Laurie G. Lachance

Laurie Gagnon Lachance is an American economist and college administrator. Since 2012, she has been the president of Thomas College in Waterville, Maine, and is the first woman to fill that post. She was previously the first woman Maine State Economist and the first woman president of the Maine Development Foundation. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.

Laurie G. Lachance
President of Thomas College
Assumed office
2012
Preceded byGeorge Spann
Personal details
Born
Laurie Gagnon

Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
NationalityAmerican
Spouse(s)David Lachance
Children2
ParentsGeorge V. Gagnon
Mattie Violette Gagnon
Alma materBowdoin College
Thomas College
AwardsMaine Women's Hall of Fame (2014)

Early life and education

Laurie Gagnon was born in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the daughter of George V. Gagnon and Mattie Violette Gagnon.[1] She has two sisters.[1]

She graduated from Foxcroft Academy in 1979.[2] While her father encouraged her to attend college, she did so without having any particular career in mind.[3] Enrolling at Bowdoin College in 1979, she decided to major in economics "because I couldn't get the math course I wanted".[3] She traveled to Austria between her junior and senior years as an American Field Service Intercultural Programs student.[3] She credits her stay in Austria and her experience living at Bowdoin College as broadening her outlook beyond her small-town upbringing.[3] In 1983 she graduated from Bowdoin with a bachelor's degree in economics.[4]

After graduation, she began working as an economic analyst and, later, corporate economist[5] for Central Maine Power while pursuing her business degree at Thomas College.[3] She attained her MBA in 1992.[4] In 2012 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.[5]

Career

In August 1993 she became State Economist for the Maine State Planning Office, a position she held until October 2004.[4] She was the first woman to hold this position, and her tenure spanned the terms of three governors, John R. McKernan, Jr., Angus King, and John Baldacci.[6][7] During this time, she also chaired the Maine State Revenue Forecasting Commission.[6]

In October 2004[4] Lachance was named President and CEO of the Maine Development Foundation, a state-chartered non-profit membership organization.[8][7]

As part of her job, she began researching higher education and decided to join several college and university boards.[7][9] She joined the board of trustees of Thomas College in 2010.[10] In 2012, when Thomas College was conducting a search for a new president, someone asked if Lachance was also being considered and the search committee solicited her application.[7] In 2012 she became the fifth president of Thomas College.[8][11] She is the first woman and first alumna to head the college in its 118-year history.[8] One of her first undertakings as president was a $12 million capital campaign for new campus buildings, which was successfully completed one year ahead of schedule.[9] In 2015, she promoted the creation of a "Central Maine hub" to increase enrollment in the region's four-year colleges.[9]

Other activities

Lachance is the chair of the Maine Independent Colleges Association[12] and chair of Educare Central Maine, a Head Start program.[13] She is a board member of Educate Maine and the Maine Economic Growth Council.[8] She is a frequent speaker on Maine economics.[8]

Awards and honors

She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award (2011), the President's Award of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce (2010), and the Deborah Morton Award of the board of trustees of the University of New England (2009).[5] She was a Margaret Chase Smith Distinguished Policy Fellow in 2008 and a Thomas College Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1995.[5]

She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.[6][14]

Personal

She and her husband David Lachance, have two sons and live in Manchester.[10]

Selected papers
  • "In Search of Silver Buckshot: Thirty years of economic development in Maine" (PDF). The Brookings Institution. October 2006.
  • "Ready or Not—Here They Come!". Maine Policy Review. 12 (2): 70–74. 2003.
  • "Maine's Investment Imperative". Maine Policy Review. 11 (2): 60–78. 2002.
  • "Presentation of Laurie G. Lachance, State Economist to the Maine Policy Leaders Academy". Maine State Planning Office. 12 January 2000.
  • "The Maine Economy: Facing the challenge". Maine Policy Review. 5 (1): 75–81. 1996.
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References
  1. "Mattie V. Gagnon". Bangor Daily News. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  2. "In Touch" (PDF). Foxcroft. 53: 14. 2013.
  3. Pohlmann, Lisa (1997). "Overcoming Barriers, Building on Strengths: Maine women look at aspirations". Maine Policy Review. 6 (2): 36–43.
  4. "Laurie Lachance". LinkedIn. 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  5. "Maine Development Foundation President and CEO to speak during UMPI's 103rd Commencement Exercises (press release)". University of Maine at Presque Isle. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. "Maine Women's Hall of Fame: Honorees". University of Maine at Augusta. 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  7. Rooks, Douglas (8 September 2014). "Maine's mix of colleges and universities have created an 'education hub'". Mainebiz. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  8. "President Lachance Honored at Maine Women's Hall of Fame". WCSH. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  9. Rooks, Douglas (5 October 2015). "Thomas College President Laurie Lachance tackles student debt". Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  10. Wickenheiser, Matt (27 May 2012). "Lachance leaves MDF to become Thomas College president". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  11. Hongoltz-Hetling, Matt (23 September 2012). "Laurie Lachance installed as Thomas College president". Morning Sentinel. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  12. "Testimony of Laurie G. Lachance on behalf of Thomas College and the Maine Independent Colleges Association" (PDF). Maine Budget 2013. 19 February 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  13. McCanna, Ben (6 August 2012). "Head Start hit with cuts amid slaps at education". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  14. Swinconeck, John (3 March 2014). "Patricia Ryan being inducted into Women's Hall of Fame". The Times-Record. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
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