Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that this Monday’s Meeting of the Finance, Facilities, and Technology Committee of the BOT will take up the resolution to establish the Dr. Robert Vinton Akeley Chair of Agricultural Science and Agribusiness at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
The Chair is made possible by a gift of $1,000,000 from Mary Barton Akeley Smith, in honor of her father, Dr. Robert Akeley, and in memory of her husband, Rodney Smith. A native of Presque Isle, Dr. Akeley started his career with potatoes at an early age growing up on a potato farm. He attended the University of Maine, graduating in 1937 with a B.S. degree in Agronomy, and in 1942 received the M.S. degree in Botany. Akeley was associated with the Federal Program of Potato Investigations as early as 1932, including conducting the Potato Breeding Program at the Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle. In 1956, he was transferred to Maryland as leader of the National Potato Breeding Program. Akeley was directly or indirectly responsible for the release of numerous new potato varieties, including but not limited to Boone, Cherokee, Delus, Early Gem, Kennebec, Merrimack, Pungo, Plymouth, Saco, and others. His work in potato breeding received international recognition, and he authored more than eighty publications. In 1967, the University of Maine recognized Dr. Akeley’s leadership and conferred on him an Honorary Doctor of Science degree and the Potato Association of America presented Dr. Akeley for Honorary Life Membership.
The purpose of this endowed chair is to build upon our new Agricultural Science and Agribusiness program (which has already received temporary two-year approval by the Vice Chancellor and receives final approval by the BOT at their meeting here at UMPI in September). This initial gift will provide seed funding to support start-up costs of the program over a four-year period, with the balance to be held in an endowment. Funds will support the initial salary and benefits for the Named Chair during the first four years, as well as equipment for the program and the greenhouse, and summer research fellowships. The endowed resources will guarantee a strong future for the program, providing the Chair with additional resources for research (to include financial support for student research), industry partnership, and program development and delivery.
This is a milestone achievement for our University, not only because this is the single largest one time gift ever received by the institution, but also because it is the first such gift of this magnitude ever explicitly designated to the development of an academic program directly impacting the economy and well-being of the County for generations to come. There are many, many people to thank for making this possible, and you will hear far more in the coming weeks as we prepare to roll out a formal announcement and recognition to the public. My congratulations to all of the faculty and staff who have been involved in the program thus far and this process. But I especially wish to acknowledge Dr. Jason Johnston, whose advocacy and enthusiasm and practical and specialized knowledge of the issues are unmatched in numerous conversations, both formal and informal, in a wide variety of venues; and Debbie Roark, whose tireless efforts towards generating support for our programming and initiatives, and highlighting to an ever-broadening community the outstanding work that we do here and the vital programming that we make available for Aroostook County and the entire State of Maine, made this possible. You can read more about the resolution here under the public agenda for the FFT– http://staticweb.maine.edu/wp-
Above all, our most sincere and profound thanks to Mrs. Mary Barton Akeley Smith, whose exceptional interest in the economic development of the County, her vision and generosity, and her engagement with higher education, is truly remarkable.
Two more items of importance appear in this FFT agenda: (1) Approval for construction of the Zillman Family Greenhouse (which, following approval, would be slated for a spring 2019 groundbreaking); and (2) the approval of the Campus Master Plan, the first ever for UMPI. Both of these can be found at the web site as well. Again, you will hear much more about all of these in the coming weeks, including at the Welcome Back Breakfast on Wednesday, September 29.
I should point out that even this conjoining of initiatives, appearing in a single FFT Meeting, which sets up their formal approval in September at the BOT meeting here on our own campus, is both momentous and definitive for the direction and future of our institution.
Once again, my thanks to all who have been involved in each of these projects. Truly, it is the work that each and every one of us does each day for this institution and the people whom we serve that has made these possible.