BANGOR — At its May 23 meeting the University of Maine System Board of Trustees unanimously approved the reappointment of Chancellor James H. Page to lead Maine’s public universities, extending his term of service until June 30, 2018.
The board also unanimously reappointed Sam Collins of Caribou and Gregory Johnson of Harpswell, two other Aroostook County natives, to continue their service as the board’s chair and vice chair, respectively.
Page is the first University of Maine System Chancellor to have been born in Maine and educated at one of the system’s universities. He was born and raised in Caribou, attended Caribou public schools for 10 years, and obtained his BA in history from the University of Maine at Fort Kent. He was appointed chancellor in March 2012.
“James H. Page was appointed chancellor of the University of Maine System four years ago and charged by the Board of Trustees with repositioning Maine’s university system to maximize opportunities in a time of great challenge and change,” said Collins.
“Chancellor Page has delivered impressive results, earning the Board’s appreciation and a unanimous endorsement for reappointment through the 2018 fiscal year,” Collins added. “The board has every confidence he will keep the students and state we serve centermost in our consideration as we work to serve Maine as one university under Chancellor Page’s continued leadership.”
Collins was reappointed to serve as board chair through May 2017. He was first appointed chair in 2013, and this will be his fourth and final appointment to lead the board as limited by the system bylaws.
A resident of Caribou and a graduate of Caribou High School, Collins earned a BA in economics and minored in government at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. He has led the S.W. Collins Company as president for almost three decades.
Retired Admiral Gregory G. “Grog” Johnson was reappointed to serve as vice chair for the next year. He was first appointed to that position in May 2013. Johnson is a native of Westmanland and graduated from Caribou High School.
“The students and residents of Maine are being well served by the stewardship and leadership of University of Maine System Board of Trustees Chair Sam Collins and Vice Chair Grog Johnson,” said Norman Fournier of Wallagrass, chair of the trustee nominating committee.
“The ingenuity, encouragement, and accountability provided by our board leadership is empowering our seven universities to grow stronger through a strategic focus on their individual campus strengths and regional needs while we collectively achieve efficiencies and expand access through a student and community-focused commitment to serve Maine as One University,” Fournier concluded.
In other trustee news, the board celebrated this past March the passage of a resolution extending the tuition freeze at Maine’s public universities for a historic sixth year, which enabled Maine’s standing as the only state in the country to achieve a reduction in the real cost of public higher education over the last five years.
