BIDDEFORD — Chances are that this year’s graduating class at the University of New England is going to hear about a lot of “firsts” as they pick up their diplomas on May 18.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills has accepted an invitation to deliver the Commencement Address at the school’s 184th University Commencement Ceremony in Portland where UNE will award more than 1,800 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, pharmacy, health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, human services, education, management, and the liberal arts.

Mills was Maine’s first female criminal prosecutor, the first female district attorney in New England, the first female attorney general of Maine, and the first female governor of Maine. Last November she earned more votes than any governor in state history and was the first governor since 1966 to win a majority of the vote for her first term leading the state.

She will be welcomed on stage by UNE’s sixth president, Dr. James Herbert, who also has a “first” of his own to share with the governor, as he was the very first member of his family to graduate from college.

“I am so pleased that Governor Mills will deliver our commencement address at UNE,” Herbert said. “She is a role model in so many ways for our students as they embark on their professional lives, and I very much look forward to her sharing her insights and wisdom with our community.”

Mills first entered public service as an Assistant Attorney General, where she prosecuted homicides and other major crimes. After several years, she was elected District Attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties, making her the first woman to be elected as a District Attorney in New England. Prior to being elected Maine’s 75th governor, Mills served as the Attorney General of Maine and to date is the first and only woman to hold the job.

The governor was born and raised in Farmington and graduated from Mt. Blue High School, then graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and the University of Maine School of Law.

While in law school, Mills served as editor of the Maine Law Review, developed the school’s first seminar on gender discrimination, and interned at the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, where she helped try criminal cases. She also interned for legendary civil rights attorney Charles Morgan at the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, and with pioneering women’s rights attorney Marcia Greenberger at the Center for Law and Social Policy.

Herbert is an accomplished psychologist, author, guitarist, gardener and practitioner of karate. His book “Acceptance and Mindfulness in Cognitive Behavior Therapy” was published in 2011 with colleague Dr. Evan Forman, and it received an endorsement from the Dalai Lama, who called it “a most beneficial and powerful method for ensuring a healthy mind and heart.” He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

He has led Maine’s largest private university since 2017 and UNE spans two distinctive campuses in Maine and a campus in Tangier, Morocco. It is home to Maine’s only medical and dental colleges, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care programs, and nationally recognized degree paths in the marine sciences, the natural and social sciences, business, the humanities and the arts.

— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 or by email at editor@journaltribune.com 

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