People and Business Profiles

New Board Members at OMAA

OGUNQUIT -

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art (OMAA) has added three new members to its 2023 board of directors. The new members of the board are Cynthia Fenneman, Philip Morgan, and John Shapiro. The museum has also made a change to its executive committee, naming Karyn S. Morin of Partners Bank as the new Treasurer.

“We are grateful to have Cynthia, Philip, and John join us as we steer the museum into its next phase,” said Amanda Lahikainen, PhD, Executive Director of Ogunquit Museum of American Art. “They bring a diverse set of leadership skills that will complement the talent of the other members of the board of directors. We have already experienced the collective energy that these individuals will add to our exciting 2023 season.”

Cynthia Fenneman was formerly the CEO of American Public Television, one of the nation’s leading producers for top-rated public television shows, including “America’s Test Kitchen,” “Jacques Pepin,” “Biz Kid$,” Roadtrip Nation,” “Doc Martin,” and “Midsomer Murders.” Cynthia is a Board Member of the York Harbor Reading Room, the Chair of Strawberry Banke’s Board of Trustees, and was most recently the chair of the Museum’s National Council, an advisory body to Strawbery Banke.

Philip Morgan, nicknamed “Flip,” is the retired former President and CEO of Morgan Construction Company in Worcester, MA, designers and manufacturers of rolling mill equipment for the worldwide metals industries. Morgan Construction was started by Flip’s great-great grandfather in 1888. Flip ran the company from 1986 until it was sold to Siemens Metals in 2008. Flip retired from Siemens in 2010. Flip has extensive not-for-profit Board experience, including serving as trustee at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in MA; Fay School in Southborough, MA; Mass Biomedical Initiative in Worcester; and The Worcester Regional Research Bureau. Locally, in Maine, Flip has served as a trustee for the York Historical Society and York Hospital, and is currently serving on the Board at the Ogunquit Playhouse. Flip is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.

Wells Welcomes New Town Manager

WELLS -

This past August, the Board of Selectmen of Wells unanimously appointed Michael W. Pardue as Town Manager. His first day in office was November 14.

Pardue has a wide-ranging management and operations background that spans nearly 40 years. His public-sector management experience includes serving as a Municipal Manager, Municipal Administrator, Director of Public Safety, Chief of Police, Fire Chief, Director of Public Services and Director of Human Resources in a variety of New England communities. Pardue is recognized in both public and corporate environments across the country for his innovative and contemporary approach to leadership, organizational management and strategic planning.

In addition to his wideranging experience in the public sector, Pardue offers an extensive private sector management and operations background as well.

He has served as Vice President of Operations for the Atlas Group, a worldwide telecom - munications corporation where he was directly responsible for managing project performance on a global platform, ensuring adherence to quality standards, while meeting contractual obligations. Further, he managed Atlas Group’s Global-consulting staff, responsible for the recruitment, staffing and development of personnel on a worldwide basis.

In addition to his affiliation with numerous professional organizations, Pardue has served as Chair of the Board of Directors for Northeast Delta Dental (NEDD) of Maine. While a member of the NEDD Board, he held office on the Executive

Board and served on the corporation’s Finance, Corporate Governance and Long-Range Planning Committees. Mr. Pardue served three terms on the NEDD Board; the maximum allowed by corporation by-laws.

Pardue holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration, numerous management and leadership certifications and is a graduate of the Babson College Command Institute. His continuing education includes studies at Harvard University’s School of Business.

Pardue consults and presents nationally on the topics of organizational leadership, accountability and workforce culture, transforming workplace cultures, preventing workplace harassment, strategic cutback management and public safety directorship.

Mike enjoys a variety of outdoor sports and greatly values time with family. Mike and his wife Karen reside in Kennebunk, and have three grown children and five grandchildren.

For more information, visit www.wellstown.org/1042/meetthe-town-manager.

Conservation Leader Beiter Finishes Master’s Studies

John Shapiro has more than 35 years experience in the banking and energy industries. Most recently in July 2021, John was appointed to the board of directors for Sprague Resources. Since November 2009, John has served as a director on board of Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P., a master limited partnership headquartered in Tulsa, OK. Since November 2015, John has served as a senior advisor to Mountain Capital Partners, LLC, a Houston-based private equity firm focused on upstream E&P investments. John was an officer at Morgan Stanley & Co., where he served from November 1984 to December 2008 in various capacities, ultimately as Global Head of Commodities and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Prior to Morgan Stanley, John worked for Conoco, Inc. and New England Merchants National Bank. John received his Master of Business Administration from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Princeton University.

Opened in 1953, OMAA was founded by Lost Generation artist Henry Strater. Closely

WELLSWells resident Caryn Beiter has been applying the tools of science, education, and conservation to become a leader in the conservation community. This December, Beiter concluded a master’s course of study with a Master of Arts in biology from Miami University in Oxford, OH, through Project tied to one of the earliest art colonies of the American modernist art movement, OMAA today houses a permanent collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and photographs from the late 1800s to the present. The museum showcases American art by mounting seasonal modern and contemporary exhibition programs from May through October. OMAA’s three-acre sculpture park contains 18 small gardens, complementing its exhibitions and overlooking Narrow Cove and the Atlantic Ocean. The museum is open May 1 through October 31. For more information visit www. ogunquitmuseum.org.

Dragonfly.

Since joining the Global Field Program (GFP) master’s in 2020, Beiter has traveled to Namibia and the Amazon, and conducted projects that have made a difference in the Wells area – she works as an education program coordinator at Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Throughout Beiter’s time in the GFP, she developed a master plan – a kind of personal mission statement for what she wanted to accomplish in the program. In many of Beiter’s master’s courses, she designed projects that supported this plan, culminating in a final portfolio, “Cultivating Ecological Learning and Sense of Place through Phenology,” which was presented in a Capstone course.

The GFP master’s degree and Earth Expeditions courses are designed for educators and other professionals from all disciplines and settings interested in making a difference in human and ecological communities. Because the GFP combines summer field courses worldwide with online learning communities, this master’s degree can be completed parttime from anywhere.

For more information, visit www.miamioh.edu/cas/graduate-studies/project-dragonfly/ global-field-program/index. html, www.facebook.com/ prjdragonfly, and www.wellsreserve.org/about-us/people/ caryn-beiter. Photo above from www.wellsreserve.org/blog/ extending-science-education-tohearing-impaired-students.