There are about 610 MIT alumni/ae living in Maine, and about 100 are members of the MIT alumni club. We have one of the highest percentages in the country of resident alums who are active members of the Club.
Most of the resident alums, and most of our Club members, live in the southern part of the state, primarily in the Portland area, with smaller groups near Bangor and Orono, Bar Harbor, and in the Mid-coast area. We have a directory listing all resident alums in the state, with sortings by town-of-residence, course, and class year. It's a great resource if you're interested in finding other alums who might live near you, or share common interests. The directory is sent to all alums who join the Club, as long as our supplies last. Click here if you'd like to sign up and receive a directory.
The Club is very active, especially in the spring and fall. The following sections describe the kinds of activities that the Club sponsors. If you have ideas or suggestions for a Club event that you'd like us to consider, please email our Club president, Dean Zeilon '55.
The Club conducts a half dozen or more luncheon or dinner meetings each year, as its flagship events. These meetings are for members and their spouses and guests, and feature an interesting guest speaker, often from MIT. The meetings are usually held at a restaurant or hotel in the Portland area, where most of the Club's members are congregated, but we have ventured as far north as Thomaston in the mid-coast area, and as far south as Kennebunk, whenever a museum or other attraction offers an opportunity for an interesting side excursion. Past guest speakers have included Michael Levine, an MIT Humanities Department graduate who now runs his own theater company; Bob Metcalfe, an MIT grad, Internet pioneer, and cofounder of the enormously-successful 3COM; and Franz Weiss, an MIT faculty member who is doing fascinating research on super-efficient marine propulsion: Thomas Moser of Maine Furniture fame; and MIT Prof.Emeritus Donald Harleman, a world expert on "Saving Venice from the Sea".
The MIT Enterprise Forum is a program aimed at promoting and nurturing entrepenurial ventures by MIT graduates and other principals who are past the wishful-thinking stage and are actively engaged in startup companies. There are several components to the program, the most prominent of which is a series of panel discussions organized around topics central to the task of building and growing a technology-based startup. The panelists are successful entrepeneurs, venture capitalists, bankers, attorneys, and others who have been directly involved in building a startup company and can offer perspectives, share experiences, and provide advice. It has been under way for many years, and is extremely successful, measured by the demand for access to its services. MIT recently began offering live telecasts of the Forum panel discussions by private satellite link to its alumni clubs around the world. The Club of Maine, through an affiliation with the University of Maine System, has been receiving these telecasts since October 1999, and in a community outreach initiative, has opened them to the public. The telecasts are received by a UMS ground receiving station, and are retransmitted through a UMS intercampus network to studios at the UMS campuses in Portland, Augusta, Orono, Presque Isle, and Fort Kent. Participants from outside the Club include members of the state government, local chambers of commerce, and many individuals who are either actively involved in entrpenurial startups or are thinking seriously about taking the plunge. The Forum events are offered three times per year, and recently have focused on issues facing small business startups.
3. Joint Events With Other School Clubs
The Club has recently launched an initiative to explore the potential
for joint events with the alumni clubs of other schools, in an effort
to broaden the range of events that we can offer to our members. The discussions
appear very promising so far, and we hope to offer specific opportunities
very soon. Discussions to date:
- The Harvard Business
School Alumni Club of Maine
This club has recently become very active. The new Club president is Christina Merrill, who is leading the club in the direction of working with state and business-community people to improve the business climate in Maine. MIT Club officers participated in a breakfast meeting of this club, at which the speaker was Rich Patinaude, president of the University of Southern Maine, who spoke on the subject of USM initiatives to improve work-force education to meet the needs of existing and emerging Maine businesses. The Harvard club members have in turn been invited to participate in MIT Enterprise Forum events, and several Harvard Alumni have already joined us at these events.
- The Yale Alumni Club of Western Maine
Yale has 1300 alumni in the area of Maine west of Bangor, and their club president, Charles Thomas, is very active in recruiting Maine students for Yale. The Club has two or three events each year, usually dinner meetings with a Yale speaker or other Yale tie-in. An MIT Club officer recently participated in a Yale Club event consisting of a cruise of the harbor area around Portland, with live narration of harbor history by Professor Joel Eastman of the University of Maine. Discussions with Maine alums during this cruise led to an interesting perspective on how to shape events to attract some of the younger alumni. Click here to check out the Yale Club's website for more information on what activities this Club sponsors.
4. Support for Public Schools in Maine
The Club has been actively engaged in a number of initiatives to improve
the educational climate for Maine students, as a step toward improving
the business opportunities in Maine. Each year the Club sponsors two Maine
public high school teachers to attend the MIT Summer Science Program at
MIT, an intensive short course on the current status of major
scientific disciplines. The course is enormously popular with the teachers
who have participated. Tuition is $750 per teacher, funded by a voluntary
contributions by Club members with their dues payments. The course is taught
by prominent MIT faculty members, and participating teachers bring what
they have learned back to their home schools to share with students and other teachers.