Discontinued Offices & Programs. Summer Institute (University Of Maine) Records

A number of institutes were held on the University of Maine campus during the summer months. Often these institutes were organized with the support of grant funds including from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). A mix of faculty taught at the institutes including from University of Maine. Attendees came from across the nation and there were some international attendees, but predominately attendees came from Maine.

With the support of NSF funds the “Summer Institute for Higher School Teachers of Mathematics” was first held at the University of Maine in 1958 under director Professor Spofford H. Kimball, head of the University of Maine Department of Mathematics. Kimball was succeeded as director in 1968 by Professor Howard Whitley Eves. Eves himself was succeeded as director in 1969 by John C. Mairhuber who was Kimball’s replacement as the head of the Department of Mathematics. In 1959, Professor Spofford H. Kimball also directed the NSF supported “Summer Science Training Program for Secondary Students”. The Institute appears to have closed in 1960 when it failed to secure funding from the NSF.

With the support of NSF funds the University of Maine held the summer institute “Biological Science for Elementary School Foundation”. The Institute was directed by Professor Roland Struchtemeyer, head of the University of Maine Department of Plants and Soils and held on campus in 1963 and 1964. Another NSF supported summer institute held at the University of Maine in 1963 and 1964 was the “Institute in Physics for High School Teachers of Physics”. The Institute was first directed by Professor Clarence E. Bennett, head of the department of physics and then in 1964 by Professor Victor H. Coffin, associate professor of physics.

The “Institute for Secondary School Teachers of English” was organized by the University of Maine’s Department of English and financed by a grant from the U.S. Office of Education under provisions of Title XI of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) as amended in 1964. The Institute was held during the summer months of 1965 and directed by Constance Hedin Carlson, Instructor in English. A mix of faculty taught at the summer institute including from the University of Maine's Department of English. The “Institute for Advanced Study for Teachers of Rural Disadvantaged Youth” which was held at the University of Maine from 1965-1968 was also supported by NDEA funds.

Starting in 1935 the University of Maine held the “Institute of International Affairs” and “Institute of World Affairs” which featured a range of speakers.

The University of Maine also held what appear to be one-time institutes on “The Education of Women for the Changing World” in 1962 and the “Weekend Institute on Germany Today” (which was co-sponsored by the Bangor Daily News) in 1961.

The University of Maine also hosted third party institutes including the American Association of Physics Teacher’s annual meeting in 1963 and the New England Managers' Institute in 1967.