Albion Native Named UMaine Valedictorian
May 7, 2007
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO -- Erik Perkins of Albion is the Class of 2007 valedictorian at the University of Maine.
Perkins will graduate from UMaine on Saturday May 12, with a degree in physics and mathematics. He plans to enroll in graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he will pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. The son of Henry Perkins and Henrietta Beaufait, Perkins graduated from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in 1998.
There are approximately 1,950 graduates in the UMaine class.
Perkins, who is graduating from UMaine's Honors College, shares credit for his success with others in the UMaine community.
"Professors Bill Bray, Neil Comins and Bob Franzosa, along with my friend Kevin Roberge, collectively have informed my view that mathematics and physics are essentially aesthetic pursuits," Perkins says. "They showed me that these fields are not cold and austere, but rather are vibrantly alive and bursting with colors."
At UMaine, Perkins received a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for math and science. He is also the member of several honor societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Mu Epsilon (mathematics honor society) and Sigma Pi Sigma (physics honor society).
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