University of Maine at Farmington

Ryan Low, who graduated from UMF with a bachelor’s degree in political science, is now commissioner of Maine's Department of Administrative and Financial Services—at the behest of Governor John Baldacci.

Not sure what that means? Consider Low’s job by its staggering numbers: he’s responsible for managing a state budget of more than $6 billion and for overseeing 1,400 employees in budgeting and financial management, human resources, information technology services, facilities and fleet management, public improvements, the state tax agency, state lottery and Maine’s wholesale liquor business.

“A major part of the job is to present the governor and the legislature the same set of clear facts and to help them make decisions about how to allocate financial resources,” Low says. “The budget is the single largest policy-making document in state government, and we do a thorough analysis of the impact for every budget recommendation we make.”

Although Low assumed responsibility for the state budget at the age of 38, he’s no stranger to the mechanisms of state government, having served as associate commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, deputy chief of staff for Governor Baldacci and a state budget officer among other administrative positions during 12 years of public service to Mainers. (Unbeknownst to most, he made his mark on the state back in 2003, when, with bipartisan cooperation, he co-drafted the map outlining Maine’s 151 House districts.)

Low says the small-campus atmosphere and easy access to faculty at UMF were welcome changes after he transferred from one semester at a large state university in Indiana (a school with nearly 37,000 students).

“I remember sitting in a giant auditorium with 500 students and knowing that whether I showed up for class or not was irrelevant to the professor,” Low says of his first semester before coming to UMF. “By contrast, at UMF my professors knew me, and I knew they were accessible for any help I needed or questions I had. Their office doors were always open. It was a great place to receive an exceptional education.”

-- By Marc Glass, managing editor of the UMF alumni magazine

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