Current Position and Past Experience
Theodora Kalikow served as the President of the University of Southern Maine from 2012-2014, before stepping into a Vice Chancellor role with the University of Maine System. She was previously the President of the University of Maine at Farmington from 1994-2012.
Kalikow got her start in higher education during the academic year 1967-68, when she served as tutor in philosophy at the University of Exeter, England. In 1968-69 she began teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, where she attained the rank of Professor and served as Department Chair and faculty union president.
In 1981 Kalikow became the Interim Assistant to the President at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and during 1983-84 she served as an American Council on Education Fellow at Brown University.
From 1984 to 1987 she was Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado, and in 1987 she moved to Plymouth State College (N.H.), where she served as Dean of the College (with one year as Interim President) until 1994.
Education, Honors and Achievements
Kalikow earned her A.B. in Chemistry from Wellesley College in 1962. After working in a laboratory at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, she attended graduate school in the Boston area, receiving the Sc.M. in Philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1970, and the Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boston University in 1974.
Personal Details and Community Involvement
Kalikow is actively engaged with an array of organizations, including the Maine Campus Compact Executive Board, the State Sub-Cabinet for Multicultural Affairs, the Maine Economic Growth Council, and the Finance Authority of Maine. She chairs the University of Maine System’s Diversity Committee.
In 2001 Kalikow was inducted to the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame. She received the Maryann Hartman Award in from the University of Maine Women’s Studies Program in 2000 for her achievements which have inspired other women.
The University of New England honored Kalikow with the Deborah Morton award for her leadership in Maine’s educational and civic life in 2006. This award is presented annually to recognize women who have achieved distinction in their careers and their service to the public. UNE also conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Kalikow in 2012. In 2007 she received the Green Building Leadership Award from the Maine Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council for her pioneering work in establishing high standards of environmental responsibility for higher education in Maine.
