University of Southern Maine Extends the Contract of Its President

Theodora Kalikow has agreed to a one-year extension of her two-year appointment as president of the University of Southern Maine. She will now serve until June 30, 2015. She was named president in July 2012 after serving for 18 years as president of the University of Maine at Farmington.

James H. Page, chancellor of the University of Maine system, stated, “President Kalikow’s extension will provide the time needed to ensure the University of Southern Maine’s goals are articulated clearly and are fully integrated before we take the step of launching a nationwide search for our next president.”

A native of Swampscott, Massachusetts, Kalikow received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wellesley College in 1962. She holds a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston University.

Dr. Kalikow began her academic career at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, where she attained the rank of professor and served as  department chair and faculty union president.

From 1984 to 1987 she was dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado. In 1987 she moved to Plymouth State College in New Hampshire where she served as dean of the college until 1994, when she was named president of the University of Maine at Farmington.