USM’s 14th president, Dr. Jacqueline Edmondson, can trace her new role at the university to many years of preparation while working for universities in central Pennsylvania and western Pennsylvania, but also to a bit of serendipity.
In a recent interview, Dr. Edmondson described how she and her husband had found themselves in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2021 with an unused airline credit from a trip that was canceled due to the pandemic. Almost on a whim, they decided to take a chance and chose Maine as a place for a short vacation, on just a few days’ notice. Maine was a place that she had never visited, and a place that her husband had only visited as a child. It turned out they loved Maine and had a great time. Less than a year later, when she noticed that the position of USM president had opened, the fact that they had such an enjoyable visit here made it much easier to focus on pursuing that particular opening.
Photo credit: Gorham Times StaffJackie and Michael Edmondson with Elbow, the puppy, at home in the President’s House on the USM Gorham campus.
Dr. Edmondson said that she loves the idea of living on campus, as it will give her many additional opportunities to interact with students, faculty, and staff. She is especially looking forward to the upcoming return of students to campus in late August. She added that she and her husband Michael found that their recent move to the president’s residence on the Gorham campus went well, partially because of the helpful, welcoming attitude of the USM staff, and also because of the many positive interactions they have had with the people they’ve met throughout the Portland area.
Besides the pleasant impressions from the 2021 vacation, Dr. Edmondson said that one of the main factors that drew her here was the tremendous potential that she sees for USM to become one of the best regional comprehensive universities in the country, and even for it to become known and spread its positive influences beyond the borders of the United States. She sees the growing diversity of the Portland area as a very positive thing, as the whole university should be able to benefit from a more diverse student body that is more representative of the world at large.
In addition, she also sees the university’s location in the largest metro area of a largely rural state as important. She believes USM can have an important role as a “bridge” where youth from rural areas of Maine and elsewhere (many from families that have not emphasized higher education) will be able to experience growth, while also being a bridge for students from immigrant families who wish to attain success in American society. She added that this mutual success will be achieved through opportunities for encountering diverse ideas and situations, and through encountering fellow students from diverse backgrounds in a supportive, nurturing milieu.
Dr. Edmondson pointed out that many colleges and universities are currently having difficulty attracting and maintaining enough students. She believes that USM’s unique blend of rural, urban, and immigrant students will help position the university for success in an increasingly challenging environment.
She acknowledged that one of the ongoing challenges for her and the entire faculty will be to continue promoting the importance and value of a college education, in a world that is increasingly skeptical about the need for many young people to pursue a four-year liberal arts degree.
Dr. Edmondson sees the arts, especially music and theater, as an important part of USM’s efforts to attract students regionally. She herself has had a long involvement with music, especially classical music, as she has studied and performed on the piano, violin, and viola, on and off for a number of years, including playing with a community symphony orchestra while in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Edmondson and her husband Michael are looking forward to having their two adult sons visit them in Gorham, including introducing them to some of the Portland area’s many cultural and dining opportunities. She said she recently began this process of immersing herself in local activities by running in the Beach to Beacon road race.
She also mentioned that the Gorham village area is where Michael Edmundson is currently looking at possible locations for his woodworking business, as this is where he intends to continue making his self-designed wooden children’s toys and other wooden craft items.