The Maine State Museum Commission

The Maine State Museum Commission is a group of fifteen Maine citizens appointed by the Governor to oversee museum policies, prescribe duties of the museum director, establish museum admission fees, and generally supervise museum operations. The members of the Commission may serve up to two consecutive five-year terms and are appointed because of their special qualifications and interests in the several fields of museum activity.

The Maine State Museum Commission is currently led by Chair Charles J. Micoleau, Vice-Chair William Murray, and Secretary Kaye Flanagan. Biographical sketches of the Commission members follow.

Jon R. Doyle, Esq. of Richmond, is an attorney with a private practice in Augusta at Doyle & Nelson with an emphasis on legislative, regulatory and administrative matters in Maine State government. He is a former Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the State of Maine; Counsel to 106th Maine Legislature and is a member of the Board of Govenors and past president of the Maine Bar Association. Mr. Doyle is also on the Board of Directors and Chair of Jobs for Maine's Graduates. Other organizations that he has lead as a board member or chair include the Kennebec Valley United Way; Maine Children's Turst, GrowSmart Maine; Women Unlimited; Maine Rape Crisis Center; Family Violence Project; MaineGeneral Hospital and the Patten Lumbermen's Museum. He is a charter member of the Maine Bar Foundation.

Kaye Flanagan of Manchester, a former psychiatric nurse with experience in nursing education, supervision and medical-psychiatric clinical leadership. After moving to Maine in her late 20s where she simultaneously earned a B.A. degree at the University of Southern Maine while working in supervisory positions at Holy Innocents Home Care Service, she eventually became director of the organization. Kaye has served on various health and social services boards, including Maine Medical Center, Kennebec Valley United Way, Samantha Smith Foundation, Catholic Charities of Maine and Spring Harbor Hospital. She also served on the Board of the Children's Center in Augusta where she spearheaded a capital campaign to build a new facility to serve children with multiple health challenges. Currently Kaye is on the board of the Maine Cancer Foundation.

Shirlene H. Gosline of Gardiner, was chair of the Commission during the Maine State Museum's last successful accreditation process. A retired high school English teacher and reading supervisor, she received both her Bachelor and Masters Degrees from UMO and is currently president of the Kennebec Valley UMO Alumni Association. A past president of the Kennebec Valley Garden Club and of the Garden Club Federation of Maine, she now serves on the Local, State, New England Region, and National Garden Club Boards. A charter member of the Friends of the Maine State Museum, she was chairman of several of its auctions. She is also a member of the Friends of the Blaine House. At her church, she serves on the finance and membership committees.

Bruce E. Hertz of Wayne, has been a member of the Maine State Museum Commission since 2007. In his capacity as chairman of the Communications Committee, he helped formulate a strategic marketing plan for the museum and is in the midst of working on a communications plan for the museum. He is also a member of the Executive Committee. He is proudest of his role in the rescue and reclamation of Lakewood Theater, the State Theater of Maine, in Madison and the subsequent restoration of the Lakewood Inn, the restaurant across from the theater. During his tenure as president, and marketing director of Curtain up Enterprise, Lakewood's operating company, Hertz also directed, produced and acted in more than 100 shows. The company also established a children's theater and a traveling theater of plays for children. He was bureau chief of the Skowhegan and Pittsfield offices of the Bangor Daily News where he wrote and supervised thousands of news stories. Most recently he was marketing director of Home Care for Maine, president of Gaslight Theater, and a member of the Norridgework Park Committee, Coburn Park Committee, Skowhegan, a trustee of the Madision Public Library, and a free lance reporter.

David Hopkins of North Haven, is a museum retail consultant for the Brooklyn Museum. He has thirty years of experience in the not-for-profit arts management sector. He has a proven record in sales, expense control, customer relations, location management, construction, visual merchandising and staff development. Mr. Hopkins is on the Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and serves as Chair of the Development Committee at the Farnsworth Museum and Wyeth Center in Rockland. He is also on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee at Waterman's North Haven Arts & Enrichment. He is on the Board at the North Haven Historical Society and is a former president and treasurer of the North Haven Development Corporation and former advisory board member of the James N. Jarvie Commonweal Service in New York.

Margaret A. Kelley of East Winthrop, is a former chair of the Commission. She has more than thirty-five years of volunteer experience in Maine with multiple non-profit organizations. She is adept at building productive relationships to further organizational goals. She served as board member of the Friends of the Maine State Museum for more than ten years, including two as president. She is a former co-chair and currently serves on the Friends of the Blaine House Board of Directors.

Gary Mahler of Belgrade, is a semi-retired substitute teacher for the Belgrade Central School and is also an Adult Ed Instructor for various courses at MSAD 47. Dr. Mahler also has forty years of federal government experience in technical management and education including service as Associate Academic Dean in the National University Schools of Technology, Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Charles J. Micoleau, Esq. of Portland, is chair of the Commission. He also oversees the legislature and public affairs services work of the Portland law firm Curtis, Thaxter, Stevens, Broder & Micoleau. Mr. Micoleau is a former Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Edmund S. Muskie in Washington, D.C. For more than thirty years he has been active in shaping governmental policies affecting energy, technology investment, and environmental protection. His past experience in corporate and non-profit leadership includes service as Vice President of Communications for The NutraSweet Company; President of the Maine Center for Innovation in Biotechnology; and President of the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the state's largest environmental organization. He now serves as a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Maine's Muskie School of Public Policy and Management, and as a trustee of the Portland Public Library.

William M. Murray of Portland, is a former Naval officer and has now retired as a business executive from the UpJohn Company. He co-chaired the successful Popham 400th anniversary celebration in Phippsburg. He has been an active SCORE (counselors to America's small business) volunteer, served on the Portland Conservatory of Music board, Maine Public Broadcasting Network's Community Advisory Board, and as president of the Popham Beach Improvement Association.

Howard P. Segal of Bangor, is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Maine at Orono. Dr. Segal has written extensively about the history of American Technology including the books Future Imperfect and Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford's Village Industries.

R. Linwood Snow of Woolwich, is a Maine historian. He has served as director of maritime museums in Bath, Maine and San Diego, California. Mr. Snow has been a history and government teacher, dean of students, acting headmaster and a National Park Service historian. He has written several books of Maine history including The Bath Iron Works: The First Hundred Years; Maine Odyssey: Good Times and Hard Times in Bath, with K.R. Martin; The Pattens of Bath: A Seagoing Dynasty, with K.R. Martin; and A Shipyard in Maine: Percy and Small and the Great Schooners, with Capt. D. Lee.

Brooks W. Stoddard of Brunswick, is a Professor of Art History and Art Department Chairman at the University of Maine at Augusta. Dr. Stoddard has co-directed archaeological excavations at Psalmody in Southern France for many years. He has served as chairman of the Blaine House Commission; as a member of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission; Friends of the Blaine House board; Old Fort Western Museum board; Strawberry Banke Museum, Board of Overseers; the Arts Review Panel of the Maine Commission for the Arts and Humanities, the Brunswick Village Historic District Review Board; Freeport School Board; and as president of the Brunswick-Topsham Trust.

Mary Sue Weeks of Bremen, is the executive assistant for the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. Her experience includes many years as a non-profit administrator and development officer for such groups as the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Rockland, the Opportunity Farm for Boys in New Gloucester, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension's Camp and Learning Center in Lincolnville, and the Round Top Center for the Arts. Ms. Weeks is an artist and business owner with experience as sole proprietor of both Decorative Illusions and Coastal Maine Draperies in Breman. She has also served on the Board of Trustees for Lincoln Academy, the Bremen Budget Committee, Bremen School Board and Bremen Planning Board.