BUCKSPORT – The school committee has named an Aroostook County administrator as the new high school principal.

Committee members voted on Wednesday to hire Robert Doar Jr. to fill the post opened when Tom Sullivan submitted his resignation last fall. Doar, 53, of New Sweden, is currently the principal at Washburn District High School in Washburn.

“I’m excited,” Doar said Wednesday night. “I’m looking forward to being a part of the Bucksport community and working with the great staff.”

Doar also said he was looking forward to the challenge of working collaboratively with a larger staff than he has in the past. Bucksport has an enrollment of about 450 students. The Washburn high school has about 120 students.

A native of Rhode Island, Doar served for 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, a career that brought him and his wife to Limestone, where he worked as an air traffic controller.

In work related to education, Doar was a special education teacher at Fort Kent Community High and the assistant principal and athletic director for the kindergarten-though-grade-12 Limestone Community School. He has been the principal at Washburn for two years.

The school committee approved a two-year contract for Doar with a starting salary of $73,157. And in lieu of health benefits, he will receive an additional $4,500. He also will be allowed to keep his accumulated sick leave from his current position.