The search for the next person to lead the University of Maine System’s flagship campus is down to four.
The University of Maine named the four finalists in a Thursday news release. One of those four will take on one of the state university system’s most significant roles, as president of the state’s largest university. That job became even more vital last year, when UMaine took over administrative authority for the system’s struggling Down East hub, the University of Maine at Machias.
Each candidate will visit Maine in coming weeks, making stops at both campuses to meet with staff and faculty.
The finalists are:
— Amit Chakma has worked as vice chancellor at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, since 2009. He also is a chemical engineering professor at the university. Prior to that role, he was academic vice president and provost at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He earned a doctorate degree in chemical engineering from the University of British Columbia.
The university will host him for open Q&A sessions at noon Thursday, March 1, and 9:30 a.m. Friday, March 2, in Minsky Recital Hall at UMaine. The University of Maine at Machias will hold an open session with him at 1:45 p.m. in Room 102 of the Science Building.
— Joan Ferrini-Mundy is chief operating officer of the National Science Foundation, an organization she’s held leadership roles in since 2007. Prior to her work with the foundation, she held administrative roles at Michigan State University and the University of New Hampshire. She has a doctorate in mathematics education from the University of New Hampshire.
Her open visits are scheduled for noon on Monday, Feb. 26, in the Bangor Room inside UMaine’s Memorial Union, with another at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, in Minsky Recital Hall. Machias will host her at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the Science Building.
— Sally Reis served as vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Connecticut from 2011 to 2017. She was named a distinguished professor there, and she has 40 years of teaching experience ranging from middle school to college. She was head of the educational psychology program at UConn from 2000 to 2006, and has a doctorate degree in educational psychology from the UConn.
She’ll visit UMaine’s Misky Recital Hall at noon Thursday, Feb. 22, and again at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 23. Another session at the Machias campus is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. Feb. 23.
— Nancy Targett is provost at the University of New Hampshire, a role she’s held since 2018. Prior to that, she worked at the University of Delaware for 32 years in roles that ranged from acting president and college dean to professor. Targett earned a doctorate in oceanography from UMaine.
Her sessions at UMaine are scheduled for noon, Tuesday, Feb. 20, and 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, both at Minsky Recital Hall. The Machias campus will host her at 1:45 p.m. Feb. 21.
“We hope to see many people turn out to give us feedback about the candidates and to show them the great level of interest in the selection of our UMaine president,” said Gregory Johnson, chairman of the system’s board of trustees.
The search committee says it reviewed 67 applications, interviewing 12 candidates before narrowing the search to these four.
Chancellor James Page expects to make a recommendation to the board of trustees next month. The board will then have to approve the hire, who will replace outgoing President Susan Hunter.
Hunter is expected to retire later this year, a step she’s agreed to delay multiple times after university system officials asked her to stay on to fill vacancies and lead Orono and Machias through their partnership transition.
More information about each candidate, including their full resumes, is available at umaine.edu/president-search.
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