BANGOR – Merrill Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edwin N. Clift has been appointed a United States Army Reserve Ambassador for Maine. The appointment, which lasts for three years, was effective May 24.

Clift’s appointment was made by Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve Command at the Pentagon. Clift was recommended for the post by Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Laich, commanding general of the Army Reserve 94th Regional Readiness Command, Devens, Mass.

The Ambassador Program was created in April 1998. The mission of the Army Reserve Ambassador is to serve as the local eyes, ears and voice of the U.S. Army Reserves in his or her local state. The ambassadors provide Army Reserve strategic communication briefings to civic organizations and opinion leaders at the local and state levels. Clift also expects to spend time assisting families of deployed Army Reserve Soldiers.

“Serving as an ambassador is my opportunity to assist soldiers, and especially their families, during this difficult time of mobilization and war,” explained Clift.

Chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Bank in Bangor, Clift previously served as the bank’s first president and chief executive officer. He also is former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Clift’s banking career spans more than three decades, beginning in 1964 when he joined the Merrill Trust Co. following service in the U.S. Air Force. He has served his state and community in economic, civic and charitable organizations: director and past president of the Bangor Area Target Development Corp.; past president and director of the Multiple Handicap Center of Penobscot Valley; president of Penobscot Foundation for Development Services; co-chairman of the University of Maine Center on Aging Board of Advisers; chairman of St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation Board of Trustees; past state chairman for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve; director and treasurer of the Bangor Historical Society; and director of the Forest Society of Maine.

Clift is a Paul Harris Fellow and a past president of Bangor Area Breakfast Rotary. He is also chairman of the board of Seven Islands Land Co., which manages 1 million acres of certified forest in Maine. Clift was recently appointed to Maine’s Judicial Compensation Commission.

He is a graduate of Strayer College in Washington, D.C., and attended the University of Maine. He also is a graduate of Williams College School of Banking.

Ambassador Clift, the father of two adult daughters, resides in Ellsworth with his wife Mary.