College of the Atlantic’s founding president dies at 94

Courtesy / College of the Atlantic Ed Kaelber, founding president of College of the Atlantic and Maine Community Foundation, has died, the college announced last week. He was 94.

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By Staff

Ed Kaelber, the founding president of College of the Atlantic and Maine Community Foundation, died on May 18, the school announced Friday. He was 94.

Kaelber started his tenure as president at COA when the school was founded in 1969 and led the institution through its first 14 years.

He and other community leaders established the nonprofit Maine Community Foundation, where he served as president from 1983-88.

“Ed Kaelber was an extraordinary educational visionary and pioneer," said COA Board of Trustees Chairman Phil Moriarty, in a news release. "College of the Atlantic will be forever indebted to him for his wisdom and leadership in founding and guiding the College during its infancy.”

Kaelber was born in 1924 in Philadelphia and attended Harvard College before and after World War II. He later served as associate dean at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

"Ed Kaelber was an incredible human being who, more than any other person, landscaped the path for this college,” said Darron Collins, president of College of the Atlantic.

“Although we are a forward looking institution, this path — Ed's path — informs what we do now and what we'll be doing decades from now,” he added.

Kaelber lived in Bar Harbor for over four decades.