ORONO – The University of Maine System Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint former Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy the next Chancellor of the University of Maine System at a meeting Thursday morning. The appointment concludes more than a year of succession planning that included the development of a multi-year Declaration of Strategic Priorities and a national search for a leader.
Chancellor-Designate Malloy will begin his service on July 1, becoming the 13th chancellor of the University of Maine System since its formation in 1968. He will replace Chancellor James Page, who will be retiring at the end of June.
“Dan Malloy is an executive leader and public servant committed to taking on complex change initiatives and getting the job done,” said James Erwin, Chair of the UMS Board of Trustees. “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 was the governor of Connecticut for eight years, having been first elected in 2010 and then reelected in 2014. As governor, Malloy oversaw the creation of 124,000 private sector jobs and prioritizing the state’s long-term fiscal health through structural reform. The Malloy administration achieved a 13 percent reduction in the size of the state government workforce, secured agreements with the state bargaining unit resulting in $40 billion in savings to taxpayers, replenished the state rainy day fund to more than $2 billion, and fully funded the state pension payment every year.
During his terms as governor, Malloy’s administration created the Board of Regents for Higher Education, bringing 17 community colleges and state universities into Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, oversaw major expansion efforts at the University of Connecticut that invested more than $2.3 billion in the state’s flagship institution to support the development of the state’s bioscience industry and to increase enrollment in engineering and STEM fields and expanded the state’s apprentice program by approximately 40 percent.
His previous public service includes 14 years as the mayor of Stamford, Conn. He was also a member of the local Board of Education in Stamford.
Malloy is the current Rappaport Distinguished Visiting Professor at Boston College Law School and taught undergraduate political science for twelve semesters as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut. He holds a B.A. in Political Science, Sociology from Boston College and is a graduate of Boston College Law School.
“My time in electoral politics is over, but I am still passionate about providing public service leadership that matters,” said Malloy, as part of a prepared statement. “Maine has set a national example for public higher education reform, and I am eager to work with the Board, the presidents, faculty, staff, and university supporters to build on this progress for Maine’s learners.
The Board’s Strategic Priorities sets expectations and direction for our work. We have to act with urgency — Maine’s workforce challenges grow larger by the day. Decisions will come fast, but they will be informed. I will be devoting many of my first days to visiting the campuses. I want to meet with new colleagues, hear from students, and see first-hand how our universities are serving the people and communities of Maine.”
Following his public introduction Thursday morning, Chancellor-Designate Malloy will travel to Augusta with Chancellor Page to meet with leaders from the Maine Community College System, the business community, and the State House. He will have breakfast with students and staff at the University of Maine at Augusta on Friday and tour the Veterans Academic Center. Later in the morning he will visit with nursing students and student government leaders at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.
Chancellor-Designate Malloy will be returning to Maine throughout the month of June to meet with university leaders and stakeholders in preparation for assuming the Chancellorship on July 1.
“We have made great progress under Chancellor Page’s leadership. We needed to be sure our leadership succession planning and national search for a new chancellor produced a leader with the experience and skills to continue and expedite our progress,” said Sam Collins, Trustee and Chair of the Search Committee.
As a resident of CT I am highly concerned about this move. My son is attending UMaine in the Fall and I certainly hope that Dannel Malloy does not destroy the University of Maine system like he did the state of Connecticut!
It will be interesting to see how he performs here in Maine. Connecticut residents were not fond of him
and he doesn’t have a good reputation there.
I will take a small swipe at this. Congratulations to Mr. Malloy. We had no Maine academics qualified?
As as Connecticut resident and an Maine Sportsman I feel sorry for the UMaine System with this guy in charge. He has no fiscal know how and has sent Connecticut into a fiscal crisis and decided not to run again. Pitty the touition paying students.
I wish him the best and believe he has skills very suitable for successfully leading the university system.
Despite the comment above that “Connecticut residents were not fond of him” I believe he served 2 full-terms (total of eight years) and was not eligible to run again.
For some perspective on Mr. Malloy – an article from The Atlantic 3 years ago:
Looks like he did a lot to make you admire him or hate him…or some of both.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-travails-of-connecticut-democratic-governor-dannel-malloy/483213/
4 comments and 3 very negative,
I do agree with Tom White.
Mr Malloy my be “qualified”, but time will tell. Hopefully not at the cost of the UMaine system. As a former Ct. resident, and UMaine graduate I hope he only plans to stop here briefly before continuing on to Canada.
As a Me. native and long time Ct. resident, I can say in fairness to Malloy he inherited a mess from prisoner Rowland and his replacement Jodi Rell. {Millions in unfunded pension liabilities} which he refused to kick down the road and which we are still addressing. He didn’t use state money to fix up his own house as did Rowland.
Good luck to Malloy and the state of Me.
“Quick! Hire a failure!”
This admin will go down in history as Maine’s most incompetent, most ‘payback oriented’ and most out of touch with the citizens of this state. See you in 18 mos.