President's Message

President Robert A. Kennedy Links related to this story

So much of what scientists and scholars do is rethink the world as we know it. Whether in response to a need or in the proactive pursuit to improve people's lives, researchers across the disciplines are continually challenged by the possibilities.

For them, "What if?" is a call to action.
At the University of Maine, such calls to action are found across the academic disciplines, epitomizing what the mission of a land-grant university is all about. Susan Groce is dedicated to the environment, both in her art and her internationally recognized efforts to pioneer nontoxic printmaking methods and techniques.

Philosopher Jessica Miller, whose research focuses on ethical issues in healthcare, serves as Eastern Maine Medical Center's clinical ethicist, helping meet the special needs that arise in a rural state like Maine.

Food scientist Vivian Chi-Hua Wu is one of the few researchers worldwide studying the natural ability of cranberries to fight food-borne pathogens. Across campus, Paul Millard and Mauricio Pereira da Cunha also have been conducting research to combat pathogenic bacteria by developing molecular sensors as detectors. That research served as a springboard for addressing a recent National Science Foundation call to develop sensor technologies to track the origin of explosives used in terrorist bombings.

By example, these researchers encourage our students to imagine a better world. In that way, they are in keeping with English scholar Naomi Jacobs, historian Howard Segal and the many faculty members across the arts and humanities engaged in utopian studies.

The sense of possibility is pervasive at UMaine. It's a great message for the new year.