News Releases

Former Media Executive Named Dean of USM School of Business

May 22, 2006

Former media industry executive James B. Shaffer of Cape Elizabeth has been named the dean of the USM School of Business. The University of Maine System Board of Trustees confirmed the appointment at a meeting held today, Monday, May 22, in Bangor. Shaffer officially will assume his new position on July 1, 2006.

Shaffer holds an M.B.A. from Indiana University and an undergraduate engineering degree from Purdue University. He moved to Maine in 1991 to serve as chief executive officer of Guy Gannett Communications, Inc., of Portland, a diversified media holding company with television, newspaper (including the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram), direct marketing and Internet operations in seven states. In 1999, he was asked to oversee the sale of the family-owned company. Shaffer left after the sale in 1999 to take on an entrepreneurial role as CEO of Clickshare Service Corp.

Earlier, Shaffer was executive vice president of the Chicago Sun-Times Co., chief financial officer of the Los Angeles Times and an executive in various roles with Cowles Communications Inc., of Minneapolis, Minn.

As dean, Shaffer's first priority is to build on the internal strategic planning work of Interim Dean John Voyer, who will become associate dean, effective in January of 2007. Voyer, a longtime faculty member, also will continue to teach.

Shaffer believes that, "It is important to focus on targeted areas of excellence and build upon them so that we can clearly differentiate ourselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace for students as well as for the resources needed to support a high-quality education. I hope to cue up that discussion in collaboration with the faculty and staff"

"Jim brings to us a combination of senior, executive-level business experience, combined with a love of teaching," said USM President Richard L. Pattenaude. "He's the right person to work with our faculty to help ensure that the USM School of Business continues making a difference in the lives of our students and to the economic life of this state."

Shaffer is not a newcomer to the School of Business, or to higher education. He joined the USM School of Business in 2004 as its first Leader-in-Residence, a position focused on teaching graduate and undergraduate business students about various styles of leadership. "I found that I loved teaching," said Shaffer, "and I hope to continue teaching an undergraduate course as dean. There must be some genetic propensity to teach," he joked, noting that many members of his immediate family, including his parents, spent their careers in higher education as faculty and administrators.

"This School of Business, primarily because of the talents of its faculty and staff, and the support of the business community, has tremendous opportunities," said Shaffer. "I'm committed to Maine, to this school and to its students, faculty and staff."

Shaffer and his wife, Lynn, an architect, have two adult sons, Derek and Ryan.

The USM School of Business, with programs at the undergraduate level and a Master's in Business Administration, is the only business school in southern Maine accredited by AACSB International. Business schools worldwide seek professional accreditation by AACSB International, but only one quarter of U.S. schools and fewer than 10 percent worldwide are AASCB accredited.

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