News Releases

USM Appoints Foster as Dean of the Muskie School

March 1 , 2007

Portland, ME - The University of Maine System Board of Trustees has confirmed the appointment of William H. Foster, as dean of the USM Muskie School of Public Service. Foster had been serving as interim dean since October 2005.

Prior to joining the Muskie School, Foster was the senior vice president and chief operating officer of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. Foster also served as executive director of a Congressional commission on Social Security, chief of staff and deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor, and a policy advisor to Senator Bill Bradley. He spent 17 years on the faculty at the University of Illinois and Rutgers University and holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He was born in Portland, Maine and attended schools in North Yarmouth before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, in high school.

"The Muskie School is in the business of developing the most efficient and effective ways for public, private and nonprofit sectors to work together to create healthy individual, healthy families, and healthy communities," said Foster. "It's this active, vibrant social network that will ensure a strong Maine economy for decades to come."

The USM Muskie School offers master's degree programs in community planning and development, health policy and management, and public policy and management, as well as a Ph.D. in public policy. With projects in all 50 states and across Maine, the School's more than 300 staff conduct applied research and offer training and technical assistance in such areas as health policy, child and family policy, and economic and environmental policy. More information is available on the Web at http://www.muskie.usm.maine.edu/

"As interim dean, Bill exemplified the necessary leadership to ensure the continued success of the Muskie School as a regional and national resource," said USM President Richard Pattenaude. "His contributions as dean will be invaluable to the School, the University and ultimately the state."

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