Pittsfield Law Student Named 1st Recipient of Vafiades Scholarship
August 2, 2004
University of Maine School of Law student Matthew Stein of
Pittsfield, has been named the first recipient of a scholarship
in memory of the late Bangor attorney, Lewis V. Vafiades.
Stein will be known as the Lewis V. Vafiades Scholar while
attending the Maine School of Law in Portland. The scholarship,
with an initial endowment of $188,000, was established to
provide tuition scholarships to exceptional Maine students,
preferably residents of northern Maine. Fund raising to increase
the size of the endowment continues.
"It's a great honor," said Stein, who will enter
his second year at Maine Law this September, "and one
that will be a tremendous help to me." Stein, who has
financed his own education, is a 1993 graduate of Maine Central
Institute, and a 2003 graduate of the University of Maine
in Orono. He worked in a local sporting goods store and began
his studies at Orono as a part-time student. Stein is the
son of Chris and Anne Stein of Pittsfield.
"Many senior attorneys around Maine and other friends of
Lew's responded generously to help us establish this scholarship
fund," said Roger A. Putnam of the Portland law firm
of Verrill & Dana, and an attorney who played an active role
in the establishment of the fund. "Our congratulations
go out to Matthew as the first Vafiades Scholar at Maine's
Law School."
Vafiades, who for nearly 50 years practiced law with distinction
in his hometown of Bangor, often was cited as one of Maine's
most respected attorneys. An editorial, published in the Bangor
Daily News shortly after his death in 2001, noted, "His
long career, his contributions to the Maine Bar and to the
community showed what was possible to achieve, whether in
the countless instances of informal help for countless friends
and acquaintances, in helping to bring legal services to the
poor or in his deft, intelligent and understated way of winning
the cases few thought winnable. Bangor will miss the ability,
dignity and compassion of this remarkable man."
Vafiades, a graduate of Bangor High, Bowdoin and Boston University
School of Law, served on Maine Law's Board of Visitors and
on the planning committee for the school's recently completed
capital campaign.
Maine Law supporters recently completed the $3 million "Foundations
for the Future" campaign. The campaign, the largest fund-raising
effort in the Maine School of Law's 40-year history, was launched
to increase the number of endowed scholarships; expand faculty
research opportunities; refurbish the Garbrecht Law Library;
and improve the School's Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, which
provides legal services to thousands of economically disadvantaged
Mainers. Fund raising continues for the Vafiades Scholarship.
Former U.S. Senator William S. Cohen serves as honorary chair
of the scholarship campaign. Committee members include Charles
H. Abbott, Eugene C. Coughlin, Susan R. Kominsky, Ralph I.
Lancaster, Malcolm L. Lyons, former Governor John R. McKernan,
Roger A. Putnam, Gerald S. Rudman, Warren M. Silver, and Wakine
G. Tanous.
The Maine School of Law is Maine's only law school and serves
over 270 students a year. Maine residents make up more than
65 percent of each entering class. Maine Law faculty drafted
the Maine Probate Code, Maine Criminal and Civil Rules, and
the Maine Criminal Code, and are nationally and internationally
known in their disciplines. Among the Law School's alumni
are four recent Maine governors, three Maine Attorneys General,
and two U.S. Congressmen. Hundreds of Maine Law graduates
serve their communities through volunteer service and as town
leaders. The school is an administrative unit of the University
of Southern Maine.
For more information, contact: School of Law Dean Colleen
Khoury at (207) 780-4344, email: ckhoury@usm.maine.edu; or
John Gundersdorf, Director of Development and Alumni Relations,
School of Law, (207) 780-4521, email: johng@usm.maine.edu.
>more news releases
|
