UNE mourns the passing of former university president Sandra Featherman

The University of New England was saddened to learn of the passing of former university president Sandra Featherman. The fourth president of UNE, Featherman served from 1995 through June 2006, presiding over UNE’s merger with Westbrook College in 1996 to create today’s UNE Portland Campus. She was made an honorary alumna of Westbrook College in 1998 and of the University of New England in 2004.

“In addition to being a trailblazer for women in higher education administration, Dr. Featherman was a trailblazer for UNE,” said current UNE President James D. Herbert, Ph.D. “At a time when low enrollment and limited physical resources were major concerns for small colleges and universities, she acted decisively to help UNE grow. Her vision helped create the foundation for the modern university that has blossomed in the years since her time at the UNE helm.”

The merger between the University of New England and Westbrook College took place on July 31, 1996, creating the opportunity for UNE to grow into a larger, more diverse institution of higher learning. It took place under the original 1831 Westbrook College charter.

“More than growing our student body and facilities,” Herbert explained, “when UNE merged with Westbrook College, we gained a dedicated alumni body, the members of which have been some of our most generous and influential partners as we have built the UNE of the twenty-first century.”

Today’s UNE Portland Campus is home to three of the university’s premiere colleges, including the College of Dental Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and the Westbrook College of Health Professions. These colleges, combined with the University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, have allowed UNE to become Maine’s leading provider of health professionals.  

Featherman, who arrived at UNE with a background in political science, will be remembered mainly as a champion of the liberal arts. Prior to serving UNE, she held positions at the University of Minnesota-Duluth as vice chancellor for academic administration and professor of political science, and at Temple University as assistant to the president, director of the Center for Public Policy, and president of the Faculty Senate.

Read the feature obituary in the Portland Press Herald.