University of Maine at Farmington

Bradley Dean, who graduated from UMF with a degree in political science, works as a staff assistant in U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe’s Washington, D.C., office. Dean helps manage Snowe’s brimming schedule, which, apart from working on the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence and drafting legislation, involves constituent meetings and speaking engagements at events ranging from county fairs to bridge openings. Of all his responsibilities, Dean said trips to the U.S. Capitol on official business are the most rewarding.

“Occasionally, I’ll run a paper over to her [Senator Snowe’s] Capitol office, and I stop to think about what’s actually in my hands, a bill or amendment to legislation for the entire country. It’s at that point that I just try to make sure I don’t bend the document, smudge her signature or do anything that might hinder the legislative process,” he said with a laugh.

Dean said he savors the supporting role in politics and looks forward to being an executive assistant or legislative correspondent for a U.S. representative or senator. Away from work, he enjoys biking in the shadows of the Washington monuments and continuing his study of sign language at nearby Gallaudet University, a leader in undergraduate and graduate programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

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

• More Alumni Profiles
  • Biology major Dan Grenier serves TNC as land steward
  • Creative Writing major Peter Biello broadcasts for NPR affiliate
  • Community Health Education major Mike Milliken keeps a campus healthy
  • Sociology/Anthropology major Samantha Houston studies the psychology of criminals and victims
  • Education major Jessie Campbell teaches in Monhegan's one-room schoolhouse
  • History major Jenna Morency wins Fulbright to conduct research in Australia
  • Secondary Education major Dana Bullen presides over Sunday River ski resort
  • History-Political Science major Ryan Lilly manages Togus VA Hospital
  • Geology-Archeology major Bill Chadwick finds what's lost in the sands of time
  • History major Jordan McColman achieves top-10 status at Maine Law
  • Business Economics major Paul Collins graduates first in his MBA class; named Top-20 nationwide
  • Biochemistry major Renee LeClair says UMF gave her the write stuff for Rice
  • Creative Writing major Bridget Burns gives social action a soundtrack
  • Psychology major Christine Thibeault serves justice as assistant district attorney
  • Art majors Natasha and Saskia Haugen create community on Lana'i
  • Psychology major Christina Cesare becomes licensed clinical social worker
  • Pre-med majors Jessica and Sunny Aslam earn M.D. degrees
  • Geography major Ethan Bogar conducts internship on Hawaii
  • Psychology/pre-med major Elizabeth Connelly casts a wide net to save lives
  • Biology major Jamie Young completes medical research internship
  • Psychology major Chelsey Martin to attend law school
  • Political Science major Bradley Dean Works With U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe in Washington, D.C.
  • Education major Tim Shumway finds adventure teaching in Alaska
  • Political Science major Alex Pringle probes the high cost of health care
  • Community Health Education major Amber Hinkley combats childhood obesity
  • Biology-Chemistry major Abby West to earn Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences
  • Special Education major Brian Cavanaugh earns master's degree at Harvard
  • Spanish-Biology major Lauri Brewster conducts field research in Costa Rica
  • Mathematics major Dustin Gage wins National Science Foundation research internship