ORONO – Jeffery N. Mills, a 1982 graduate of the University of Maine and a former state legislator, has been named vice president for university advancement at his alma mater.

Mills, president and CEO of the University of Maine Alumni Association, will direct UM’s office of development and departments of public affairs and marketing. He will retain his role in the Alumni Association and will continue as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Public Administration.

“I am delighted that Dr. Mills has agreed to accept this important assignment. Under his leadership, all elements of this new unit will be brought together to create a strategic plan for the advancement of the University of Maine”, said UM President Peter S. Hoff. “He will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive and integrated advancement program designed to broaden the university’s base of support in the areas of fund raising, public relations, state and federal relations and with opinion leaders in and outside of Maine.”

Under Mills’ leadership, the UM Alumni Association has, along with its partners at the University of Maine Foundation, recently completed the most successful private fund-raising effort ever at UM, for Buchanan Alumni House. A ribbon cutting to open that new facility is scheduled for May 31.

Prior to his return to Maine in 1997, Mills received master’s and doctoral degrees from Arizona State University, where he also worked for the vice president of advancement and later became the assistant director of the alumni association.

Mills was president of student government during his senior year at UM. A Bryant Pond native, he served nine years in the Legislature, including one term as a senator.

He lives in Orono with his wife, Tammy, director of Reading Recovery at the Lewis Libby School in Milford, and their children.