyatt, a longtime
employee, served as the communicator coordinator, keeping the
college and its work on the map - locally and nationally.
Women on the faculty include literacy specialist Jan Kristo,
whose focus is children's literature, reading and language arts
and integrated literacy learning. Kristo has served on many
national boards. She, along with her now retired colleague Rosemary Bamford received the Presidential Outstanding
Research and Scholarly Achievement Award. Other women faculty
include Connie Perry, who has taught in education
for nearly three decades, Janet Spector in special
education, Gail Garthwait with instructional
technology, and Dorothy Breen and Sydney
Thomas, who together oversee the graduate program in
counselor education. All teaching candidates have to pass an exam
called PRAXIS, coordinated by Diane Jackson. Gert Nesin is the clinical instructor who works with the
MAT program.
On
the third floor is the Center for Research and Evaluation, where
you find Amy Cates, a research assistant, and women
researchers. Deb Allen, a former market researcher
for Eddie Bauer, now uses her talents in quantitative data
analysis to advance education issues. Janet Fairman,
whose expertise is in qualitative research, did the first
evaluation of Maine's seventh grade computer laptop initiative.
Suzanne Hart, an active member of the University of
Maine Alumni Association, came here from the Muskie Institute and
has extensive knowledge in public policy research; and Mary
Madden, whose expertise is in girls' development and
gender issues in education, conducts program evaluation in
adolescent health.
Among the longtime UMaine employees on staff in Shibles Hall are
Dianne Avery, who oversees the budget, Phyllis
Thibodeau who coordinates course scheduling, and Arlene Sylvester, who works with undergraduates and
handles class registration. Theresa McMannus assists
the dean, Becky Libby oversees graduate records and
Cindy Plourde assists Pam Kimball, the
coordinator of all the field experiences and student teaching.
Andrea Cole serves as the undergraduate student
adviser, working with hundreds of undergraduates to coordinate
their semester schedule of classes. She also is responsible for
all student services in the college, evaluating the teacher
candidacy portfolios, recruiting students through open houses and
overnight experiences, teaching the first-year seminars in
education, and advising the International Honor Society (Kappa
Delta Pi) for educators.
The
Linda Lancaster scholarship fund is named in honor
of the graduate student in education who was killed while walking
off campus. It assists graduate students in professional
development activities.
In
terms of the many outstanding graduates in education:
In
1996 at the age of 82, Dorothy Willard received her
diploma in the College of Education and Human Development, making
her the oldest woman graduate in UMaine history.
In
1972, Constance Hedin Carlson was the first woman
selected as Distinguished Maine professor at the University of
Maine. She was the first woman to become dean of a college at the
University of Maine, the Bangor Community College, where she
served from 1972-79. And she was the first woman to serve as
president of a campus in the University of Maine System at the
University of Maine at Presque Isle, from 1980-86.
Alumna Marilyn Amelia Zoidis was a graduate in
education in 1971. She was selected from a nationwide search to
curate the Smithsonian Institution's Star-Spangled Banner project.
That project was one of the largest conservation efforts in
history. The $18 million project improved Old Glory's condition
and, more importantly, guaranteed its preservation as an important
American symbol. Zoidis continues to work at the Smithsonian.
As
head librarian of the Old Town Public Library, alumna Valerie Osborne led the multimillion dollar capital
campaign that more than doubled the capacity of the original
Carnegie library building. In 1997, she started GirlsTalk, a
mentoring program that pairs middle school girls with community
women in monthly book discussions and which now, along with its
spin off for high school girls, Chin Wag, serves 82 girls.
In
the basement of Shibles is the home base for Instructional
Technology, including the Computer Help Center for computer issues
and FirstClass, the university's e-mail system. The administrator
is Colleen Willette, the Help Desk coordinator who
manages the FirstClass server and she is the administrator for all
the computer labs. Next door is Karen Cole in AV
Services, which loans equipment for classes or projects. Helen Wei
is the system programmer for the campus computer network.
She maintains the internal Internet of the university, ensuring
that when you click on an icon, it will work.
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19.)
Donald P. Corbett Business Building - MP3 audio tour (745 Kb)
The Maine Business School is
located in the Corbett Business Building. While only about a third
of the students are women, nearly half the faculty members are
women. The Associate Dean of the College of Business, Public
Policy and Health is Gloria Vollmers, who left her
career as a musician to take up accounting. She still finds time
to play with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Among the women
faculty is Professor of Management Carol Gilmore,
who teaches labor relations and has served for years as the
grievance representative for the faculty. Gilmore received the
Presidential Public Service Achievement award in 2006. Associate
Professor of Marketing Kim McKeage is the first
faculty member in business to win the President's Outstanding
Teaching Award. McKeage is a strong advocate for women in business
and women's issues in higher education. Associate Professor of
Management Stephanie Welcomer
teaches business ethics, strategic
management and organizational behavior. Welcomer's research
examines organizations and the environment. Natalie
Steiger, associate professor of production and operations
management, teaches several core courses at the graduate and
undergraduate levels, and conducts leading-edge research in
management science and operations. Associate Professor of
Management is longtime faculty member Virginia Gibson.
Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems Nory
Jones established the University of Maine Research Portal,
facilitating knowledge sharing, discovery and innovation.
Terry Porter joined the UMaine Business School faculty in
fall 2006 as assistant professor of management. Her
research focuses on strategic change and corporate
environmentalism. Porter, who teaches business strategy and
policy, is a former member of the U.S. Cross Country Olympic Ski
Team. Lecturer Sheila Pechinski, who has
taught for decades in management, received the Presidential Public
Service Achievement Award in 1997. Instructor Martha
Broderick teaches Business Law.
A
number of longtime UMaine employees staff the college's
administrative offices, including Vicky King,
assistant to the dean, Alice Pellegini in the
undergraduate office, and Sharon Steele, who is the
contact for the Maine Business School.
One
of the many examples of outstanding women alumna is Valbona
Schwab, a 1997 graduate. She was the top finance student
at UMaine and received the Wall Street Journal Award. Schwab now
works at Standard & Poor's, where she has risen to the level of
senior associate in corporate value consulting.
The
Center on Aging is located on the third floor of Corbett. There
you find such amazing women as Research Associate Jennifer
Crittenden, whose interests include women's issues,
domestic violence and psychosocial aspects of aging, and
Paula Burnett, the RSVP coordinator.
Artist Elizabeth Busch designed the artwork, titled
"Continuum," that hangs in the building's atrium on the first
floor.
Across the street from Donald P. Corbett is:
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20.)
Murray Hall - MP3 audio tour (586 Kb)
Biological sciences faculty can be found in Murray Hall. The chair
is Eleanor Groden, associate professor of entomology
and an integrated pest management leader, who also works with fire
ants in Deering Hall. Among the many women faculty in this
department are bird migration specialist Rebecca Holberton;
marine biologist Sarah Lindsay, whose research
interests span marine invertebrate community ecology, behavior,
sensory biology and molecular biology; and zoologist Mary
Tyler, the 1981 Distinguished Maine Professor, whose work
focuses on genetic controls and tissue interactions during
embryonic development. Tyler's research is on the history of
embryology and the impact of modern developmental techniques on
society. She works with digital video in the production of films
and CD-ROMs of developing systems, producing multimedia
educational materials in developmental biology. Also in this
department is Professor Becky van Beneden, whose
research focuses on the response of aquatic organisms to
environmental stress, the molecular basis of the response and how
it compares to higher animals, including humans. Associate
Professor Adria Elskus conducts research
focusing on the response of aquatic organisms to pollutants,
including metals, fuel oil and pesticides. Assistant Professor
Katherine Webster's research interests include
the ecology of lakes and management of aquatic ecosystems. Bonnie Wood, who retired several years ago, taught
histology and started the Med Tech/Clinical Lab Sciences Program.
Several women alumni have made amazing contributions to the field,
including Wilhelmina Dunning, a 1926 graduate in
biology, who spent more than 50 years in cancer research. Dunning
was the first person to demonstrate that acute leukemia can be
transplanted from one animal to another. In 1960, she received an
honorary degree from UMaine, and in 1978, she received the Griffin
Award from the Association for Laboratory Science.
Alumna Margaret Dickie, a 1946 graduate in zoology,
was internationally known for her research on mutant mice at
Jackson Laboratory. One of her major contributions to biomedical
research was the discovery of many naturally occurring mutant
strains of mice, which now serve as animal models of human
diseases. At the time of her death at 47, Dickie was in her
eighth year of service as regional vice president of the American
Association of University Women.
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21.)
Maine Center for the Arts and Hudson Museum - MP3 audio tour (96
Kb)
Many
women play major roles in the success of the Maine Center for the
Arts and Hudson Museum. Among them are the assistant director of
the MCA, Adele Adkins, Kassie Stevens,
a former Maine state legislator who is director of major gifts,
and ticket services director Mary Addison. Gretchen Faulkner directs the Hudson Museum.
From there you can see across the parking lot to the back of
campus – and...
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22.)
Keyo Public Affairs Building - MP3 audio tour (301 Kb)
Keyo Public Affairs Building is the home of
University Relations, and University of Maine Printing and Mailing
Services. Among the longtime employees in University Relations are
Administrative Associate Carrie Ward and
Administrative Assistant Jeannine Hashey, Senior
Designer Carol Nichols and UMaine Today magazine
editor Margaret Nagle. Manager of Creative Services
Valerie Williams, who oversees the university's
design, multimedia and photography activities, is best known as
the designer of the award-winning UMaine Summer Session posters.
Artist Arline Thomson worked in the department for
decades as a graphic designer. University Relations is principally
responsible for sharing the university's story with the media, the
public and the university community itself, while also providing
marketing counsel and related creative services in the areas of
writing, photography, graphic design, multimedia and audio/visual
production needs to the University of Maine community. Directing
Printing and Mailing Services is Tammy Young, which
produces everything from postcards and posters to paper-bound
books and full-color brochures and magazines, and moves 2 million
pieces of mail per year. Jill Cram is the copy room
supervisor.
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23.)
Service Building - MP3 audio tour (363 Kb)
Facilities Management is directed by longtime employee Anita
Wihry. She is responsible for overseeing an E&G budget of
more than $25 million, as well as capital construction and
renovation projects in excess of $100 million a year, and
implementation of more than 16,000 work requests annually. She has
a staff in excess of 200 employees, including professional staff,
trades people and custodians. Facilities Management is made up of
20 different units, responsible for managing and maintaining
everything from roofs to roads, power to plumbing, and more. Among
the women on the staff are Sharon Watson, assistant
executive custodian and work control coordinator who makes things
tick on campus, and Carolyn McDonough, a
professional engineer and UMaine graduate. She is
one of the primary project managers who
has overseen construction of the Advanced Engineered Wood
Composites building and Student Innovation Center, installation
and renovation of sprinkler systems in two to three residence
halls per year, and renovations of Wells and Hilltop Commons.
Sherri Dow is the assistant to the director, overseeing
a significant portion of the administration of a wide range of
activities at Facilities. Susan Bodyke, as
work control coordinator, fields all the maintenance calls. On a
side note, Bodyke founded PATH: Penobscot Area Trekkers and
Hikers, and is a registered Maine Guide. June Baldacci
directs the Purchasing Department.
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24.)
Public Safety - MP3 audio tour (165 Kb)
Public Safety has had many women on its law enforcement staff:
Currently, Sergeant Deb Mitchell is the lone woman
police officer. She regularly teaches women's self-defense courses
on campus, and serves as both crime prevention and road patrol
officer. Recently retired police officer Laurie Sproul
was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of police sergeant
in Maine. Other women include Meredith Oliver, a
security guard, and several women dispatchers, including recently
retired Alice Lewis, whose calm and reassuring voice
is the one heard for decades when callers asked for assistance.
Sue York, the administrative assistant, has been with the
department for more than three decades.
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25.)
Class of 1944 Hall - MP3 audio tour (378 Kb)
The
Class of 1944 Hall is the home of some of the state's leading
performing artists and directors. In theater, they include faculty
members Sandra Hardy, who teaches acting classes,
and Marcia Douglas, who teaches acting, movement,
and voice, and chairs the program. The late Jane Snider,
the first woman faculty member in theater, was a longtime costume
designer in the school.
In
music, the women artists include Laura Artesani, a
pianist who developed a Women in Music course and organizes an
annual women composers concert; soprano Nancy Ogle,
the first full professor of music at UMaine; cellist Noreen
Silver; and nationally known composer of classical music
for more than two decades, Beth Wiemann. Pianist
Baycka Voronietsky performed her 25th annual
UMaine concert in spring 2005. Pianist Ginger Yang Hwalek
was named the 2006 Teacher of the Year by the Music Teachers
National Association.
The
School of Performing Arts sponsors such all-women singing groups
as the Athena Consort and Renaissance. In 1999, nine women hailing
from University Singers decided to start Renaissance, which
performs a cappella arrangements of contemporary and pop songs.
Renaissance has developed into a performing powerhouse, making
appearances across Maine. The performing arts business manager is
Karen Cole, and longtime UMaine employee Pamela McManus is the school's administrative associate.
Just outside the Renee and Leonard Minsky
Music Recital Hall on the first floor is a three-dimensional
artwork titled "Theater House," created by artist Louise
Bourne.
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Buildings not mentioned in East tour:
Androscoggin Hall
Crosby Lab
Cumberland Hall
Gannett Hall
Knox Hall
Maine Bound Adventure Center
Oxford Hall
Sculpture Studio
Somerset
Hall
