Tracy Michaud

Tracy Michaud has lived most of her life in Maine.  Since getting her PhD in 2002 she has been involved in community economic development in rural Maine focusing on the arts and cultural tourism. Tracy was the original staff person for the Center Theatre in downtown Dover-Foxcroft and co-chair of the capital campaign that purchased and renovated the theatre. She founded The Maine Highlands Guild, which merged in 2008 with the Maine Crafts Association, both non-profit organizations that promote Maine Craft Artists.  As Executive Director of The Guild she received State and National recognition as the winner of the 2003 National Social Venture Competition sponsored by Columbia University, Hass Business School at Berkeley, and the Goldman Sachs Foundation.  Tracy sat on the Maine Governor’s Council for the Creative Economy and the Governor’s Council on Quality of Place. She recently served on the board of the Maine Association of Non-Profits, the national Craft Organization Development Association, the World Crafts Council and the Maine Arts Commission. In 2005 she was chosen for Maine Biz magazine’s “NEXT” list and in 2007 won the Governors Award for CDBG Administrator of the Year and the Warren “Pete” Myrick Community Service Award. During her tenure as Executive Director of the Maine Crafts Association an Associate’s Degree in Traditional and Contemporary Craft at Eastern Maine Community College was created and the Center for Maine Craft was built, a venue showcasing over 500 Maine artists and serving hundreds of thousands of visitors per year on the Maine Turnpike.  Tracy now enjoys teaching University of Southern Maine students sustainable community tourism development, cultural and culinary tourism, and tour planning and entrepreneurship as an Assistant Professor in the Tourism and Hospitality Program which she helped create and now chairs. She recently received the ICHRIE NENA Best Research Poster Award on Engaged Learning in Tourism Education, Outstanding Faculty Involvement Award and an Engaged Faculty Teaching Fellowship at USM as her classes incorporate mutually beneficial partnerships and learning activities with the tourism industry in Maine and Iceland.