Dear Colleagues,
Orono – The University of Maine System (UMS) has named Paul Chan to serve as its next General Counsel. As chief legal officer, Chan will oversee the attorneys and staff who provide comprehensive legal services to all seven UMS Universities and system administration. Chan will be at UMS beginning December 1.
Chan comes to UMS from the University of Denver (DU) where he served as the Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs and General Counsel for over 20 years. At DU, he oversaw all aspects of the school’s legal affairs, including advising the Chancellor, Board of Trustees, and other key administrators. Prior to joining DU, he was Deputy of Administration for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Chan’s undergraduate degree is from DU, where he also received his secondary school teacher’s certification. He earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
“This is a critical position for the University and the Board of Trustees, so we are thrilled to have someone of Chan’s integrity, experience and expertise on our management team,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “He is not only an accomplished attorney and skilled higher education administrator, but he has been deeply engaged in his community and is widely respected and involved nationally.”
Chan is a past president of the Colorado Bar Association, where he was the first Asian Pacific American attorney to hold that position in the Association’s 125-year history. He was also president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the nation’s largest Asian Pacific American membership organization representing over 60,000 attorneys across the nation.
Chan has served on numerous commissions and advisory boards for the Colorado Supreme Court, the Governor of Colorado, the Mayor of Denver, and Denver Public Schools. He has also served as a trustee of the Boettcher Foundation, one of Colorado's oldest and largest charitable foundations, and he has volunteered with numerous other nonprofit organizations.
“I am very excited to join the University of Maine System in serving the students and the State of Maine, and I look forward to working with Chancellor Malloy, the Board of Trustees, and the System’s many dedicated leaders in advancing the success of Maine’s seven public universities,” said Chan.
Chan takes over the post from Interim General Counsel Patricia Peard. Peard, a University of Maine School of Law alum and recognized civil rights and education lawyer, is a former partner with the Berstein Shur law firm in Portland. She agreed to come out of retirement last year to work with UMS. “We are extremely grateful for Pat’s exceptional commitment and service to UMS,” said Chancellor Malloy.
Chan and his wife, Alesia McCloud, a native of East Tennessee, are recent empty nesters. Their son,
David, is a graduate student in computer sciences, and their younger son, Andrew, works with a venture
capital firm in San Francisco.
For questions or more information, please contact Margaret Nagle, Interim Executive Director of Communications for the University of Maine and the University of Maine System.
