University of New England

UNE honors four Maine women with Deborah Morton Awards

PORTLAND- Four prominent Maine women were honored on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 as recipients of the 2007 Deborah Morton Awards at a ceremony on the University of New England's Westbrook College Campus.

Sandra Armentrout, community leader and volunteer; Meg Baxter, president of the United Way of Greater Portland; Kris Doody, RN, chief executive officer of Cary Medical Center; and Carol Wishcamper, an independent organizational consultant, spoke at the awards convocation ceremony.

Award History
The Deborah Morton Awards are presented each year by the trustees of the University of New England to outstanding women who have achieved high distinction in their careers and public service or whose leadership in civic, cultural or social causes has been exceptional.

The Deborah Morton Award, first presented at Westbrook College in 1961, was the first annual award in Maine to honor women's achievements. It was named in memory of Deborah Morton of Round Pond, Maine, valedictorian of the 1879 class of the Westbrook Seminary - the forerunner of Westbrook College, which merged with the University of New England in 1996.

Morton was a teacher, dean, linguist, historian and prominent Portland civic leader whose service to Westbrook College spanned more than 60 years. Since 1961, more than 150 distinguished women have been honored with the award.

Sandra Armentrout
Sandra Armentrout has a long history of community involvement, particularly in the areas of community history and historic preservation. After moving to Maine in 1965, Armentrout became involved with the Brick Store Museum where she served as a volunteer and trustee until 1976 when she began a 10-year career as director, putting her art, grant writing and organizational skills to work.

By the time she stepped down in 1986 she had seen the organization move from seasonal to year-round vitality as a community arts and cultural center. Armentrout continued to serve Maine's communities through her many directorship positions, including at the Old York Historical Society where she created the Elizabeth Perkins Fellowship for graduate student interns in American Studies; the Joan Whitney Payson Gallery on the Westbrook College Campus (now the Art Gallery at UNE); the Maine Historical Society; and the River Tree Center for the Arts.

In 1989 she was hired by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now known as Historic New England) to create a regional office in Portsmouth for the management and oversight of its Maine and New Hampshire properties. In addition, she has served on numerous boards, most recently the Kennebunk Land Trust and Laudholm Trust, and is currently involved with the York County Shelters food pantry.

Meg Baxter
Meg Baxter is currently president of the United Way of Greater Portland, a position she has held since 1989. Baxter came to Portland in 1984 as director of agency relations after spending eleven years with the United Way in New Bedford, Mass.

Under her leadership, the annual campaign revenues of the organization have grown to more than $8,500,000 and the organizations endowment has grown to nearly $6,000,000. Baxter is deeply involved in the community in other ways as well. She currently serves as a board member of MaineHealth, Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Fisher Foundation, TD Banknorth, and as board chair at Maine Medical Center.

She is also a former trustee of Park Danforth, the University of New England and Spring Harbor Hospital where she was founding board chair. In 2005, Baxter received the Woman of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Kennebec Council for being an exemplary role model for today's girls and young women, was cited as one of the "City's Next Leaders" in a Portland Press Herald article, and in 1996 she received the Tribute to Women and Industry Award from the YMCA of Portland for outstanding achievement and exemplary professionalism in her chosen career.

Kris Doody
Kris Doody, RN, currently serves as chief executive officer of Cary Medical Center, the largest employer in the City of Caribou.

Doody has spent much of her life at Cary Medical Center, serving as a candy striper, nurses aide, emergency room nurse, operating room manager and finally, as CEO. During her time at the Center she has made a lasting impact on both the hospital and the people she works with, inspiring the entire organization to service excellence.

She established the Center as one of the strongest rural hospitals in the nation through many initiatives that include making the hospital a leader in the development of an Organ Donation Program, moving the Center to the top 5% of rural hospitals in the nation in regard to digital healthcare, establishing relationships with the Veterans Administration and Maine Veterans Home Organization, moving the Center to its strongest financial position in history and hiring the largest medical staff in the hospitals history.

In addition, Doody has been very involved with the community, serving as president of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce's board and serving on the Maine Winter Sports Center Committee . She was also instrumental in encouraging the Cary Medical Centers' board of directors to provide a $100,000 sponsorship to "Aroostook Partners for Progress," an economic development initiative that hopes to bring new economic activity to the region.

Carol Wishcamper
Wishcamper has been an independent organizational consultant since 1992, who has worked with numerous non-profit and for-profit companies including public school systems around Maine, University of Southern Maine, Bowdoin College, Maine Audubon Society, Children's Museum of Maine, Portland YWCA, Portland Stage Company, the Maine Women's Fund and the Maine Humanities Council.

She was trained at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.Wishcamper has been involved with many community, service and educational organizations outside of her work. She currently serves as co-chair of the University of Southern Maine Capital Campaign board and is on the boards of the Maine Philanthropy Center and River Rock Foundation. In addition, she has served on the Maine State Board of Education, was a Northeast representative to the National Association of State Boards of Education, was a trustee at the College of the Atlantic and Wayneflete School, and was a consultant to the Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education.

In 2004 she was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year Award by the Spurwink Institute, was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 1999 and received the Oakleaf Award for service in 1994 by the Nature Conservatory.

(Press release posted Sept. 6, 2007)