For his longstanding and dedicated service to the College, Scott A. Meiklejohn, a trusted advisor and key member of the leadership team through four Bowdoin presidents, has been named a recipient of the 2026 Alumni Award for Faculty and Staff.
Meiklejohn has worn many hats since arriving on campus in 1997—those of senior capital support officer, associate vice president for development and alumni relations, senior vice president for planning and institutional advancement and assistant to President Barry Mills, dean of admissions and financial aid, senior vice president for development and alumni relations, and special advisor to the president.
Meiklejohn began his career in educational administration as headmaster at the La Pietra School in Honolulu, Hawaii, followed by a term as director of admissions at Hebron Academy. He has also served Maine and the wider educational community as a trustee of Waynflete School and Kents Hill School in Maine, and at Colgate University, where he earned his undergraduate degree and is a trustee emeritus and past president of the Colgate University Alumni Corporation.
At Bowdoin, Meiklejohn quickly established himself as an effective fundraiser and ambassador for the College. A veteran of several successful capital campaigns, he has an ability to connect trustees, alumni, and parents around the globe to life on campus that has played an important role in his success.
A remarkable feature of Meiklejohn’s career at Bowdoin has been his willingness to turn his talents to whatever was needed to advance the College’s interests. As assistant to the president and senior vice president for planning and institutional advancement, he worked closely with architects, landscape designers, and senior staff on a campus master plan. When there was a need for an interim director of admissions and financial aid, he stepped into that role, one that was made permanent in 2009. In that capacity, Meiklejohn oversaw an increase of more than 50 percent in the number of different high schools sending at least one application to Bowdoin.
In 2016, he assumed leadership of the development and alumni relations division and began strategic planning for a $500 million capital campaign in 2018. In the fall of 2021, Meiklejohn’s retirement plans were put on hold as he came back to shepherd that campaign through the home stretch. Under his leadership, the From Here campaign raised $542.8 million, the largest campaign in the College’s history.
Retirement plans remained elusive as Meiklejohn played a final influential role at the College as special advisor to President Safa Zaki. Few in the history of the College have achieved a record of service that is of comparable breadth, depth, and impact. It is for all these roles and reasons that Meiklejohn’s legacy of wisdom, hard work, and dedication is celebrated across the College and with the 2026 Alumni Award for Faculty and Staff.
The award, along with others, will be presented during Reunion Weekend (May 28–31, 2026).
