
University of Maine at Farmington President Edward Serna is leaving his post to serve as president of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He was appointed president in 2019. Submitted file photo
FARMINGTON — University of Maine at Farmington President Edward Serna will be moving on to Winthrop University in South Carolina after three years in the job.
UMF announced Serna’s departure Tuesday, Feb. 22, following news that Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina had made its selection.
University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy plans to visit UMF in the coming weeks to begin the transition in leadership and search for a new president for the upcoming academic year, UM System announced in a release.
In the days leading up to the Winthrop announcement, Serna told the Franklin Journal he wasn’t “looking to leave Farmington” but applied for the position because it is his alma mater.
“The kids and the wife, we just love Farmington,” he said Feb. 16.
In a statement, Serna wrote that he was “torn” and it is a “bittersweet” decision to leave UMF.
“I love UMF, and am proud and honored to have been able to learn from, work within and help lead this community,” he wrote. “However, I have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be invited to lead my alma mater.”
Serna began his tenure as UMF’s 15th president in July 2019.
He called Farmington “a home that I deeply respect and cherish — one that made me feel welcomed from the moment my family and I arrived.”
“That [welcoming] spirit fuels everything wonderful here in Farmington and I will miss it,” Serna said.
According to the Winthrop University release, Serna will assume the presidency of the Rock Hill, South Carolina, campus on July 1.
Comments are not available on this story.
-
Sports
NHL roundup: Pending free agents Malkin, Letang hope to stay with Pens
-
Business
LA Metro Chamber announces 2022 annual award winners
-
Sports
Maine’s Shawn Warren is ready for his third crack at the PGA Championship
-
Nation / World
After Ukraine visit, Collins expresses solidarity, support for U.S. military aid
-
Maine
Litchfield puts project out to bid to repair leaking Woodbury Pond Dam