PRESQUE ISLE — An experienced Aroostook County education administrator, who has held leadership positions at both the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and the Loring Job Corps Center, has been named to the top academic post at Northern Maine Community College.
President Timothy Crowley has announced that Dr. Dorothy “Dottie” Martin, of Fort Fairfield, has been appointed NMCC academic dean. Martin officially began her new duties Aug. 1.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Martin to NMCC as our new academic dean. Throughout her career, Dottie has demonstrated a level of commitment to students and to supporting and fostering academic excellence that is most impressive. I am confident that the students, faculty and staff will benefit from and enjoy working with her,” said Crowley.
Martin most recently served as career development director at the Loring Job Corps Center in Limestone for nearly seven years. In that capacity, she was responsible for day-to-day oversight of the academic and career technical training program.
Before joining Job Corps in 2004, Martin served as executive director of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. Her tenure at the magnet school began in 1996 when she was appointed assistant director. She was promoted to the top post in 2000. Prior to relocating to Maine, Martin held positions in the field of education in Louisiana.
“NMCC’s reputation as an educational leader has spread regionally and nationally. The college has assumed leadership roles in several fields such as alternative energy and health care training. I am also impressed with how the college understands and very effectively responds to the needs of local employers and the local workforce,” said Martin. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to work with the dedicated faculty and staff at NMCC. During my time in Aroostook County, I have seen a strategic focus on improving the learning environment that has allowed for innovative technology and industry standards to be integrated into instruction and learning at NMCC.”
Martin currently sits on the Maine State Board of Education and serves on the Career and Technical Education committee, as well as the certification committee. She is a former president and board director of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology.
Locally, she is engaged in a number of civic and community organizations. She is a member of Rotary International through the Limestone Club and was awarded the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow honor by that club in 2006. She has also served as a member and secretary of the board of directors of the County Federal Credit Union and was involved as a former member and vice president of the Aroostook Literacy Volunteers board.
Martin holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, two masters degrees – in educational administration and supervision and library science and educational administration, both from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La.; and a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Louisiana College in Pineville, La.
Martin assumes the academic dean position from Ronald Fitzgerald, a long-time faculty member and college administrator who Crowley appointed to the post on an interim basis a year ago. Fitzgerald filled the position left vacant in September 2009, when former NMCC academic dean Alan Punches left the campus to assume a similar role at a college in Oklahoma. The position was left vacant for the 2009-10 academic year.
