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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 7 M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 4 ACCESS COLLABORATIVE LENDING SOLUTIONS: Expand Your Loan and Lease Offerings for Ag & Forestry Clients Agri-Access specializes in secondary market financing for agriculture, aquaculture, forest products and rural land, providing capital for community banks across the nation. Visit our website at agri-access.com Matthew Senter Vice President – Lender Relations Phone: 507-810-0837 matthew.senter@agri-access.com B R I E F Colby College gets $10M gift to establish data science center B y R e n e e C o r d e s C olby College will use a $10 million gift from Trustee Richard M. McVey, a New York-based fintech executive and parent of two Colby graduates, to incorporate data sciences into the Waterville school's liberal arts curriculum. The McVey Center for Computational and Data Sciences will speed scientific discovery, provide a leading-edge educational program, and support the use of computational tools and methods across disciplines, the school announced May 16. "The timing is critical, as scientific discovery is driving innovation across industries and transforming the prospects of everything from human health to the future of our planet," the school said. Besides providing students with computational and data science knowledge and practical expertise that employers are seeking, the new center will help Colby launch applied fields of study in areas such as public health, biomedical engineering and environmental engineering. 'Revolutionary change' The school said the planned center is part of a broader aim to position Colby as a national leader in scientific education and a key science hub in Maine. "Computational power and modeling are rapidly expanding human knowledge and driving revolutionary change," said Colby President David A. Greene. "Marrying computation with experimentation, theory, and qualitative methodologies has proven to be a major accelerant of discovery and learning." Over the last several years, Colby has introduced majors in data science, computational biology and environmental computation, and launched the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence. In 2019, Colby developed an initiative focused on integrating data science across the curriculum, thanks to a $2 million gift from McVey. The McVey Center for Computational and Data Sciences will have its own physical location on campus and eventually be part of Colby's future compre- hensive sciences complex. "It is exciting to support Colby's expansive programming for computational and data science and AI," said McVey, the founder, CEO and executive chairman of financial technology firm MarketAxess. "Data science skills and domain knowledge are both essential across all majors to prepare students for successful careers in today's economy." F I L E P H O T O Colby College received a $10 million gift from trustee Richard M. McVey to establish a center for computational and data sciences at the Waterville liberal arts college. EXPECT UNIVERSITY of MAINE at PRESQUE ISLE Cody Theriault '19 Growing up on his family farm, Cody Theriault '19 knew what he wanted: to become the next—and fourth— generation to farm the land. What he didn't expect was how relevant the coursework would be to his career. "At UMPI you can shape your education to match your interests, because the professors take the time to know you. That leads to specific opportunities." An education that defies expectation. UMPI.EDU (207) 768-9532 ★ umpi-admissions@maine.edu The University of Maine at Presque Isle is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. an education tailored to your interests UMPI-ad-qrtr-2024-v01.pdf 1 5/21/2024 4:10:11 PM

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