ORONO, Maine — Lincoln native Connor Smart is so smart that he double majored in accounting and finance at the University of Maine and graduated Saturday morning as the 2016 salutatorian and Outstanding Graduating Student in the Maine Business School.
He already has been hired at an accounting and advisory firm in Portland that serves all of New England.
“I plan to stay in Maine,” Smart said Friday by email. “I will be working with Baker Newman Noyes, in Portland, starting in the summer.”
When Smart was introduced Saturday by President Susan Hunter, someone in the crowd yelled out, “Victorious,” which made him and 2016 valedictorian Nicholas Fried break into smiles.
Smart said that he is optimistic about Maine’s business climate, even though the major employers of yesteryear — the paper mills and shoe factories — have all but disappeared.
“Over the past few years I’ve seen a lot of smaller, private companies spring up, and become quite successful,” said the salutatorian, who was a peer tutor and ambassador for the Maine Business School. “As people stay in the state or move here, I think people will craft their own opportunities to replace some of the older, ‘traditional’ work opportunities that seem to be going away.
“The people of Maine are resilient and hardworking — and I think that pays off in the end,” he said. “I believe that this state continues to offer many chances for positive improvement and economic expansion.”
Fried, of Millerstown, Pennsylvania, earned the 2016 valedictorian honors for the 214th UMaine commencement, held Saturday at Alfond Arena.
Fried majored in animal and veterinary sciences and had a minor in chemistry.
The morning graduation ceremonies included the Maine Business School, College of Education and Human Development, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Division of Lifelong Learning.
The afternoon ceremony included the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture as well as the College of Engineering.
This year’s class is participating in one of the largest graduation events in the state, with nearly 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students, including more than 40 doctoral candidates earning degrees.
Honorary doctorates were awarded to two alumni: United States diplomat Pamela White — former ambassador to Haiti and The Gambia — an Auburn native now living on Orrs Island; and Leonard Minsky, community leader and retired president of Superior Paper Products Inc., who lives in Bangor and Sanibel Island, Florida.
This year’s Distinguished Maine Professor is anthropologist Paul “Jim” Roscoe; Howard “Mac” Gray, professor of construction engineering technology, earned the 2016 Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award; Neal R. Pettigrew, professor of oceanography, won the 2016 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award; and Amy Fried, professor of political science, was given the 2016 Presidential Public Service Achievement Award.
Diplomat White was the commencement speaker.
Nathan Briggs, chairman of the UMaine Alumni Association, told graduating students that the university has provided them with the education and preparation needed “for a career and the next steps in life,” but they should never forget where they came from.
“Today you join 107,000 UMaine graduates,” Briggs told the morning graduating class.
Hunter ended the morning ceremony by charging the graduates to “find ways to give back,” saying even small contributions help make a person well-rounded while benefiting their communities.