Gov. Janet Mills has nominated former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and five others to serve as trustees of the state’s public higher education institutions.

Mike Michaud

“The Boards of Trustees for the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System play a pivotal role in ensuring our state’s higher education institutions lead the nation in learning, research, and community engagement,” Mills said in a statement Thursday. “I am honored to nominate such experienced, qualified, and well-respected individuals who will steward the systems’ core missions and ensure our community colleges and public universities fulfill their responsibilities to students.”

Michaud, now a selectman in East Millinocket after serving 12 years as a Democratic congressman, is nominated to serve on both boards. Michaud has a long public service record. A former millworker, he was first elected to the Maine Legislature in 1980 when he was 25. He served seven two-year terms in the House and then moved in 1994 to the Senate, where he served four more terms. He served as president during his last term in the Senate.

Several of the nominees already serve as trustees.

For the University of Maine System board of trustees, Mills is seeking to reapppoint James O. Donnelly of Brewer and Kelly A. Martin of Fort Kent, and is nominating Sven Bartholomew of Brewer. Bartholomew, a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington, is the selling district sales manager for Paychex Inc. He has served as president of the UMF’s alumni council and board of visitors.

For the Maine Community College System board of trustees, Mills is seeking to reappoint  former legislator Jean Ginn Marvin of Scarborough, and is nominating another former legislator, Joyce A. Maker of Calais. Maker served in both the Maine House of Representatives and Maine Senate and was employed by Washington County Community College for 36 years. She was appointed to the Finance Authority of Maine by former Govs. Angus King and John Baldacci, and served on the board for eight years.