The University of Southern Maine in Portland Names Its Next President

Jacqueline Edmondson was named the eighteenth president of the University of Southern Maine in Portland. She will take office on July 1.

The University of Southern Maine enrolls about 6,100 undergraduate students and more than 1,900 graduate students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 60 percent of the undergraduate student body.

“I am thrilled to be joining the University of Southern Maine as its eighteenth President,” Dr. Edmondson said. “USM is a wonderful institution that is well-positioned for an even greater future. I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, students, and communities where our campuses are located to build on USM’s strengths, confront challenges and realize new opportunities that will expand its impact and reach in the University of Maine System, the great state of Maine and beyond.”

Since 2017, Dr. Edmondson has been the chancellor and chief academic officer of Penn State Greater Allegheny in White Oak, Pennsylvania. Earlier, she was a tenured professor and associate dean in the College of Education and later associate vice president and associate dean for undergraduate education.

Dr. Edmondson also earned her undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees at Pennsylvania State University, where she was a first-generation college student who started as a music major before transitioning to elementary education.