Herbert Paris was named the new chair of the Board of Trustees of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Dec. 3. Paris assumed the chairmanship from David Coit, who had served as chair for the past six years, and who will remain on the Board.
“We are delighted that Herb Paris has agreed to take the helm and help lead Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences into a bright and secure future,” said the Laboratory’s Executive Director Dr. Graham Shimmield. “Herb brings a wealth of management experience, having transformed Mid Coast Hospital into a regional health care system that now meets the needs of many. His business acumen will prove to be of value here, as the laboratory continues its work advancing what is known about the tiniest inhabitants of the global ocean and how they influence global ocean processes.”
Paris served as president and CEO of Regional Memorial Hospital since 1978 and its successor Mid Coast Health Services and its subsidiaries, until his retirement in 2011. Prior to joining Mid Coast in 1987, Paris was associate director of the Yale New Haven Hospital and a member of the faculty at Yale University School of Medicine, where he was also honored as a Fellow at Berkeley College.
He is a graduate of Brandeis University and holds a masters degree in hospital administration from the Medical College of Virginia. He has served or currently serves on the board of trustees of Brandeis University and the boards of directors of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Medical Mutual Insurance Company of Maine. He also is a member of the board of fellows of Brandeis University.
Also Dec. 3, Shimmield announced term endings for four members of the board of trustees: Helen and Walter Norton, Bob Healing, and Mary Chatterton. “Their contributions were many and they will be deeply missed,” Shimmield said.
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is the only independent basic research institution in the world that focuses on microbial oceanography. The laboratory has 80 employees, including 16 senior research scientists, who conduct research around the world. Their home base is a 60,000 square foot state-of-the art facility in East Boothbay.
