Former Maine State Senate President Richard Bennett has been appointed to the Commission on White House Fellowships.

The commission is responsible for selecting participants in the White House Fellows program, which was founded in 1964. It is one of the country’s most prestigious, nonpartisan programs for leadership and public service and provides its participants with experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. According to the White House, fellows typically spend a year working as full-time, paid special assistants to senior administration personnel and other top-ranking officials. They also take part in roundtable discussions with leaders from the public and private sector and study U.S. foreign and domestic policy.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is counted among the program’s alumni.

Bennett, who lives in Oxford, served four terms in the state Senate and two terms in the Maine House of Representatives. He ran for Congress in 1994 and has written columns for the Sun Journal.

The appointment is a great opportunity for Bennett to work with some of the country’s most promising future leaders. Bennett, in his role on the commission, has the opportunity to help shape the careers of the next generation of national leaders. That’s a nice feather in his cap and a heavy responsibility.