| Jeff Sturgis graduated from Bates in 1969
with a B.S. in mathematics. As a student he was a Traveling
Scholar, a member of the football team and the Deansmen, and he was
elected to the College Key. Jeff grew up in Minot, where he still
lives, and is a member of a multigenerational Bates family. This
legacy includes both his parents, Dean Sturgis ’49 and Erma
Rowe Sturgis ’46, and one of his two daughters, Jodi Sturgis
Coppetta, Bates Class of 1993. After Bates, Jeff served in the Navy
for three years as a supply officer in Vietnam, then continued his
education and earned a master’s degree in secondary
administration in 1976 from the University of Southern Maine. Jeff
has devoted his professional life to teaching and school
administration. In the 1970s he began his career in public
education, serving in local high school as a math teacher, football
and basketball coach, athletic director, and for 20 years, as an
assistant principal. In 1982, Jeff coached Oak Hill High
School’s undefeated Maine state championship football team.
In 1995, he received the Assistant Principal of the Year Award from
the Maine Principals’ Association, where he served nine years
as the assistant executive director, directing state championships
in 10 high school sports and activities. He retired at the end of
the 2001-02 school year, and on August 1, 2002, began as assistant
executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association, a
private, educational non-profit corporation. Jeff retired in 2010.
In 2011 he was awarded the Maine Interscholastic Athletic
Administrators’ Association Distinguished Service Award. Jeff
served on Bates' Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2005. He has been a
lead class agent and Reunion Committee member, chairing the Gift
Committee in 1988 and 2009, and as a member of the committee for
his 30th reunion. He was a leader in the Androscoggin Bates Club, a
member of the Alumni Council, and the Bates Alumni Fund Committee.
His involvement in the Bates community development does not start
there. Jeff was also a career adviser for the Bates Career
Development Center and a contact for the Career Discovery in
Practice program. He received the Bates College Distinguished
Service Award in 1988 and was president of his class for more than
20 years. In November of 2000, Jeff participated in an
Alumni-in-Residence program. Sturgis has supported Bates in many
ways. In addition to his financial support for the college,
he always comes to the Deansmen reunions, attends alumni leadership
workshops and participates in golf outings to support Bates
athletic teams. In addition, this past fall he added color
commentary to Bates football game webcasts. For his support and
life-long dedication to Bates College, we proudly welcome Jeffery
D. Sturgis into the membership of the Bates Scholar-Athlete
Society. |
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