The University of Maine System has a new chancellor. The system's board of trustees has chosen former Connecticult Gov. Dannel Malloy to replace outgoing Chancellor James Page, who is retiring June 30.Sam Collins oversaw the board's search committee. At an event Thursday morning in Orono to introduce Malloy, Collins said the board was looking for someone committed to the "one university" concept, aimed at making all UMS resources available to everyone in Maine.
"We are confident Dan's experiences and demonstrated leadership are the right ingredients for a chancellorship that will actualize a completed 'one university,'" Collins said.
UMS Board Chair James Erwin says Malloy has a history of implementing reforms. "As governor he delivered reforms and structural changes to state government that were not always popular, and certainly not expedient, but that advanced the long term interest of his state and its citizens."
Malloy is a Democrat who was Connecticut’s governor from 2010 to 2018. Prior to that, he served for 14 years as mayor of Stamford, Connecticut. He decided not to run for governor again in 2018.
Malloy said one of his priorities as chancellor will be to improve the state's workforce, with a goal of producing 158,000 higly-skilled employees for the state in the coming years.
"It is a monumental task, but one that we are ready to engage in and to accomplish," Malloy said. "If we see that mission completed, Maine will be stronger, Maine will be better for our citizens, our economy itself will be stronger."
Later Thursday, Malloy will head to Augusta to meet with lawmakers and state education and business leaders. On Friday, he plans to greet students at the UMaine Augusta campus, and at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.
Malloy will begin his tenure as UMS chancellor July 1.
Updated May 30, 2019 at 12:21 p.m. ET.