FARMINGTON _ Gov. Paul LePage has nominated a Portland technology executive, a higher education administrator and a student who is an Iraq War veteran to be trustees of the University of Maine System.
LePage education policy advisor Aaron Chadbourne told the trustees at their meeting in Farmington on Sunday that the governor was recommending former Unity College interim president John Craig of Waterville, DAVO Technologies chief operating officer Theresa Sutton of Cumberland and UMaine Augusta student Jason Coombs of Brunswick for the board.
The nominations must be confirmed by the Maine Senate, the final arbiter for most gubernatorial appointments, after vetting by the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.
Nominees are usually approved without controversy, but in 2014 the Legislature rejected the nomination of Susan Dench, a Falmouth Republican and conservative blogger who was a longtime marketing professional and saleswoman. It was the first time since at least the 1970s that a nominee to the board of trustees had been rejected.
Members of the board of trustees, who are not compensated, serve five-year terms. The student trustee serves a two-year term.
Craig has served as a former director of admissions at Thomas College, Unity College and Merrimack College. He also served as a vice president at Unity College.
Sutton has served as a senior vice president of business transformation at L.L. Bean, and is on the board of Preble Street resource center and Geiger, a private promotional products company in Lewiston.
Coombs, a graduate of Brunswick High School and a Marine, is a veteran of the first Iraq war.
New trustees would replace outgoing trustees Marjorie Medd, a trustee since 2005; Victoria Murphy, a trustee since 2004; and student trustee Paul Nelson.
Noel K. Gallagher can be reached at 791-6387 or at:
Twitter: noelinmaine
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