:Laurie G. Lachance

Laurie Gagnon was born in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the daughter of George V. Gagnon and Mattie Violette Gagnon.{{cite web |url=http://bangordailynews.com/2008/09/25/obituaries/mattie-v-gagnon/|title=Mattie V. Gagnon|work=Bangor Daily News|date=25 September 2008|accessdate=11 February 2016}} She has two sisters.

She graduated from Foxcroft Academy in 1979.{{cite journal|url= http://www.foxcroftacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Fall-2013-test.pdf|title=In Touch|page=14|journal=Foxcroft|volume=53|year=2013}} While her father encouraged her to attend college, she did so without having any particular career in mind.{{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1355&context=mpr|title=Overcoming Barriers, Building on Strengths: Maine women look at aspirations|first=Lisa|last=Pohlmann|journal=Maine Policy Review|year=1997|volume=6|issue=2|pages=36–43}} Enrolling at Bowdoin College in 1979, she decided to major in economics "because I couldn't get the math course I wanted". She traveled to Austria between her junior and senior years as an American Field Service Intercultural Programs student. She credits her stay in Austria and her experience living at Bowdoin College as broadening her outlook beyond her small-town upbringing. In 1983 she graduated from Bowdoin with a bachelor's degree in economics.

After graduation, she began working as an economic analyst and, later, corporate economist{{cite web |url= http://www.umpi.edu/articles/maine-development-foundation-president-and-ceo-to-speak-during-umpis-103rd-commencement-exercises/|title= Maine Development Foundation President and CEO to speak during UMPI's 103rd Commencement Exercises (press release)|date=26 April 2012|accessdate=11 February 2016|publisher=University of Maine at Presque Isle}} for Central Maine Power while pursuing her business degree at Thomas College. She attained her MBA in 1992.{{cite web |url= https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-lachance-56552655|title=Laurie Lachance|publisher=LinkedIn|year=2016|accessdate=11 February 2016}} In 2012 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

In August 1993 she became State Economist for the Maine State Planning Office, a position she held until October 2004. She was the first woman to hold this position, and her tenure spanned the terms of three governors, John R. McKernan, Jr., Angus King, and John Baldacci.{{cite web |url=http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20140908/CURRENTEDITION/309049984|title= Maine's mix of colleges and universities have created an 'education hub'|first=Douglas|last=Rooks|date=8 September 2014|accessdate=11 February 2016|work=Mainebiz}} During this time, she also chaired the Maine State Revenue Forecasting Commission.

In October 2004 Lachance was named president and CEO of the Maine Development Foundation, a state-chartered non-profit membership organization.

As part of her job, she began researching higher education and decided to join several college and university boards.{{cite web |url=http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20151005/CURRENTEDITION/310019992/thomas-college-president-laurie-lachance-tackles-student-debt|title=Thomas College President Laurie Lachance tackles student debt|first=Douglas|last=Rooks|date=5 October 2015|accessdate=11 February 2016}} She joined the board of trustees of Thomas College in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.mdf.org/news/Lachance-leaves-MDF-to-become-Thomas-College-president/558|title=Lachance leaves MDF to become Thomas College president|first=Matt|last=Wickenheiser|date=27 May 2012|accessdate=11 February 2016|work=Bangor Daily News}} In 2012, when Thomas College was conducting a search for a new president, someone asked if Lachance was also being considered and the search committee solicited her application. In 2012 she became the fifth president of Thomas College.{{cite web |url= http://kennebecvalley.wcsh6.com/news/events/1128803-president-lachance-honored-maine-womens-hall-fame|title= President Lachance Honored at Maine Women's Hall of Fame|date=17 March 2014|accessdate=11 February 2016|work=WCSH}}{{cite web |url= http://www.centralmaine.com/2012/09/23/laurie-lachance-installed-as-president_2012-09-22/|title= Laurie Lachance installed as Thomas College president|first=Matt|last=Hongoltz-Hetling|date=23 September 2012|accessdate=11 February 2016|work=Morning Sentinel}} She is the first woman and first alumna to head the college in its 118-year history. One of her first undertakings as president was a $12 million capital campaign for new campus buildings, which was successfully completed one year ahead of schedule. In 2015, she promoted the creation of a "Central Maine hub" to increase enrollment in the region's four-year colleges.

Lachance is the chair of the Maine Independent Colleges Association{{cite web |url=https://mainebudget2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/publichomesteadnonprofitpt102192015.pdf|title=Testimony of Laurie G. Lachance on behalf of Thomas College and the Maine Independent Colleges Association |date=19 February 2015|accessdate=11 February 2016|publisher=Maine Budget 2013|page=7}} and chair of Educare Central Maine, a Head Start program.{{cite web |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-207754318.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220192759/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-207754318.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2016|title=Head Start hit with cuts amid slaps at education|first=Ben|last=McCanna|date=6 August 2012|accessdate=11 February 2016|work=Portland Press Herald|url-access=subscription }} She is a board member of Educate Maine and the Maine Economic Growth Council. She is a frequent speaker on Maine economics.

She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award (2011), the President's Award of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce (2010), and the Deborah Morton Award of the board of trustees of the University of New England (2009). She was a Margaret Chase Smith Distinguished Policy Fellow in 2008 and a Thomas College Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1995.

She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.uma.edu/community/maine-womens-hall-of-fame/|title=Maine Women's Hall of Fame: Honorees|publisher=University of Maine at Augusta|year=2016|accessdate=11 February 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306082338/http://www.uma.edu/community/maine-womens-hall-of-fame/|archivedate=6 March 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2014-03-03/Front_Page/Patricia_Ryan_being_inducted_into_Womens_Hall_of_F.html|title=Patricia Ryan being inducted into Women's Hall of Fame|first=John|last=Swinconeck|date=3 March 2014|accessdate=11 February 2016|work=The Times-Record|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329121045/http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2014-03-03/Front_Page/Patricia_Ryan_being_inducted_into_Womens_Hall_of_F.html|archive-date=29 March 2018|url-status=dead}}

She and her husband David Lachance, have two sons and live in Manchester.

• {{cite web |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2006/10/cities/development.pdf|title=In Search of Silver Buckshot: Thirty years of economic development in Maine|date=October 2006|publisher=The Brookings Institution}}
• {{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol12/iss2/9/|title=Ready or Not—Here They Come!|journal=Maine Policy Review |volume=12|issue=2|year=2003|pages=70–74}}
• {{cite journal |url=http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol11/iss2/7/|title=Maine's Investment Imperative|journal=Maine Policy Review|volume=11|issue=2|year=2002|pages=60–78}}
• {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/statedocs_maine_spo_docs-24/spo_docs-24#page/n0/mode/2up|title=Presentation of Laurie G. Lachance, State Economist to the Maine Policy Leaders Academy|date=12 January 2000|publisher=Maine State Planning Office}}
• {{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol5/iss1/12/|title=The Maine Economy: Facing the challenge|journal=Maine Policy Review|volume=5|issue=1|year=1996|pages=75–81}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{facebook|laurie.g.lachance}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8EN9vANGb8 "Laurie Lachance, Thomas College" (video)] January 7, 2015
• [http://www.bowdoin.edu/magazine/insider/profiles/2010/laurie-lachance-83.shtml "Profiles: Laurie LaChance '83"] Bowdoin Magazine, August 12, 2010
• [http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1bowdoincampus/000824.shtml "State Greeting by Laurie G. Lachance, '83 Maine State Economist"] Bowdoin Campus News, May 27, 2000

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