ORONO, Maine — Maine’s largest education and research enterprise has welcomed four new members to its governing board. 

Christopher Gordon, Richard Rosen, Blake Shepherd and Matthew Webber participated in their first meeting this month as members of the University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees, having been nominated by Gov. Janet Mills, reviewed and recommended by the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs and confirmed by the Maine Senate this spring. 

Gordon, of Winchester, Mass., is president of Wynn Resorts Development, where he leads global real estate development efforts. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Maine, where he played NCAA Division I football, and his graduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — both in civil engineering. He has been a lecturer in MIT’s Center for Real Estate for three decades and currently serves as chair of the Board of Directors for his secondary school alma mater, Fryeburg Academy. 

Rosen, of Bucksport, owned and operated a small family business for more than three decades. He served in the Maine Legislature from 1998-2012, with three terms in the House and four in the Senate, including as Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs. After terming out of the Maine Senate, he led the newly created Governor’s Office of Policy and Management before becoming Deputy Commissioner of Finance and then Commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Maine Maritime Academy and the Maine Community College System. He is also a graduate of UMaine, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance. 

The Board also welcomed two students, who were recommended to the Governor by a council comprising the leaders of student government and the student representative to the Board from each UMS university. They will serve two-year terms as full voting members. 

Shepherd, of Portland, is a second-year student at the University of Maine School of Law and a 2023 graduate of Bates College. He has served as staff director at the Naples summer camp, Camp Skylemar, owned by his family, and previously worked at the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition.

Webber, of Leeds, is a graduate of Leavitt Area High School. He is majoring in economics and international business at UMaine, where he has been active in the Student Government Association, including serving on the Budgetary Committee for the Undergraduate Student Senate and as the Student Representative to the Center for Undergraduate Research Board.

The Hon. Emily Cain, who lives in Orono and joined the Board in 2020, was also reappointed by Governor Mills and confirmed for a second five-year term. Trustee Cain is a two-time UMaine graduate, most recently earning her Ph.D. in Higher Education in 2025, and also received a master’s degree in higher education from Harvard University in 2004. She served in the Maine Legislature for a decade, including as House Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs and was the youngest woman House Minority Leader in state history. She is currently a partner at the consulting firm, Copper Sky, LLC. Cain currently chairs both the Finance, Facilities and Technology Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee of the Board. 

The 17-member Board of Trustees is the governing and planning body for the statewide system, which is Maine’s largest driver of educational attainment and economic development and among its biggest employers, according to UMS, in a news release. The Hon. Roger Katz was recently elected chair and Elise Baldacci vice chair.

More information about the Board is available at www.maine.edu/board-of-trustees/, where all meetings are live streamed and materials are available as part of the System’s commitment to transparency and public accountability and engagement.