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BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer 11/21/2008

enlarge Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Melanie Erin Randall, left, hugs her brother Adam Randall as they look at their late father's name on the wall during the dedication of the Richard J. Randall Student Center on Thursday afternoon at the University of Maine at Augusta campus. Randall, who died earlier this year, had worked at UMA in various capacities most recently as president.

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Now, those who visit the UMA campus will also know the late college president, provost, dean and professor for the building that dons his name.

One hundred family members, friends and colleagues gathered behind UMA's Student Technology Center Thursday afternoon as the building formally became the Richard J. Randall Student Center.

As the ceremony ended, UMA staff members dropped a black veil to the ground, revealing lettering on the building's side bearing Randall's name.

Inside the building afterward, a roster of friends and family members shared their favorite memories about the educator who pushed many students to pursue a UMA education and who came out of retirement more than once when the college came calling.

"We cannot take a step anywhere on this campus without being reminded of Dick and his impact on this school," said friend and UMA sociology professor Jon Schlenker.

"I swear sometimes, if I'm really quiet, I can still hear that infectious laugh of his in the ceiling tiles," said English professor Carol Kontos, whose office once belonged to Randall.

Randall died May 31 in his Winthrop home after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. He was 65.

Randall and his wife, Mary Elisabeth Randall, spent most of their UMA career together. Then-UMA President Lloyd Jewett hired the couple in the 1960s, just a few years after they completed college at the University of Maine in Orono, as UMA began to take shape in the years after its founding.

"He took a chance on two very young people with no experience," said Mary Elisabeth Randall.

For Richard Randall, that chance became a 40-year career at UMA. He even returned to that career twice, deferring retirement.

"He considered himself first and foremost a teacher," Mary Elisabeth Randall said.

Three weeks before Randall died, UMA President Allyson Hughes Handley sprung a surprise on him at UMA's graduation ceremony. She announced she would ask the university system's trustees to rename the Student Technology Center for Randall.

"He said to me, 'I don't deserve this,'" Mary Elisabeth Randall said. "And I said, 'Like hell you don't.'"

The University of Maine System trustees disagreed. They approved Handley's request days after the ceremony.

Richard Randall was known for his humility, said his son, Adam Randall.

"I think he touched more people than he ever realized," he said. "He was a humble servant."

He was also known for an attachment to UMA. "He just couldn't keep away from this place," Adam Randall said. "He was always there for anybody who needed him."

Thursday's dedication had some lighter moments, too. Criminal Justice professor George Tomberlin recounted his failed business venture with Randall. Called "R and T Enterprises," Tomberlin said, the business manufactured desk ornaments meant to evoke the adage "Bite the bullet."

Before they could sell their first ornaments, Tomberlin said, the pair realized the company would become known by its acronym: RAT. "We could not even give them away," Tomberlin said.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, Ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com

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