Emera Maine Honors UMaine Professor Dick Hill through Scholarship Fund

Emera Maine Prof. Richard C. Hill Scholarhip check

L-R: Dana N. Humphrey, P.E., Ph.D., College of Engineering, Dean, Jeffery N. Mills, Ph.D., University of Maine Foundation, President/CEO, Alan Richardson, Emera Maine, President/COO, Susan J. Hunter, Ph.D., University of Maine, President

As part of the Maine Day of Giving on May 3, 2017, Emera Maine, in collaboration with the University of Maine Foundation, announced its creation of the Emera Maine Professor Richard C. Hill Scholarship Fund. Alan Richardson, President and COO, Emera Maine, spoke fondly of his memories in meeting and working with Dick Hill, and of the impact he hopes Emera’s gift will positively impart on the University of Maine. “Professor Hill’s dedication and leadership were integral to the fabric of the energy community in Maine,” said Richardson, “He made a lasting impression on many throughout the industry. We are honored to continue to support and inspire those curious engineering minds that are yet to follow.”

Prof. Richard C. Hill was a member of the engineering community at the University of Maine from 1946 until his retirement in 1992. During his distinguished career, Dick served as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the College of Technology, and Director of the Department of Industrial Cooperation.

“Prof. Dick Hill influenced generations of UMaine Engineers, and helped broadly inform Maine citizens on energy issues,” said Dr. Jeff Mills, President, University of Maine Foundation, “We couldn’t be more pleased that Alan Richardson wished to establish the Emera Maine Prof. Dick Hill Scholarship at the University of Maine Foundation, to encourage students to apply their talent to power our state and country.”

Emera Maine has pledged $110,000 to provide two scholarships annually and endow them in perpetuity. The awards will be made to engineering students who exhibit the innovative spirit and natural leadership qualities embodied by Professor Hill. In the spirit of the Maine Day of Giving, additional gifts in Dick’s honor may be made online, our.umaine.edu/hill.

BECUM spring 2017 recap

Dr. Dana Humphrey & Chris Gordon

In spring 2017, the Boston Executive Club of the University of Maine celebrated 10 years of bringing University of Maine alumni together to network in a professional setting, highlighting UMaine’s signature academic and research programs, and engaging volunteer support for the College of our Hearts Always.

Chris Gordon ’85 and Dean Dana Humphrey presented “Future Skylines.”  Chris shared his role, as President of Wynn Design and Development Massachusetts, in the construction of the $2.1B Wynn Boston Harbor resort casino on the Mystic River in Everett. Dean Dana Humphrey addressed the growing demand for UMaine engineers by industry and need for a new academic Engineering Education and Design Center building on campus to accommodate the 2,000 engineering students now enrolled at UMaine, and continued growth.

Over 80 alumni and friends from the greater Boston area attended the event.  Guests were greeted by friendly faces and lovely weather at the UMaine Club at the UMass Club in Boston at its new location at One Beacon Street. UMaine Foundation President Jeff Mills ’82 and John Diamond ’77, ’89G, President, UMaine Alumni Association both spoke about current events at the University of Maine.

As a special part of the 10-year anniversary celebration, attendees also enjoyed a slideshow of previous BECUM photos.

 

View Dr. Dana’s presentation here.

If you are interested in attending a future BECUM event, please contact the University of Maine Foundation, or keep an eye on our BECUM webpage.

 

 

 

 

Transformational change for athletic fundraising

A $1.5 million, three-year award from the Harold Alfond Foundation has established the Alfond Fund in the University of Maine Foundation, focused on creating a centralized fundraising structure for UMaine Athletics and continuing support of the football program.

“Through the years, Harold Alfond and the Harold Alfond Foundation have helped the University of Maine achieve excellence in Division I athletics for Maine, and for our fan base on campus, statewide and beyond,” says UMaine President Susan J. Hunter. “This newest award further underscores the leadership role of UMaine Athletics, and will be a game changer for fundraising and friendraising going forward.”

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Skoufis Nephews Deliver Additional Gift

Skoufis check presentation

Danny Williams, Jeff Mills, George Predaris, John Rozos

On the road again. Recently cousins George Predaris of Rye, NH, and John Rozos of Poland Spring, ME made a special delivery of a check for $271,671.80 to the University of Maine Foundation. Foundation President Jeff Mills and Collins Center for the Arts Director Danny Williams were on hand at Buchanan Alumni House to graciously accept the funds. Last summer, Predaris and Rozos handed University of Maine President Susan Hunter and University of Maine Foundation President Jeff Mills a check for $300,000. Both checks were a result of their work to settle their Aunt Helen Skoufis’ estate to benefit the Helen M. and Peter J. Skoufis Scholarship, established in 1996 at the Foundation by the Skoufises. Distributions from the endowed fund will provide endless scholarship assistance for UMaine undergraduate students who are graduates of Bangor High School and John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor.

Helen Skoufis and her husband Peter, a member of the UMaine Class of 1941, were longtime supporters of the University of Maine.

“We are very grateful to Helen and Peter for their forethought in planning this generous gift,” Jeff Mills said, “ and to their nephews who so thoughtfully carried out the task of seeing it through.”

Although his work in the U.S.Foreign Service took him around the globe interacting with world leaders, Peter Skoufis never forgot his roots in his hometown, Bangor, Maine, or his alma mater, the University of Maine, where he earned a bachelor of arts in History and Political Science in 1941. Peter Skoufis passed away in 2005, and Helen in 2014.

University of Maine Political Science Department announces first class of Nickerson Scholarship recipients

University of Maine Nickerson Scholarship recipients are, left to right, Allyson Eslin ’17, Madison Waterman ’17, Miranda Roberts ’18 and Jaymi Thibault ’17. Not pictured: Isabella DiPhilippo ’17, currently studying in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Heidi Martinson

The University of Maine Department of Political Science has announced the first awardees of the John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship. The five selected students will each receive close to one year of in-state tuition for the 2016–17 academic year.

Each of the students was awarded scholarship support after being chosen by the faculty of the UMaine Political Science Department based upon their overall GPA and faculty evaluations.

For the 2016–17 year, the recipients of the John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship are: Isabella DiPhilippo of Scarborough, Allyson Eslin of Bangor, Miranda Roberts of Hermon, Jaymi Thibault of Lisbon and Madison Waterman of Eliot.

“I am so beyond humbled and thankful to have been selected as one of the inaugural recipients of the John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship,” says Allyson Eslin, a third-year student at UMaine. “I am thrilled to be representing a person of such profound integrity, dedication and scholarship as John Nickerson, and am deeply inspired to embody the spirit of public leadership in his memory.”

The John M. Nickerson University of Maine Scholarship was established in 2014 at the University of Maine Foundation with a gift of more than $2 million from the estate of Dr. John M. Nickerson. This endowed scholarship annually supports UMaine students who, among other requirements, study political science, have attained a junior standing, are Maine residents and have made an impact in their communities.

Nickerson also established the John Mitchell Nickerson Professorship of Political Science and the John M. Nickerson Quiet Room to benefit the members, faculty and staff of the UMaine Department of Political Science.

“Dr. Nickerson devoted his life to his work and it was his desire to continue to support a strong political science community in Maine,” says University of Maine Foundation President Jeffery Mills. “The foundation is grateful for his commitment, which will provide significant support to UMaine students for generations.”

Nickerson, a Lewiston native, was a member of the UMaine class of 1959. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Idaho in 1971 and taught for many years at the University of Maine and the University of Maine at Augusta.

Nickerson authored numerous books and other publications during his career and remained active in the political science community until his death at age 75.

Foundation Member Meets Scholarship Recipients

Edie McVay and Student

Pictured: (left-right), Laura Horowitz ’17, Edie McVay King ’67, Alexis Bowman ’16, Mason Crocker ’16

University of Maine Foundation Member Edie McVay King ’67 had the chance to meet current recipients of her Edie McVay King Scholarship at a recent scholarship reception hosted by the University of Maine Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences at Buchanan Alumni House.

King, who graduated from UMaine in 1967 with a degree in bacteriology, created the endowed scholarship fund specifically for students with a major in her field. Her gift is awarded annually to UMaine students, supporting new professionals in her area of expertise.