A greyscale photo of Stewart Dining Commons as it appeared after its rededication. A large, close-cut grass lawn spreads out in front of the building. A lower roof covers the front entrance doors, while two large two-story window sections can be seen to either side. A second floor over the main entrance can be seen, with a brick facade and eight smaller windows.
Stewart Dining Commons, named for Dean John Stewart, longtime Dean of MenCourtesy UMaine Photo Archives, Digital Commons at UMaine

Dean Stewart Returns to Namesake Commons

August 5, 2024 Archive, IMRC Center News, Spring 2024

A portrait of Dean John E. Stewart, University of Maine Dean of Men from 1951 – 1969, has been returned to its rightful place in the Commons building bearing his name.

When Stewart Dining Commons was decommissioned as a dining hall, it received a dramatic facelift, becoming practically unrecognizable from its previous form. However, it retained the name of Dean Stewart in recognition of his many years of service to the students of UMaine.

  • A greyscale photo of Stewart Dining Commons as it appeared after its rededication. A large, close-cut grass lawn spreads out in front of the building. A lower roof covers the front entrance doors, while two large two-story window sections can be seen to either side. A second floor over the main entrance can be seen, with a brick facade and eight smaller windows.
    Stewart Dining Commons, named for Dean John Stewart, longtime Dean of Men
  • The concrete and metal framing of the former East / Stewart Commons are seen on a sunny day with clouds in the sky. Chain link fencing blocks off the construction area around the building. Construction materials and detritus can be seen in large piles. The large front windows of the building have been temporarily covered in plastic sheeting.
    Stewart Commons as seen during renovations in Spring of 2012
  • A photo of the Stewart Commons entrance as seen from the "quad. A puddle is visible on the diagonal pathed pathway to the building, but the sky is bright blue and cloudless. A bike rack with a single bicycle stands outside. On the metal cladding of the building are visible three names in black block letters: to the left, "Innovative Media, Research and Commercialization Center," in the center, "Stewart Commons," and to the right, "Wyeth Family Studio Art Center"
    The front entrance of Stewart Commons as seen in June of 2019
Stewart is seen sitting on a window ledge with a dark curtain and white blinds behind him. He wears a medium-toned suit and dark tie, as well as wire-rimmed glasses, and has a serious but pleasant facial expression. The black and white portrait is framed in dark wood with gold trim.
Portrait of Dean John E. Stewart

One key piece of this link to his university legacy was missing, however: his portrait. Placed out of harm’s way for the duration of the renovation, it remained in storage on the rededication of the building for its new purpose in 2013, but was not restored. After Stewart’s descendants visited the building in 2023, staff from the IMRC Center, Fogler Library, Zillman Art Museum, and the UMaine Foundation mobilized to return Stewart’s visible presence to his namesake building.

Stewart’s portrait and accompanying plaque were found in two separate storage areas, but were finally reunited in July of 2024 and put on display in the vestibule outside of the Ferland Adaptive Presentation and Performance Environment in the IMRC Center portion of Stewart Commons. Please enjoy the text of the recognition plaque as reproduced below:

JOHN E. STEWART COMMONS

In 1976, the East Commons was renamed for Dean John E. Stewart, a man of great compassion and care for students and the University of Maine. During his 46 year tenure on this University of Maine Campus, John Emmons Ash Stewart left a legacy for caretaking of both the mind and the heart of the University of Maine students. His footprints suggest a path to current and future students, as well as to faculty and staff, that their lives can certainly make a difference with both individuals and institutions.

John Stewart was born in Eden, now Bar Harbor, on October 6, 1903. From a very young age to the age of 16, he dug and shucked clams at Stewart Head in Centre, a borough of Tremont on Mount Desert Island. Along with his two older brothers, Curtis and Edwin, John worked and lived under the caring eye of his paternal grandfather, sea Captain Lorenzo Watson Stewart.

This was the era of the “Great War”, World War I, and subsequently the “Great Depression.” Thus, the profit which these hardy young brothers obtained from their collective efforts was welcomed by the remaining six members of their family across “The Island” in Bar Harbor.

In 1919, John gained entrance to Bar Harbor High School as a freshman through a State of Maine entrance examination. Upon his graduation in 1923, he headed to Orono where he received his BA in Mathematics in 1927 and his MA in Mathematics in 1928. John did further graduate study in mathematics at Columbia and the University of Iowa.

Dean Stewart was a brilliant mathematics professor of 26 years. He served as Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences prior to being asked by President Arthur Hauck in 1951 to serve as the Dean of Men, a position he held through to his retirement in 1969.

Dean Stewart’s work and life at the University was felt positively in numerous settings: residential living, fraternity life, police services, overseer of the Memorial Union, student academic standing, character building, advising, counseling and discipline. His firm and caring touch helped many young men make good decisions about themselves during very challenging periods of their lives.

The Dean’s character, honesty, compassion and work ethic were his finest gifts. These gifts he gave unselfishly and unconditionally to all members of the University of Maine community.

As University of Maine President Winthrop C. Libby said following Dean Stewart’s passing in 1970, “John E. Stewart believed in young people and the capacity of the University of Maine to help them develop constructively. As Dean of Men, he served both causes faithfully with rare distinction.”