Top alumni to be honored
at homecoming dinner
PRESQUE ISLE – The Northern Maine Community College Alumni and Friends Organization has named four outstanding alumni who will be honored at a Sept. 10 dinner on the campus, planned as a part of the recently formed group’s first homecoming weekend.
The honorees, Robert Clark of Fort Fairfield, Robert Lilly of Scarborough, Nancy Putman of New Limerick and Ammie Toby of Houlton, will serve as the first of 50 individuals to be honored by the college in the coming months to mark the institution’s 50th anniversary which will officially begin in 2011.
A committee of Alumni and Friends board members, along with some NMCC faculty and staff and current students, worked through the spring and summer to select one graduate from each year since the college was founded in 1961. The group selected individuals who attended NMCC and its forerunners, Northern Maine Vocational Technical Institute and Northern Maine Technical College, that were representative of each program offered at the college over the five decades.
“The first four individuals that we will honor Sept. 10 are outstanding examples of the exceptional citizens and accomplished professionals that have been educated through NMCC over the decades,” said Scott Carlin, president of the NMCC Alumni and Friends Organization. “Each are widely regarded in their respective fields, and we couldn’t be more proud to call them NMCC alumni. We look forward to taking the opportunity to recognize them for their achievement at the first alumni dinner organized by our new organization, and also look forward to announcing the other 46 outstanding individuals that will be honored in the coming months as we launch the 50th anniversary.”
Robert Clark 
graduated from NMVTI in 1975 with an associate’s degree in computer programming. Clark then went on to graduate from Husson College with a bachelor of science degree in accounting. Clark worked for the town of Fort Fairfield for 10 years, holding various municipal positions, before becoming director of the Office of Economic and Community Development for the City of Caribou and executive director of the Caribou Development Corp. from 1988 to 1990. He is currently the executive director of the Northern Maine Development Commission. Clark also serves as the current vice chair of the Maine Community College System board of trustees.
Robert Lilly 
was a student in NMVTI’s sheet metal technology program in 1974. He is the owner of New England Tech Air in Scarborough, a business he founded in 1986. After graduating from NMVTI he worked as a ductwork field installer for five years. He later went on to work as a sheet metal engineer at a sheet metal construction firm in Burlington, Vt. Lilly credits NMVTI in part for his success as a business owner.
Nancy Putnam 
graduated from NMTC in 1971 from the licensed practical nurse program, and in 1984 from the associate degree nursing program. While raising a family of four and teaching childbirth courses, Putnam continued her education, earning a bachelor’s degree from Husson College, and later a master’s degree from the University of Maine. She is currently a family nurse practitioner at Houlton Family Practice.
Ammie Toby 
earned her degree in automotive technology from NMCC in 1993. She is currently an auto body instructor at Region 2 School of Applied Technology in Houlton. Toby feels that rising through the ranks and becoming a teacher is one of her biggest accomplishments. She also serves on the NMCC Automotive Collision Repair advisory committee and is expecting to earn her certificate in educational leadership in 2011.
In addition to the Alumni Dinner, there will be a number of other homecoming activities taking place on the weekend of Sept. 10-12. All alumni and friends of NMCC and their families are encouraged to attend the dinner and participate in the activities.
A complete schedule of NMCC Homecoming Weekend activities can be found on the NMCC website at www.nmcc.edu. For more information about NMCC Homecoming events, contact Shannon Cook in the NMCC college relations office at 760-1188.
