Ogilvie '35 Publishes Latest in Series of Miniature Books on Geography
Bruce Ogilvie ’35, Ph.D., recently wrote and published The Heart Shaped World Map: 21st Century Reflections on 16th Century Cosmographic Maps (2008), the fifth in his series of nationally distributed miniature books on geography.
Ogilvie, who earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in geography at Clark University, served as assistant and later associate professor of geography at Chico State University. Later, as Geographer at Rand McNally & Co. in Chicago, Ogilvie was responsible for company-wide production of the publisher’s trademark maps, globes and atlases. Ogilvie, who authored Rand McNally’s The Children’s World Atlas (1980), served as editor and coordinator for many of the publishing company’s best-selling publications, including The Time-Life Atlas (1961) and The International Atlas (1973). A member of the national Miniature Book Society, his other published miniature books include The Little Red Schoolhouse (2000), Olde Tyme Geography (1997) and A Litter of Picnickers (1993).
After attending Farmington State Normal School as a Maine State Scholar and graduating with his initial teaching certificate, Ogilvie taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Chesuncook, Maine. He later earned a bachelor’s in education from Rhode Island College of Education and taught in Rhode Island before beginning his graduate studies in geography at Clark. Prior to, during and after World War II, he served the U.S. Government and Armed Forces in several key positions, including a cartographer with the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C., a North Atlantic-based U.S. Navy Reserve line officer afloat, and a cartographer with the U.S. Navy Hydrological Office in Washington, D.C. He resigned his U.S. Navy commission as lieutenant senior grade in 1952 and later served as a consultant to the U.S. Geologic Survey and acting chief of the National Geographic Information Center.
In retirement, he taught part-time in Chicago’s North Suburban Schools and served as an adjunct professor at local community colleges, private colleges and universities, including the University of Chicago. His teaching career encompassed more than 60 years of educating elementary, high school, college and graduate-level students.
Shortly before his 90th birthday, UMF honored him at his 70th class reunion in 2005, when he was the featured speaker at the President’s luncheon awards ceremony. He now resides near his son and daughter-in-law in Michigan.
Noyes ’93 Named Maine Teacher of the Year
Gloria Noyes ’93, a fifth-grade teacher at Congin Elementary School in Westbrook, was named the 2009 Maine Teacher of the Year by Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron in a surprise award ceremony held at the school on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Noyes, who attended Congin Elementary as a child, graduated from UMF with a degree in elementary education and earned a master’s in literacy at USM, gave emotional thanks to her students in accepting the award: “You beautiful children… are the reason I get up in the morning,” said Noyes, as reported by the Portland Press Herald. “You are my inspiration.”
“Gloria Noyes is about the most enthusiastic and fun teacher a fifth-grader could ask for,” Gendron said. “In interviews, class visits, and speaking with those who reviewed her during the selection process, we heard over and over that she was ‘genuine,’ ‘real,’ ‘highly respected,’ ‘nurturing,’ and a downright blast. One of the evaluators said, ‘I wish I could have been in her fifth-grade classroom.” She received a perfect score on her site visit. She has some very lucky students.”
Peter Lancia, Congin School principal, said, “Gloria’s students are perhaps the best reflection of her work. They are focused, positive, kind, and hard working. They consistently make outstanding academic progress, particularly in literacy and math, in response to her differentiated teaching style. She pays attention to the whole child, nurturing both emotional and intellectual intelligence.”
As the 2009 Maine Teacher of the Year, Noyes is now in the running for the National Teacher of the Year award, which will be announced in April.
Low '97 Appointed to Lead Maine's Department of Administrative and Financial Services
Ryan Low ’97, who graduated from UMF with a bachelor’s degree in political science, has been appointed by Maine Governor John Baldacci to head the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services. Low assumed the role of point person for a state budget of more than $6 billion in early September 2008 after receiving bipartisan support during a legislative confirmation hearing.
“He doesn’t beat around the bush,” said Republican Rep. Patrick Flood of Winthrop, as reported by the Associated Press. “He gets to the point, he is respectful and straightforward.”
In presenting Low to the Appropriations Committee in mid-August, Baldacci Chief of Staff Jane Lincoln described Low as one with “good humor, an open mind and an ability to find answers where others see questions.”
The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee unanimously endorsed Low by a vote of 11-0.
Low, who previously served as state budget officer and associate commissioner in the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, said major financial challenges abound in developing the state’s next spending package, as “Maine struggles as part of a sagging national economy.”
“Certainly one of the toughest challenges we face is that people are asking more and more of state government because of the heating crisis we’re in,” Low told the Associated Press in an interview after being sworn in as finance commissioner.
Low, who previously served as Baldacci’s deputy chief of staff, now has leadership responsibility for budgeting and financial management, human resources, information technology services, facilities and fleet management, public improvements, procurement and other administrative services. His department also oversees the state tax agency, state lottery and Maine’s wholesale liquor business.
Ray '69 and Connie '71 Winship Receive EqualityMaine Award
For their efforts to foster equality for Maine’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Ray ’69 and Connie (Ouellette) ’71 Winship were recently feted by EqualityMaine, the state’s oldest and largest LGBT advocacy organization, with the F.E. Pentlarge Award. Named for F.E. Pentlarge, the founder of the first PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter in Maine, the award recognizes “outstanding demonstration of family values,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine.
In presenting the honor at EqualityMaine’s 24th-annual awards dinner in March 2008, Smith lauded Ray and Connie’s work on behalf of Maine Won’t Discriminate and their founding of Civil Rights Team Project programs at Lawrence High School (where Ray taught mathematics for 35 years) and Winslow Junior High School (where Connie taught home economics for 27 years).
“If you ask them, Ray and Connie will tell you that they feel blessed and grateful to have been able to do this work,” Smith told a crowd of approximately 550 at the March 2008 award ceremony in Portland. “But it is really our community who is blessed to have Ray and Connie as allies, and it is our community who is grateful for their years of services, advocating for our equality.”
In accepting the award, Ray said their commitment to gay rights began in 1993, when one of their three sons came out during his sophomore year at MIT—shortly before Maine was “embroiled in the No on 1 campaign.” Their “last-straw moment,” he said, came when they read—and decided to challenge—Op-Ed columns “rife with hurtful stereotypes and blatant untruths.”
“We did not realize it at the time, but that simple act of activism changed the course of our lives,” he said.
“We were in the right place, at a time of our lives when we were secure about who we were, knowing lots of people in communities where we had credibility. All of which made us formidable opponents,” Connie explained.
Now semi-retired, Ray and Connie are active in the Waterville Universalist Unitarian Church, where they co-chair the Welcoming Congregation Program (the church’s official LGBT outreach program) and are trainers for the Northeast District UU Churches interested in becoming welcoming congregations.
Stoddart '82 Named Dean of Liberal Arts at FIT
Scott Stoddart '82 has been appointed dean of the School of Liberal Arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where he will oversee seven academic departments within the school and take a leadership role in implementing the college’s strategic plan. Reporting to FIT President Joyce F. Brown, he also will participate in oversight of the design, implementation and assessment of the curriculum, as well as FIT’s training and academic skills centers. Prior to his appointment at FIT, Stoddart was acting provost, dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Manhattanville College and executive director of special programs at Marymount Manhattan College, where he was responsible for the administrative and financial oversight of such efforts as the Higher Education Opportunity Program, community leadership and the Center for Academic Advancement. Stoddart, a former executive director of the Northeast Modern Language Association, has served as assistant professor in liberal arts and humanities at Nova Southeastern University and assistant professor in the English department at Mount St. Clare College. The author of The 1980s: American History through Popular Culture, he received his Ph.D. in American Literature and a master’s in British and American Literature at Univ. of Illinois.
Laliberte Staffiere ’69 Named MSCA Administrator of the Year
Joan Laliberte Staffiere ’69 (center), principal of the Capri St. and State St. schools in Brewer, was recently named Administrator of the Year by the Maine School Counselors Association. The award is given annually to a Maine school administrator who has provided outstanding service to students, families and staff, and contributed to the growth and understanding of counseling. She also has been recognized by the Maine Alliance for Art Education with an award given annually to a Maine administrator who has demonstrated leadership and support of the arts and established exemplary or innovative arts education programs. The award ceremony took place in March at the State Capitol Hall of Flags. Laliberte Staffiere is pictured with First Lady Karen Baldacci (left) and Karen Hartnagle, director of the prevention services program for Community Health and Counseling Services.
Odiorne ’72 Named Chief of Staff at Bastyr University
Dr. David Odiorne ’72 has been named chief of staff in the Office of the President at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash. Odiorne, who received his doctor of chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1981, came to Bastyr following four years as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Ore. Previously, he was vice president for academic affairs at National University of Health Sciences in Chicago. In his new position, Odiorne will collaborate with Daniel Church, president of Bastyr University, to develop and execute large-scale planning and growth initiatives. He also will serve as the primary institutional liaison with Bastyr Univeristy’s Board of Trustees. Odiorne received a master’s in educational administration from the University of Southern Maine and is a member of both the National Association of Advisors for Health Professionals and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
Bennett '04 Wins a (Wheel of) Fortune
Julie Bennett ’04, a ninth-grade government teacher at Auburn’s Edward Little High School, netted $29,550 in cash and prizes on the television game show Wheel of Fortune in mid-November 2007. According to a Sun Journal article, Bennett’s luck and prowess with the show’s word puzzles impressed host Pat Sajak, who told her, “You’re stripping the wheel clean.” Bennett’s boyfriend and fellow Edward Little government teacher Craig Latuscha ’02 joined her in Los Angeles for the taping of the episode that aired in early December. “It was so much harder than at home,” Bennett told Sun Journal reporter Lindsay Tice ’98. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was surprised I didn’t.”
Alumni Newsmakers 
Bruce Ogilvie ’35, Ph.D., recently wrote and published The Heart Shaped World Map: 21st Century Reflections on 16th Century Cosmographic Maps (2008), the fifth in his series of nationally distributed miniature books on geography.
Ryan Low ’97, who graduated from UMF with a bachelor’s degree in political science, has been appointed by Maine Governor John Baldacci to head the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services. Low assumed the role of point person for a state budget of more than $6 billion in early September 2008 after receiving bipartisan support during a legislative confirmation hearing. 
For their efforts to foster equality for Maine’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Ray ’69 and Connie (Ouellette) ’71 Winship were recently feted by EqualityMaine, the state’s oldest and largest LGBT advocacy organization, with the F.E. Pentlarge Award. Named for F.E. Pentlarge, the founder of the first PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter in Maine, the award recognizes “outstanding demonstration of family values,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine.
Scott Stoddart '82 has been appointed dean of the School of Liberal Arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where he will oversee seven academic departments within the school and take a leadership role in implementing the college’s strategic plan. Reporting to FIT President Joyce F. Brown, he also will participate in oversight of the design, implementation and assessment of the curriculum, as well as FIT’s training and academic skills centers. Prior to his appointment at FIT, Stoddart was acting provost, dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Manhattanville College and executive director of special programs at Marymount Manhattan College, where he was responsible for the administrative and financial oversight of such efforts as the Higher Education Opportunity Program, community leadership and the Center for Academic Advancement. Stoddart, a former executive director of the Northeast Modern Language Association, has served as assistant professor in liberal arts and humanities at Nova Southeastern University and assistant professor in the English department at Mount St. Clare College. The author of The 1980s: American History through Popular Culture, he received his Ph.D. in American Literature and a master’s in British and American Literature at Univ. of Illinois.
Joan Laliberte Staffiere ’69 (center), principal of the Capri St. and State St. schools in Brewer, was recently named Administrator of the Year by the Maine School Counselors Association. The award is given annually to a Maine school administrator who has provided outstanding service to students, families and staff, and contributed to the growth and understanding of counseling. She also has been recognized by the Maine Alliance for Art Education with an award given annually to a Maine administrator who has demonstrated leadership and support of the arts and established exemplary or innovative arts education programs. The award ceremony took place in March at the State Capitol Hall of Flags. Laliberte Staffiere is pictured with First Lady Karen Baldacci (left) and Karen Hartnagle, director of the prevention services program for Community Health and Counseling Services.
Dr. David Odiorne ’72 has been named chief of staff in the Office of the President at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash. Odiorne, who received his doctor of chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1981, came to Bastyr following four years as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Ore. Previously, he was vice president for academic affairs at National University of Health Sciences in Chicago. In his new position, Odiorne will collaborate with Daniel Church, president of Bastyr University, to develop and execute large-scale planning and growth initiatives. He also will serve as the primary institutional liaison with Bastyr Univeristy’s Board of Trustees. Odiorne received a master’s in educational administration from the University of Southern Maine and is a member of both the National Association of Advisors for Health Professionals and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
Julie Bennett ’04, a ninth-grade government teacher at Auburn’s Edward Little High School, netted $29,550 in cash and prizes on the television game show Wheel of Fortune in mid-November 2007. According to a Sun Journal article, Bennett’s luck and prowess with the show’s word puzzles impressed host Pat Sajak, who told her, “You’re stripping the wheel clean.” Bennett’s boyfriend and fellow Edward Little government teacher Craig Latuscha ’02 joined her in Los Angeles for the taping of the episode that aired in early December. “It was so much harder than at home,” Bennett told Sun Journal reporter Lindsay Tice ’98. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was surprised I didn’t.”
