AUGUSTA – Barry Rodrigue, associate professor of arts and humanities and a Franco-American Collection scholar at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College, was inducted into the Maine Franco-American Hall of Fame during the Franco-American Day celebration held at the State House in March.

Rodrigue, who also serves as the director of the French North American Studies program, was nominated by members of the Legislature for his advocacy for Maine Franco-Americans.

Rodrigue has written extensively on Franco-American affairs and history, and has presented at numerous international conferences. He served as a research geographer for the Centre interuniversitaire d’études québécoises (Interuniversity Center for Quebec Studies) and the Laboratoire de géographie historique (Laboratory of Historical Geography) at Laval University in Quebec City before joining the faculty at USM LAC.

Rodrigue is the founder of the Canada Road International Corridor for educational purposes, as well as the Director of the Canada Road Archaeological and Geographic Survey. He recently co-edited a collection of Franco-American stories titled “Voyages: A Maine Franco-American Reader,” which presents the variety of experiences of Franco-American culture in Maine.

Rodrigue was instrumental in promoting “L.D. 422, An Act to Include the Study of Franco-American History in the System of Learning Results” in the Maine State Legislature.

A Fulbright Scholar, Rodrigue has studied in Ireland, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Alaska, as well as in Maine and Canada. He is trained in cultural research as an archaeologist, geographer, historian, biologist and ethnographer. He resides with his family in Bath.