BANGOR – John Rohman of Bangor received a Distinguished Community Service Award during a universitywide convocation Oct. 15 at the University of Maine at Augusta.

Rohman is a principal and chief executive officer in the Bangor architectural firm of WBRC Architects-Engineers. He is a former Bangor mayor and City Council member, and served as executive director of the National Folk Festival in Bangor. Currently, he is chairman of the Maine Arts Commission. He also serves on UMA’s board of visitors, and his firm designed and built UMA’s state-of-the-art campus centerpiece, the Student Technology Center.

“John Rohman has made a substantial contribution to the community of Bangor over a period of many years” said Richard Randall, president of UMA. “He has played a key role in helping UMA and its Bangor campus, the University College of Bangor, to grow to the baccalaureate institution it is today.”

Rohman is one of two recipients of the Distinguished Community Service Award. The other is John Finnegan, an Augusta community leader who serves as chairman of UMA’s board of visitors.

Also at the convocation, Chancellor Terrence MacTaggart and Meg Weston, chairwoman of the University of Maine System board of trustees, installed Richard Randall as UMA’s 11th president.

Randall, who was tapped for a two-year tem as president this past summer, has a 34-year history at UMA. Beginning at the entry-level rank of instructor, he became a full professor and later served as provost and vice president of academic affairs. He was coaxed out of retirement in 2005 to become interim president, and on July 1, the University of Maine System board of trustees named him president.

Holocaust scholar Dr. Irving Roth delivered a keynote address, “Immigration: Our Moral Responsibility.” A Holocaust survivor and director of the Holocaust Resource Center at Temple Judea of Manhasset, N.Y., Roth is a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. He is teaching a course at UMA called “Holocaust: From Prejudice to Genocide.”

Music at the convocation was provided by the Acadia Brass Quintet.