Our History
Thomas College's Humble History
Thomas College’s history spans over 130 years of student-focused innovation. From a small school located in the Edith Building above F.W. Woolworth Co. in 1894 to a 120-acre campus, this is our story.
Kiest Business College Founded
Kiest Business College is founded three floors above F.W. Woolworth Co. in the Edith Building as a non-sectarian, co-educational college dedicated to career training.
College is Purchased & Renamed
Kiest Business College, with a growing reputation for coeducational career training, is purchased by William Morgan and renamed Morgan Business College.
College is Purchased & Renamed
Morgan Business College is purchased by Peterborough, New Hampshire-based railroad administrator John L. Thomas Sr., who was himself a graduate of the business college. The College is renamed Morgan-Thomas Business College. For more than 45 years, the college earns an excellent reputation for educating accountants and secretaries, and sees increased student enrollment. Thomas, serving as the College’s “principal,” develops a reputation as a gifted teacher.
College is Renamed
Morgan-Thomas Business College is renamed Thomas Junior College.
College Moves to New Location
The College moves to the former home of John Ware on Silver Street, which is known as one of Waterville’s largest and finest estates. The College uses two buildings there, one for administrative offices, library and classrooms, and the other for a women’s dormitory, dining room, store and student lounge. John L. Thomas Jr. is named President.
Right to Confer Degrees
The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the right to confer Associate in Arts and Associate in Secretarial Science degrees.
Recharted as a Not-for-Profit
Thomas College is re-chartered as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit institution.
Men's Dormitory Dedicated
Jewell Hall, a men’s dormitory named for Ralph A. Jewell, the first chairman of the Board of Trustees, is dedicated.
College is Renamed
A new classroom building is opened and becomes the hub of all academic activity. Thomas Junior College is renamed Thomas College.
Right to Confer Degrees
The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the right to confer four-year Bachelor of Science in Business Education and Bachelor of Science in Administration degrees.
Library Opens
Mariner Library opens. It is named for Ernest C. Mariner, who served as Chairman of the Thomas college Board of Trustees for 15 years.
New Theater & Women's Dormitory
A theater for lectures, concerts and dramatic presentations is added to the main classroom building. In September, a new building with a dining center and women’s dormitory is completed and named for Ann S. Parks, the College’s first female trustee.
Right to Confer Degree
The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the right to confer Associate in Science degrees.
New Baseball Field
Telephone workers go on strike, and those workers, along with students at Thomas, help build a baseball field on the new campus. The workers on the ball field are paid $3.25 per hour, and President John L. Thomas thinks the bill for the field is excessive at $4,200.
Co-Ed Dormitory Built
A dormitory with accommodations for both men and women in separate wings was opened at the new campus on West River Road. A student union and dining center was opened that December.
College Operating at New Location
The entire College is now operating at the West River Road campus.
Student Housing Built
A student village with townhouse-style accommodations for seniors and juniors is opened at the new Thomas College campus on West River Road.
Right to Confer Degrees
The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the authority to award Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies and Master of Science in Business degrees.
Leadership Changes
President John Thomas Jr. dies. Ford A. Grant, a former teacher and the College’s Vice President for Financial Affairs, is named interim President. Later Paul G. Jenson, former Dean of Faculty, is named full-time President at Thomas College.
New Major Offered
The Computer Information Systems major begins, and Thomas College purchases its first personal computers—2 Macintoshes and a Compaq Portable PC.
Internship Program Launches
The College institutes its Internship Program, helping to establish Thomas as a college that graduates students who are prepared for career success.
Right to Confer Degree
The Maine State Legislature grants Thomas College the authority to award Master of Business Administration degrees.
Leadership Change
Cyril M. Joly, Jr. is named to replace the retiring Paul G. Jenson as President.
Leadership Change
David F. Emery is named to replace Cyril M. Joly, Jr. as interim President, pending selection of Joly’s permanent successor. Emery serves for six months, and George R. Spann is named Thomas College President.
Guaranteed Job Program Launched
Thomas College announces the Thomas College Guaranteed Job Program, the most extensive program of its kind in the nation. Thomas College becomes one of the first colleges in the country to establish a web-based computer administrative system.
Laurette Ayotte Auditorium Opens
Thomas celebrates the opening of the 300-seat Laurette Ayotte Auditorium. With its large projection screen, state-of-the-art sound system, and technology learning lab classrooms, the Laurette Ayotte Auditorium is one of the most multi-purposed in the Northeast. The Thomas community uses this spacious facility for concerts, student events, meetings, special events, and even a weekly Friday night movie. Thomas College also adds new majors in Elementary Education, Psychology, Criminal Justice, and Computer Science. The College announces partnerships with the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and Putnam Investments, which opens a center on campus.
Baseball Team Wins Championship
Thomas College announces a partnership with Bridge Educational Computer Career5 Center of Westbrook, Maine. The Thomas College baseball team wins the NAIA New England Championship, and the team develops a partnership with minor league baseball team the Portland Sea Dogs, the farm team for the Boston Red Sox.
New Major Offered
A new major in Communications is announced. The campus offers wireless Internet in nearly every location to students. A partnership with the Mid Maine Chamber of Commerce was announced.
New Residence Hall & Updates
The College completes major renovations to the Dining Center and opens Bartlett Hall, a new 100-bed student residence equipped with wireless internet, cable television, lounges, kitchenettes, and computer areas.
Thomas Receives $1.25MM Grant
Thomas receives a $1.25 million challenge grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation for construction of a $4.6 million athletic center. The gift is the largest ever received by the College for construction of a facility. Thomas announces the launch of an unprecedented $9.6 million capital campaign. The campaign, the largest in the College’s history, is a push to fund the new Harold Alfond Athletic Center, scholarship endowment and annual operating funds. The College receives several generous challenges for the campaign, including the H. Allen Ryan Challenge for $500,000 and a Unity Foundation challenge for $150,000. In addition, 100 percent of Thomas’s Board of Trustees donate and many regional businesses contribute, including TD Banknorth, N.A., which makes a $250,000 pledge.
New Athletic Center Opens
The 38,000 square foot Harold Alfond Athletic Center opens for the first time. The College also completes a popular Recreation Room. A new Master of Science in Education program is launched. Overall enrollment is up 39 percent since 2002. The record enrollment puts the College on track for its ambitious goal of nearly doubling its undergraduate enrollment over 10 years.
Thomas College Grows
The College purchases an additional 50 acres of land from Eaglewood Estates and near the Kennebec River to support its continued growth in enrollment.
Student Housing Built
Thomas College opens its Townhouse units, which accommodate 88 students in two-floor, suite style living areas.
Leadership Change
Laurie Lachance, Thomas M.B.A. ’92, is named Thomas College President. She is the first female and first alumna president of the College.
Spann Student Commons Construction Begins
Thomas College begins construction on the George and Marty Spann Student Commons, a state-of-the-art academic center and library. The College also builds new turf fields to accommodate the Terriers athletics teams and members of the community. Thomas College celebrates by hosting over 3,000 elementary, middle, and high school students who will also be able to enjoy the spaces. Thomas also adds eight new academic programs. The College distributes over $7 million in institutional financial aid, which includes $105,000 from the Bernard Osher Foundation.
Harold Alfond Academic Center Opens
The Harold Alfond Academic Center opens—the second academic facility on campus. It includes the H. Allen Ryan School of Business, the Kenneth and Eva Green Library, Jeanie’s Café, the Bert and Coral Clifford Financial Center, as well as classrooms, a student success center, study rooms, and faculty offices. The College also opens another residence hall, Henry and Ellen Hinman Hall. The main entrance is relocated to accommodate construction and later named Sheridan Drive.
HAIBI is Established
With a $3.4 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation, the College establishes the Harold Alfond® Institute for Business Innovation.
School of Education Launches
Thomas College launches a School of Education.
125th Anniversary
The College begins to celebrate its 125th year, which will culminate with Commencement in Spring 2019.
Thomas College Awarded Grant
Thomas College is awarded a $2.3 million grant from the United States Department of Education’s Title III Strengthening Institutions Program—making it the only private college in Maine to receive both federal TRIO and Title III funding.
Esports Program Launches
The varsity level Esports program launches.
New Trail System Opens
A new trail system on campus, the Sukeforth Family Trail System, opens on campus.
Varsity Esports Program Launches
Thomas College announces it will launch a varsity eSports program – among the very first in New England. Thomas has joined the National Association of Collegiate eSports.
Thomas College Awarded Grant
The College is awarded $1.3 Million TRIO Student Support Services grant.
New Online Majors Offered
Thomas College is excited to announce – for the first time ever – its graduate programs in Cybersecurity, Criminology and Business Administration will be now offered 100 percent online.
Thomas College Awarded Grant
Thomas College announces a $13.5 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation and that with the gift, the College is launching its Guarantee the Future fundraising campaign.
Thomas College Awarded Grant
Thomas College is proud to announce that it has been awarded a three-year $135,000 grant by the Davis Educational Foundation to support new approaches to scientific and quantitative literacy.
New Esports Major Offered
Esports, a billion-dollar industry, is becoming as popular as the National Football League. There are more than 240K jobs in gaming. Thomas College is launching a new academic major called Esports and Gaming Administration that includes courses such as Esports Convention, Event and Tradeshow Planning and Distribution of Games.
New Athletic Facility Opens
Thomas College is proud to announce the dedication of its new sports center for student athletes. The facility is named the Sukeforth Family Sports Center in honor of the central Maine family’s lead gift to the sports center, part of Thomas’s comprehensive Guarantee the Future campaign.
New Business Majors Offered
Thomas College is excited to announce the addition of four new undergraduate academic programs for the Fall of 2022: Business and Liberal Arts, Entrepreneurship-Creativity and Innovation, Entrepreneurship-Intrapreneurship and Corporate Leadership, and Global Sustainability.
Thomas College Awarded Grant
Thomas College is proud to announce it has been awarded a nearly $2 million dollar grant from the State of Maine to promote workforce development and degree attainment in specific fields within Maine’s Economic Development Plan.
Thomas College Awarded Grant
The New England Board of Higher Education has selected Thomas College to receive an Open Education Course Marking Grant. This new 15-month, $20K initiative will support institutions in the expansion of student awareness and use of no-cost learning materials. Thomas College is one of only four institutions in New England to receive the award.
Thomas College Awarded Federal Grant
Thomas College recently finalized an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to launch Project Sentinel, a focused effort to increase the state’s trained cybersecurity workforce. Through the advocacy efforts of Senator Collins and Senator King, Thomas College is receiving $974,000 over three years to support students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in cybersecurity and related fields.
New Brand & Visual Identity
Thomas College is proud to announce the release of its new visual identity. This includes updates to the institutional logo, Presidential seal, and colors pallets. This bright and bold new look symbolizes the College’s bright future ahead by acknowledging its nearly 130-year history. A timeline of institutional logos of the College illustrates the reasoning behind this choice by embracing our historical brand.
Thomas College Receives $70K in Funding
Thomas College was awarded three separate grants to continue to improve support of students’ mental health. The Davis Family Foundation grant provided $20,000 in funding for the 2022-2023 academic year to add clinical staffing for the counseling center; the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) provided a $30,000 planning grant for the 2023-2024 academic year to develop a comprehensive behavioral health strategic plan for campus. Through their partnership with the Morgan Stanley Foundation, the JED Foundation provided a $22,000 scholarship to Thomas College, allowing the College to pursue JED Campus certification.
New Education Major Offered
Thomas College announces a new physical/health education K-12 undergraduate degree through its Peter and Paula Lunder School of Education to prepare preservice teachers in Health and Physical Education for grades K-12. This new program joins the College’s suite of teacher certification programs at the early childhood, elementary, middle, and secondary levels.
Esports Program Expands
Thomas College is proud to announce the expansion of its varsity Esports program. Thanks to a generous grant from the Bill and Joan Alfond Family Foundation, Thomas College is planning to double the size of its Esports facilities and equipment, hiring additional coaching staff, and making more room for more Esports athletes to join.
Thomas College Awarded $1MM Grant
Thomas College is proud to announce it has been awarded a $1M grant through the Maine Department of Education for “Chemistry Connects,” a project to boost science instruction at the College. The grant comes with a special focus on developing talent for Maine’s workforce and increasing the number of individuals possessing post-secondary work credentials, including Pell-eligible, low-income, and first-generation students.
New Science Labs Opened
Thomas College celebrated the growth of its science programming with a ribbon cutting and open house of the science labs and announced plans to expand its science programming in 2024.
Leadership Change
Thomas College welcomes Dr. Jeannine Diddle Uzzi as it's 6th President
Thomas Teaching Cooperative
Corporate Campus
The Corporate Campus Initiative at Thomas College offers customized professional development and workforce training for employers and organizations. Corporate Campus works with companies to design and deliver targeted, college-level training that supports leadership development, team effectiveness, and organizational growth.
General Info
Phone Numbers
- Admissions (Undergrad): 207-859-1101
- Admissions (Grad): 207-859-1255
- Advancement: 207-859-1118
- Counseling: 207-859-1245
- Financial Aid: 207-859-1110
- Health Services: 207-859-1401
- Health Svcs. Fax: 207-859-1126
- Main Fax Number: 207-859-1114
- Registrar: 207-859-1108
- Safety & Security: 207-859-1399