UMaine Today

If you haven’t seen UMaine Today, a magazine that describes itself as chronicling the “creativity and achievement at the University of Maine,” take a look. We recently read the January/February edition, found it as impressive as its previous editions and called Margaret Nagle, its editor, to express our appreciation.

Ms. Nagle, who is in the Public Affairs office at UMaine, says the magazine was founded to tell “our research story and other stories of the university.” It is sent nationwide to university presidents, policy-makers, journalists and alumni. “We also send it to doctors and lawyers in the hope they’ll put it in their waiting rooms,” she said. UMaine Today is a thoughtful, well-written and beautifully designed publication that focuses on the research being done at the university.

On the cover of the current copy is a handsome nighttime picture of Bangor by graduate student Kenton Williams, who won Bangor Center Corp.’s third annual downtown photo contest. Inside are articles on digital filmmaking, oyster disease, microelectronics, raising saltwater aquarium fish for commercial sale and the concern that in the next decade more than half of Maine’s school principals are expected to retire. The staff at the Public Affairs office do most of the work to produce the magazine, with Ms. Nagle and science writer Nick Houtman writing much of it.

This winter, for the first time, all faculty and staff at the university have received copies of UMaine Today, which is a good idea because the magazine is an excellent way for colleagues to learn about what other colleagues are doing. The change boosts circulation to 13,800. The magazine is issued five times a year.

UMaine Today is underwritten by the office of the vice president for research and the University of Maine Foundation. It is a smart investment in a publication that both informs and entertains. It should make alumni proud.