Diane Dunn has served in the UMaine/UMM President’s Office for the past two years, and is an alumna of the flagship and a former faculty member
ORONO — University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy are applauding the announcement today from Governor Janet Mills that she intends to nominate U.S. Army Brigadier General Diane Dunn to lead the Maine National Guard and serve as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management (DVEM).
General Dunn has served in the UMaine/UMM President’s Office since January 2022, first as a Senior Advisor to the President and most recently as Chief of Staff. She has also taught as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at UMaine, where she earned her Master of Public Administration.
“I am so pleased with Governor Mill’s decision to nominate General Dunn as the first woman to lead the Maine National Guard and to hold the post of DVEM Commissioner,” said President Ferrini-Mundy. “Throughout her more than three decades of dedicated public service, Diane has demonstrated incredible integrity, inclusive leadership and loyalty. She is a thoughtful, strategic leader with terrific judgment, who has helped the university advance key initiatives in areas ranging from diversity, equity and inclusion, to research compliance, to the integration of our regional campus in Washington County. While we will certainly miss her at the University of Maine and the University of Maine at Machias, we are so pleased that her excellence and expertise has been recognized by the Governor and that if confirmed, she will again serve our state and nation in a most critical role.”
President Ferrini-Mundy noted that last month, UMaine was ranked for the first time by the Military Times on its list of Best for Vets Colleges, joining the University of Maine at Augusta as the only Maine institutions honored. The flagship currently enrolls 310 Veterans, the largest in its history, while there are a total of 1,439 active military members, Veterans and dependents using Veterans’ education benefits across the System.
“The University of Maine System is grateful for General Dunn’s outstanding leadership and service at our flagship university and its regional campus Downeast,” said Chancellor Malloy. “In working directly with Diane, I have found her to be highly effective and a trusted advisor and administrator with an unmatched love for and loyalty to the state of Maine and this nation. I want to congratulate her and Governor Mills on this history-making appointment, for which General Dunn is highly deserving. If confirmed, I have no doubt she will serve with great distinction and honor, as she has done within our System and throughout her impressive career.”
General Dunn’s nomination is expected to be considered by the Maine Legislature in early 2024. Until then, she will continue to serve as President Ferrini-Mundy’s Chief of Staff.
About the University of Maine System
Established in 1968, the University of Maine System (UMS) unites seven Maine’s distinctive public universities, comprising 10 campuses and numerous centers, in the common purpose of providing quality higher education while delivering on its traditional tripartite mission of teaching, research, and public service.
In 2020 UMS became the first and only statewide enterprise of public higher education in the country to transition to a unified accreditation for the system. Much different than a merger or consolidation, unified accreditation is a new operating model for the University of Maine System that removes the primary barrier to inter-institutional collaboration.
A comprehensive public institution of higher education, UMS serves more than 30,000 students annually and is supported by the efforts of more than 2,000 full-time and part-time faculty, more than 3,000 regular full-time and part-time staff, and a complement of part-time temporary (adjunct) faculty.
Reaching more than 500,000 people annually through educational and cultural offerings, the University of Maine System also benefits from more than two-thirds of its alumni population residing within the state; more than 123,000 individuals.
The System consists of seven main campuses: The University of Maine (UMaine), including its regional campus the University of Maine at Machias (UMaine Machias); the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA); the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF); the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK), the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI); and the University of Southern Maine (USM). The System also includes a UMA campus in Bangor, USM campuses in Gorham and Lewiston-Auburn, the University of Maine School of Law, and the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center.