Charles "Chuck" Gould has had a 25-year career in the construction industry. He started his career in 1957 in the Civil Engineer Corp (Seabees) of the U.S. Navy. He has had a variety of positions where he has been in charge of engineering, estimating or administration. Chuck holds a Bachelor's of Civil Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1957) and a Master's of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan (1979). Chuck joined the faculty of the Construction Management Technology Program in 1989. He retired as a full-professor in 2002. He is a registered professional engineer and a member of the Associated General Contractors of Maine (AGC Maine) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Chuck spends his winters traveling and his summers are spent at their camp on Green Lake fishing and enjoying visits by family and friends.
Chuck Gould Named Scholarship
If you were a Construction Management student at the University of Maine, Orono in the 90’s and the early 2000’s, you knew Chuck Gould. Many would say that he was among the most influential instructors that you ever had. If you were a Construction Management student there after his retirement and never had the chance to meet him, he still had a profound impact on your life. Not only was a great professor in his day, he remains one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He remembers his students by name and has followed their careers with interest. He would take calls from former students for years after graduation to offer advice on means and methods or a difficult customer situation. He is still passionate about the construction industry in general, and specifically how the U Maine Construction Management program impacts it.
It is easy for those who were taught by him to understand why he had a such a positive impact on their careers. On the other hand, the reason that the students who never met him -‐ and their employers -‐ owe credit to Chuck for their education, is that it is likely that the Construction Engineering Technology Program, as it is called today, would not exist if not for the presence of Chuck from the beginning. As one of the professors who started the program, he was the best salesman for new students entering this part of the College of Engineering. During his tenure, the University went trough a hiring freeze. The Construction Management program continued to grow, but more faculty couldn’t be hired. Chuck and his colleagues Mac Gray and Knud Hermanson fought tirelessly with the Dean of Engineering to maintain support for the program. Even Long after retiring in 2002, he remained an enduring force of nature as a staunch supporter of the group. Using his vast network within the industry, he helped orchestrate the Construction Excellence Fund. This initiative raised over $250,000 from AGC contractors to temporarily relieve the staggering 50/1 student/ faculty ratio. This effort proved once and for all that the program was vital to both the University and the Maine construction industry and a fourth faculty position was funded by the University.
While Chuck is still on his feet in January 2020 at age 84, he has a terminal illness and likely won’t be around much longer. He is as sharp to talk to as the day you met him, if you had the pleasure, and is approaching his illness and treatment with the same statistical analysis he taught his students. He is comfortable at home in Bangor with his wife taking great care of him. He isn’t interested in a lot of visitors, as he can’t afford getting any kind of infection, but is happy to talk and joke on the phone if you have time to call. A handful of his students are trying to raise $50,000 for a named scholarship through the AGC Maine Education Foundation to honor the impact he had on his students, his fellow and subsequent faculty members, the University of Maine, and the Construction industry across the country. Once we get $30,000 in pledges, we will tell him about it. It will provide a well-deserved and everlasting tribute to a man who made such an impact on what we do for a living.
Please follow the instructions on the AGC Maine website and pledge or pay what you can. You can spread it out over time if it will help you make a larger contribution. There is no reason to stop at $50,000. Many Maine contractors have agreed to match what their U Maine Construction Management employees contribute, so please ask your employer if they would consider doing the same. You can make the argument that you likely would not be there with the quality education you have if not for Chuck Gould.
Thank you for support.
