UMFK News Releases

The University of Maine at Fort Kent received a major gift and pledge from Jamil Simon to fund the lighting of the UMFK soccer field, a top UMFK capital priority. Mr. Simon is making the contribution in memory of his late brother Michael Simon, and UMFK will rename the field “Michael Simon Field.”

Michael Simon was a resident of Fort Kent for almost 40 years, from 1983-2022. He was well-known in the community and on campus at UMFK. In the 1980’s Michael enrolled in and took courses at UMFK. Over the years, he took meals at Nowland Hall Cafeteria, worked out at the UMFK Sports Center, and visited Blake Library.

Sofia Birden, UMFK Director of Library Services, said, “Mike was a regular here at Blake Library. He came in every day to look at the papers for any news about the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.”

The UMFK Soccer field, previously known as Alumni Memorial Field, is home to the UMFK’s storied Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams, who collectively have won eleven USCAA Championship soccer titles since 2008.

Jamil Simon remembers walking by the field with Michael and hearing his brother speak about watching the team play games and practice, and cafeteria meals with students who played on the soccer team. Fort Kent was Michael’s home. Jamil’s desire is to “LIGHT THE FIELD” as a way of memorializing Michael and giving back to the community and the campus.

“Michael loved Fort Kent and was loved and supported by so many here. This project is just a token of our appreciation and thanks,” said Jamil when speaking with Shannon Lugdon, UMFK Development Officer.

“We are so thankful for this gift. Lights on the field will extend practice times, increase community use, allow more flexibility in scheduling and allow for evening games and practice, especially during the school year when sunset is early,” said Carly Flowers, UMFK Athletic Director.

The gift enables UMFK to move forward with this important capital priority and complete extensive renovations and updates to the field. UMFK will begin the process of procuring lights for the Michael Simon Field immediately.

The memorial gift continues the Simon family’s legacy of generosity to UMFK. The family provided a substantial gift to UMFK for the construction of Nadeau Hall – named after a family that Michael was particularly close to, and in 2010 endowed a scholarship fund in Michael Simon’s name. During the 2021-2022 academic year, 15 UMFK students received scholarships from the Michael Simon Scholarship fund.

“We appreciate the important Simon Family contributions to enrich the academic and athletic student experience,” said President Deborah Hedeen. “Student success is at the heart of our work.”

For further information, please contact Shannon Lugdon at (207) 834-7800.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent is pleased to announce the launch and printing of ENG 100 and Rural U Writing Project Composition Series: LIFE Review, Volume Two.

In a Zoom event scheduled on June 1, 2022 hosted by English faculty members, Dr. Joseph Becker and Professor Geraldine Cannon Becker, the second book of the series is unveiled.

These student interview essays went through a peer review process and were evaluated before being nominated for publication by their teachers. The selected essays were finally read by a panel of five objective judges to select for the awards.

This year, the Old Sylvain House Press Awards were funded by Dr. Joseph E. Becker and Professor Geraldine Cannon Becker.

Winners of the awards are, in first place, Skyler Darrow (Bangor ME); second place (tie), Avery March (Otisfield, ME) and Jasper Makowski (Dover Foxcroft, ME); third place (tie), Madeline Danenhower (Westbrook ME) and Kassidy Gorneault (Fort Fairfield, ME); fourth place (tie), Melissa Mayo (Bridgton, ME) and Rose Reischl (Fort Fairfield, ME), as well as honorable mentions, Jennah Brooks (Island Falls, ME); William Maines (Gray, ME); Ryan Howard (Bangor, ME); Liz Smith (Casco, ME); Leah Plummer (Casco, ME); Kylie Day (Porter, ME); Abby MacDonald (Bangor, ME); Naomi Obenhaus (Sabattus, ME); and Callie Russell (Smyrna Mills, ME).

“English studies and publication opportunities are important in all fields. An Applied Communication English minor gives students tools and techniques for a better focus on how to effectively apply skills of communication to their individual field of study. The NEW English is creative writing with a specific focus on Nature and the Environment,” said Dr. Joseph E. Becker.

On top of paying for the publication of essays written for the Composition Series: LIFE Review, depending upon funding, an annual scholarship may be awarded to a student who has had an essay published and is pursuing a degree in an area of study that is compatible with English at UMFK.

Professor Geraldine Cannon Becker said, “Students could choose to minor in English at UMFK, and we would be happy to help them succeed in Applied Communications or our NEW minor–Nature and Environmental Writing. Come grow with us!”

All money from book sales goes into the Old Sylvain House Press Award Fund. This Fund was put in place by Dr. Becker and Professor Cannon Becker and to benefit the education of students at UMFK and to honor their commitment to the importance of education for young people, specifically in the area of English Language Arts.

UMFK’s Development Officer, Shannon Lugdon, would like to note that anyone interested in donating toward the publication or scholarship award could give at UMFK.edu/donate and designate Old Sylvain House Press Award Fund in the memo.

Additional copies of the second edition may be purchased through the Old Sylvain House Press website.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent is pleased to announce that Stephanie Landry has been hired as an Applied Forestry Management faculty member.

“We’re so happy to have such a qualified faculty member familiar with the area join us,” said UMFK President Deb Hedeen. “Her expertise in local forests on both sides of the border will be valuable to our students.”

Landry received her bachelor’s degree in biology, with a minor in sociology, from the University of Moncton in 2010. She earned her masters in 2012 from the University of Sherbrooke. Landry is currently finishing her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Quebec at Rimouski. She is also fluent in French and English.

“I’m so excited to join the UMFK family,” said Landry. “I’m thankful to be able to share my passion for the sustainable management of the forest with the students and doing so not far from home in the region I grew up in is wonderful.”

Landry has been widely published in various publications on topics from LiDAR and remote sensing to canopy cover estimation from Landsat images. She has conducted research on the factors impacting forest regeneration and created tools to estimate different forest characteristics of the Acadian Forest Region of North America. Landry’s area of expertise is broad, covering statistical modeling to landscape ecology.

“The experience I’ve developed in remote sensing, especially with LiDAR, will be an asset for UMFK as well as the students,” said Landry. “The students will develop skills sought by employers, which will make them more competitive in the job market.”

For more information on the Applied Forest Management program at UMFK, please go to the Applied Forest Management webpage or call (207) 834-7500.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent is pleased to welcome Dr. Kelly White as an assistant professor of computer science.

“Dr. White brings a wonderful combination of technical and educational backgrounds that will allow our students to have greater exposure to the requirements of the industry,” said UMFK President Deb Hedeen.

Dr. White earned his associate’s degree in visual arts from the Community College of Vermont and his bachelor’s in fine art from Arizona State University. He then received his master’s degree in educational technology from the University of Phoenix, and his first doctoral work was in computing technology in education from Nova Southeastern University. Finally, he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of New England.

Prior to teaching at UMFK, Dr. White taught for MSAD #1. For over ten years he was the Director of Teaching and Learning at McLennan Community College in Texas. He also served as the Coordinator of Academic Services for the Community College of Vermont for six years.

“Dr. White utilizes current real-world examples of cybersecurity threats, such as the log4j vulnerability, to educate his students with the most relevant information,” said UMFK student Nickolas Tozier. “He is excellent at developing his student’s critical thinking and communication skills so that we may accurately and competently explain risks and remediation efforts to our future employers. Dr. White will be a valuable asset not only to UMFK, but especially for his students for many years to come.”

Dr. White has extensive experience in curricular design and creation. He has already contributed to the revamp of UMFK’s former Computer Applications program and helped adjust it to become more industry friendly as the Computer Systems Administration program.

At UMFK’s recent Scholar Symposium, Dr. White presented on application development and the intersectionality of university need and student interest in technology. He discussed how he will be helping students learn how to develop smartphone apps and the entire research process that is required to build a successful one.

“Dr. White’s classes have brought high-end concepts such as augmented reality to northern Maine,” said UMFK student Kobe Chasse. “Having a professor that pushes the boundaries of computer science is extremely beneficial in an area with a burgeoning computer field. I hope to work with him in my future endeavors.”

For more information go to www.umfk.edu or call (207) 834-7500.