Appointed in 2022 as the 14th President of the University of Southern Maine, with campuses in Portland, Gorham, Lewiston-Auburn, and online, Jacqueline
Edmondson brought to USM more than two decades of service and leadership at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State).
A first-generation college student from a low-income background, Jacqueline Edmondson earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary and kindergarten
education in 1989, a Master of Education in 1996, and a PhD in curriculum and instruction in 1999, all from Penn State. In her first three years, Edmondson
stabilized enrollments, addressed budgetary challenges, and advanced the transformation of the Portland campus.
A huge advocate for education, Jacqueline Edmondson says, “There is nothing more American than the promise of opportunity for those who pursue it.”
