New Scholarship Celebrates the Power of Stories

Kristin Langellier and Eric Peterson photo

Professors Emeriti Kristin M. Langellier and Eric E. Peterson share many stories through the unique intersection of their personal and professional lives. Married since 1979, both taught communication courses at the University of Maine from 1980 until their retirement in 2016. Langellier’s scholarship and teaching encompassed performance studies and narrative communication; Peterson focused on media consumption, critical and cultural communication studies, and qualitative research methods.

Interdisciplinary awareness marks both careers. Langellier’s career includes contributions to Women’s and Gender Studies, Franco American Studies, and the interdisciplinary, community-based collaborative Somali Narrative Project. Peterson’s scholarship draws upon traditions in the human sciences to examine communication phenomena that range from popular culture and identity politics to pedagogy and classroom communication.

Both Peterson and Langellier have strong memories of their early days at UMaine. Kristin notes, “We had very good support from our department. I have a distinct memory of being mentored.” She is quick to recognize the late Dwayne VanRheenen, who served as department chair during their formative years in Orono. Describing their mentor’s emphasis on community rather than individualism within academe they both note, “Dwayne always came from the ‘we’ rather than the ‘I’ and emphasized what each of us could contribute to our department.”

Given the breadth of their interests, it is no surprise that both share a deep interest in storytelling, as demonstrated in the book they co-authored in 2004, “Storytelling in Daily Life.” Langellier is quick to point out that stories have long had an important role in her life, dating back to her childhood as one of ten siblings. “To listen to a story is a gift; to tell a story is a gift,” Langellier said. “It makes people present to each other.”

In their retirement, the couple enjoys traveling to Brunswick every Friday to spend time with their grandson, Jack. Not surprisingly, they are working on an album of photographs and stories for him.

Philanthropy is another common theme in their lives. Peterson and Langellier have supported Women’s Basketball, the Honors College, the Schonberger Peace and Social Justice Lecture, and the Orono Bog Boardwalk. Peterson explains, “The university has been our center and our community. Most of the funds we support are an extension of our teaching and research.” Women’s basketball, he notes, is naturally of interest to two Midwesterners.

As is often the case, colleagues, friends, and former students have also contributed to the Kristin M. Langellier and Eric E. Peterson Scholarship Fund that will benefit junior and senior Communication majors with a GPA of at least 3.0 and demonstrated financial need. One of the donors is Zornitsa Dimova Keremidchieva ’99G, ’01G, who has two master’s degrees from the University of Maine: one in English with a concentration in Composition, Rhetoric, and Pedagogy and a second one in Communication Studies. Originally from Bulgaria, Keremidchieva describes Peterson and Langellier as “among the most careful and thoughtful scholars I have ever worked with,” who taught her an “ethos of caring” while providing her with a map of the field and a compass that continue to serve her every day. Keremidchieva will soon begin a tenure-track position at the University of Minnesota, where she looks forward to “paying it forward” by mentoring her own students. Wistful about her formative experience at UMaine, she is quick to add, “I will never be able to give back enough. My debt (to faculty members like Langellier and Peterson) is bigger than can ever be repaid.”

Photo: Kristin M. Langellier and Eric E. Peterson c. 1991

 

Make a gift to the Kristin M. Langellier and Eric E. Peterson Scholarship Fund

Honoring Bob Cobb, former dean of the College of Education and Human Development

Bob-Cobb-celebration

Well before he became the longest serving dean of University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development, Bob Cobb grew up on a dairy farm in Winthrop, Maine, where his parents instilled in him a desire to do well in school and play sports.

“I always wanted to be a teacher and a coach,” says Cobb, who retired from UMaine in 2007 after 38 years with the university, 30 of them as dean.

“Every spring, we would covert one of the pastures at the dairy farm into a baseball field,” he recalls. “And hard work and education were always the watchwords.”

On Friday April 7, the College of Education and Human Development will celebrate Cobb’s nearly 40 years of service to the university. The event will also be the formal launch of the recently established Robert “Bob” A. Cobb Scholarship Fund, which will provide financial aid to undergraduate students in need.

Read the full story here.

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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Professor Dick Hill remembered UMaine

Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Richard C. Hill, who passed away in July, left an indelible mark on the University of Maine. His work as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the College of Technology and Director of the Department of Industrial Cooperation spanned from 1946 until his retirement in 1992. Even after his retirement, he remained one of UMaine’s most highly recognized and respected emeriti faculty experts because of his extensive knowledge and a communication style that made even the most complex subjects understandable. His writings and speaking engagements around the country brought great recognition and honor to UMaine.

“Many times donors do not realize the broad array of charitable giving mechanisms which can be implemented to achieve their goals. We were very happy to help Dick and Libby with their objectives.”

— Jeff Mills, President/CEO

Professor Hill’s contributions to UMaine are legendary. Beloved by his students, admired by his colleagues and respected by Maine people everywhere, Dick was the first faculty member to receive the Stillwater Presidential Award. His legacy not only includes his body of work in the field of energy, but also endowments that will support programs in perpetuity that Dick and his wife, Elizabeth (“Libby”), cared about across campus. The Collins Center for the Arts, the College of Engineering, the Honors College, the Division of Music of the University of Maine’s School of Performing Arts, the Department of Industrial Cooperation and the Professor Michael H. Lewis Art Scholarship all benefit from Dick’s and Elizabeth’s generosity.

Dick recognized a good idea when he saw one. Back in 1989, he and Libby were wondering what to do with a mutual fund account and looking for a way to help their grandchildren with their college educations. Their attorney suggested that they consider a charitable trust. Dick and Libby placed the account in a charitable remainder trust with a 20-year term and were able to take an immediate income tax charitable deduction.

During those 20 years, the trust income helped their grandchildren pay for their college educations. They attended schools all over the country to study to be a physician’s assistant, a medical doctor, a physical therapist, a teacher, an economist and an engineer. They are incredibly grateful to their grandparents for investing in their futures.

In 2009, at the end of the trust term, the trust’s remainder came to the University of Maine Foundation to be endowed to help the programs Dick and Libby cared about. As a former dean, Dick knew how vital unrestricted support could be to those programs.

Not only can they help grandchildren, but charitable remainder trusts can also provide security, minimize taxes, preserve assets, and ultimately fulfill philanthropic goals. The Foundation would be happy to explore with you and your advisors the possible benefits of including a charitable trust in your financial and estate plans. We welcome the opportunity to be of help.

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.