ORONO – The University of Maine marked a significant milestone in its capital campaign Thursday with a $1.5 million gift from a well-known Hampden couple.

The donation from Bion and Dorain Foster will support programs at UM’s Student Innovation Center, which now will be known as the Bion and Dorain Foster Student Innovation Center.

“I can’t think of a building that means more for the future of Maine than what can go on right here,” Campaign Maine co-chair Allen Fernald said at Thursday night’s event at the center. The campaign is about one-third over and has reached the halfway mark of its $150 million goal.

Some of the money donated by the Fosters also will be used to support the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, where the second-floor multipurpose room is named in their honor, and for scholarship funds through an endowment at the University of Maine Foundation.

The Fosters made the gift in honor of their four daughters and their families.

“It’s all about them,” Bion Foster said.

The couple knew they wanted to practice the golden rule instilled in them by their parents by giving back to the community, and Foster said the innovation center just made sense.

“We didn’t want to wait to get to the finish line to give this gift,” Bion Foster said. “It just made an awful lot of sense that we try and connect ourselves with the entrepreneurial drive that exists at this university.”

The couple said they intend to be involved in the center by continuing their commitment to mentoring and helping students.

“We see so often that we’re losing a lot of our best and brightest,” Bion Foster said. Foster disagrees with the perception that there are no opportunities in Maine and is working to change that image.

“There is a common thread in Bion and Dorain’s philanthropy,” UM President Robert Kennedy said. “They always focus on what is important for our current students, and they have an eye on the future, helping UMaine develop in ways that will help us serve our students and our state in meaningful ways. They take great pride in mentoring young people, including their daughters – who are carrying on the family tradition of hard work, professional success and community service.”

More than 100 friends, family members, students and university officials gathered Thursday evening at the innovation center to announce the gift and to thank the Fosters for their ongoing support of UM.

The innovation center opened in 2006 with the purpose of giving students the knowledge, tools and inspiration to become innovators and entrepreneurs by helping them evaluate their ideas and find the resources needed to be successful. Its programs and services include one-on-one advising and coaching, credit courses in innovation, fun and inspirational seminars, and offices and meeting space for student companies and projects.

The center also is home to UM’s Innovation Engineering curriculum, an academic minor that provides education, support and inspiration to student innovators and entrepreneurs.

“It is fitting that this facility will bear the name of Bion and Dorain Foster,” Kennedy said, pointing out that Bion Foster was named Maine’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001. “They are true innovators and entrepreneurs who have succeeded in business and become community leaders because they exemplify the skill, intelligence, work ethic and creativity that we strive to develop in our students.”

This recent gift is a continuation of the Fosters’ commitment to the University of Maine. They previously have contributed to the athletics department, the Page Farm and Home Museum, the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, the University of Maine Alumni Association, and the campaign to build the Buchanan Alumni House, where a boardroom is named in their honor.

They are among UM’s most generous benefactors and are members of its two most prestigious organizations recognizing long-term philanthropy: the Stillwater Society and the Charles F. Allen Society.

Bion Foster, who graduated from UM in 1968 and earned a master’s degree in business administration in 1970, has served his alma mater in a variety of roles, including as a former member of the President’s Development Council and former chair of the University of Maine Alumni Association board of directors. He currently serves on the university’s Board of Visitors.

Dorain Foster serves as special projects manager of the UM development staff.

Bion Foster’s community service resume also includes leadership roles in the Bangor Regional Development Association, Affiliated Healthcare Systems, the John Bapst Memorial High School Foundation, the Action Committee of 50 and the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce.

He has assisted numerous local businesses through service on various boards of directors. His current professional affiliations include business development consulting, real estate development and nonprofit fundraising consulting, both in Maine and in South Carolina. Since 1999, he has served as Hampden’s economic development director.

Stephen Turner, a professor at Thomas College in Waterville, spoke fondly and emotionally of his former classmate and friend. The two met 40 years ago on the UM campus, and Turner said that even then he was amazed by Foster’s drive and determination.

“Some dreams come true,” Turner began his remarks. “Today proves it.”