2024 Stillwater Awardees
Karen R. Boucias ‘71 and George L. Jacobson, Ph.D. have extensive backgrounds and resumes demonstrating their support and advocacy for UMaine and its students. As Triple Crown Donors, Karen and George have been involved with the University of Maine Foundation on many levels and are currently members of the Stillwater Society, the Charles F. Allen Legacy Society, and the President’s Club. The combination of Karen’s passion for supporting international students and George’s role in securing UMaine as a top research institution in addition to being strong supporters of the Collins Center for the Arts and UMaine athletics, makes them one powerful bear pair.
Karen Boucias earned a B.A. degree in English from UMaine in 1971. As a student, she was a member of the Sophomore Eagle Society and Pi Beta Phi sorority and was later inducted into Phi Kappa Phi. In 1981, with an M.S. in Library Science, Karen began her career at the University as a department head at Fogler Library. In 1985 she was appointed Director of Admissions for the Graduate School, followed by positions as Assistant and Associate Dean. Owing to that experience with international students and educational systems, in 1995 she was appointed Director of the Office of International Programs, a position she held for seventeen years. For twelve years of that time, Karen also served as the University of Maine’s designated member on the Board of Trustees for the American University in Bulgaria, which was founded with administrative and academic support from the University of Maine. She continues to serve as a member of AUBG’s University Council. From 2006-2012 she served on the UMaine Alumni Association Board of Directors, and later as an Incorporator and Chair of the Stewardship and Public Relations committee for the University of Maine Foundation. In 2018, she was honored with the establishment of the Karen R. Boucias International Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to international students pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University of Maine. Karen was the 2022 recipient of the Barbara Hikel Retiree Award, which recognizes a former UMaine employee who, after retirement, provides extraordinary voluntary service to the University of Maine. Since her retirement, she has continued to serve on the UMaine Board of Visitors and the Collins Center for the Arts Advisory Board. Karen was awarded a Fulbright grant to Germany and was a founding Board Member of the Maine State Chapter of the Fulbright Association.
Professor Emeritus George L. Jacobson earned a B.A. degree from Carleton College in Minnesota and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. George has been a major leader in developing public support leading to UMaine’s evolution as a top research institution. For several years before his 1979 appointment to the UMaine faculty, George served as staff scientist for the United States Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works. That background in public policy helped prepare him for a role as a leader and fierce advocate for UMaine as a much-needed source of research and innovation leading to economic advancement in Maine. George and his partners, known as the “Faculty Five,” reached out to editorial writers, policymakers, candidates for public office, and business and community leaders, always encouraging bipartisan support for the University of Maine. The result has been over twenty-five years of substantial public investment in research, all contributing to UMaine now being among the top research universities in the nation.
On the 70th anniversary of the UMaine Foundation in 2004, George was honored with the Leadership Award as the person who most changed UMaine during the decade 1994-2004. In 2005, the Foundation recognized the entire Faculty Five group with the inaugural President Abram W. Harris Award for heralding what President Fred Hutchinson called a “sea change” in the way the public perceived the role of UMaine’s research as critical to Maine’s future. George also received the 2013 Barbara Hikel Retiree Award.
During his scientific career, George has been a faculty member in what are now the School of Biology and Ecology and the Climate Change Institute (CCI), and he was Director of the CCI for nearly a decade before his retirement in 2008. His research has focused on how natural climate variability influenced vegetation over the past 60,000 years in North America, South America, and Europe. His most recent work has demonstrated that the warming of Earth’s climate after the last ice age was likely slowed by large-scale terrestrial carbon sequestration as forests expanded northward into recently deglaciated areas.
Beth Sturtevant ’82 and Tania Jo Sturtevant, both proud lifelong Mainers and Triple Crown donors, are shining examples of those who see the value in both engineering and the arts. They illustrate this commitment in their personal, professional, and philanthropic endeavors, and the UMaine community — on and off campus — is greatly impacted by their support.
Born and raised on a family farm in Milo, ME, Beth attended the University of Maine and received an Associate of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology in 1981. Her working career began at H.E. Sargent, Stillwater, Maine. She then joined CCB Construction Services, a general construction firm headquartered in Portland Maine, as a field engineer/quality control and field accountant. In 1985 she became a Project Manager at CCB. She was part of a group that purchased CCB in 1993 and at that time became VP of Construction Operations. In 2004 Beth purchased a majority and controlling share of CCB, becoming President/Principal Owner and a designated Woman-Owned Business Enterprise. During her tenure she was responsible for many UMaine graduate hires.
Due to her accomplishments and trailblazing, Beth has been featured in articles and interviews such as the MaineBiz article titled “Beth the Builder” and received the inaugural Maine Biz “Women to Watch” award in 2009. She was active in the Maine chapter of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and became the first woman president of AGC Maine in 2013. She received the UMaine Alumni Association 2018 Black Bear award for her commitment to supporting UMaine.
As a member of the College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council, she was one of the first to pledge support for the planned Engineering Education and Design Center and encouraged others to contribute, and successfully lobbied state legislators, who approved $50 million in debt service towards its construction. Beth named the computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) classroom in Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center with a gift from CCB.
She led CCB, Inc. as President for 15 years until she sold the company in 2019 to begin her “second act”! Since retirement from CCB, Inc. Beth has been active in pursuing her life-long passion and interest in the natural world, conservation and climate resiliency. She has been active in her local land trust and currently serves as Vice President of the Royal River Conservation Trust Board of Directors. In 2022 she completed a year-long course of study and training to become a Maine Master Naturalist and is a sought-after naturalist educator. In addition, she continues to serve on the College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council, the UMaine Foundation Board, is an incorporator of the UMaine Foundation and finished a six-year term on the UMaine Board of Visitors in 2023.
Tania was raised in the mountains of Western Maine and attended University of Southern Maine ’85 and Boston University School of Social Work. She had a twenty-year career in social research and then social work before becoming a parent. While staying home to raise their daughter Sophia, Tania enrolled in various art classes and slowly developed a daily art practice. She is now a full-time contemporary abstract painter with a studio at home, where she can often be found painting with her beloved feline assistants, Otis, Simon, and Lila.
Denham Ward retained a strong connection to his Alma Mater through the UMaine Alumni Chapter of Rochester NY before renovating and returning to a family home in Bowdoinham, Maine. As an anesthesiologist and educator, he is a true example of how the impact of UMaine graduates can reverberate beyond Orono and inspire countless organizations, communities, and former students.
Denham, a native of Clinton, Maine, participated in the Honors program while completing his B.S. in electrical engineering at UMaine. He earned a Ph.D. in Systems Science in 1975 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.D. from the University of Miami in 1977. Following his residency in Anesthesiology, he started his career in academic medicine at UCLA. Besides his clinical and research interests in respiratory physiology, he has been heavily involved in medical education, serving as residency program director at UCLA and then as the Chair of Anesthesiology and President of the Association of Anesthesiology Program Directors while at the University of Rochester. During his time at Rochester he found a passion for improving the teaching skills of medical school faculty and became the Associate Dean for Faculty Development.He was instrumental in developing a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Education.
After retiring from clinical practice, he and his wife Debbie Lipscomb moved back to Maine to the house in Bowdoinham built by his grandmother’s grandfather. He was President and CEO of the Foundation for Anesthesiology Education and Research which gave grants to improve clinical teaching in Anesthesiology. He has been involved with education at Maine Medical Center, helping to start the Academy at the Maine Health Institute for Teaching Excellence, and in mentoring UMaine pre-med and biomedical engineering students and faculty.
Denham and his late wife co-founded the Abbagadassett Foundation through which they made a gift to name the Biomedical Engineering Departmental Office Suite in the new Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center. In addition, they personally contributed to scholarships for first-generation Maine students in engineering and honors, which became endowed through a bequest from Debbie’s estate.
Denham received the 2019 Distinguished Engineer Award from the College of Engineering (now the Maine College of Engineering and Computing) and he is a member of the Francis Crowe Society. He serves on the Honors College Board of Advocates and as a UMaine Foundation Incorporator. Expanding his interest in education, last year Governor Mills appointed him to the Maine State Board of Education where he serves on the Certification and Higher Education Committee.
Denham, and his late wife, Debbie, raised one daughter, who followed in her father’s footsteps. Hannah Ward, M.D. is now a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center. She and her husband, Sam, are the proud parents of Asher, Denham’s grandson.