ORONO — University of Maine President Paul Ferguson has announced Spencer Hathaway of Turner as the 2013 valedictorian.
Hathaway will be honored at UMaine’s 211th Commencement ceremonies in Harold Alfond Sports Arena on May 11. He will receive two bachelor’s degrees: economics and business administration in accounting.
Hathaway was the 2009 valedictorian at Leavitt Area High School and received the University of Maine Top Scholar Award. He is the son of Christopher and Anne Hathaway of Turner.
Hathaway has accepted an auditing position in the Portland-based accounting firm Baker Newman Noyes and plans to be a CPA.
“Early on, I knew I wanted to get into the business world,” said Hathaway. “Then I took my first accounting class and really enjoyed finding the nuances of how the accounting world fit into the business world. Economics? I had no idea what it meant before I came here, but I discovered all of the different questions you can answer with an economics mindset. Economics is more than just money.”
At UMaine, Hathaway received a number of other awards, including the Class of 1945 Scholarship and, most recently, the Maine Business School Excellence in Accounting Award.
Last summer, he interned with Baker Newman Noyes, doing tax and audit work to help companies prepare their financial statements. In summer 2011, he was a project manager on the statewide waste composition research project, led by UMaine Professor of Economics George Criner in conjunction with the State Planning Office. Also that summer, Hathaway was an intern in the Farm Credit Fellowship Program, working with loan officers in Presque Isle.
For two years, Hathaway was a peer tutor with Academic Support Services for Student-Athletes, teaching accounting and economics, and mentoring in the Maine Business School’s accounting lab. He also was involved with UMaine’s Knowledge Transfer Alliance, helping small businesses set up or revamp their accounting systems using QuickBooks software.
“I like helping people — seeing the looks on their faces when I help them understand something,” Hathaway said. “It’s a great feeling.”
Hathaway says he chose UMaine because it is close to home in the state he loves. The university is also affordable and has a great reputation, he says.
“The University of Maine has made all the difference,” Hathaway says. “People here are so inviting. If you want to do something, they help you do it.”
For Hathaway, those UMaine people included his professors: George Criner in the School of Economics, who encouraged him to major rather than minor in the field, and offered him his first management position; Gloria Vollmers in the Maine Business School, who offered professional advice and connected Hathaway with career mentors, and Senthil Sockalingam, an MBA student also working with Knowledge Transfer Alliance, who was a friend and mentor.
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