Herbert Paris is the new chairman of the board of trustees of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the East Boothbay Laboratory announced Dec. 2. Paris assumed the chairmanship from David Coit, who had served as chairman for the past six years, and who will remain on the board.

“We are delighted that Herb Paris has agreed to take the helm and help lead Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences into a bright and secure future,” Executive Director Dr. Graham Shimmield said. “Herb brings a wealth of management experience, having transformed Mid Coast Hospital into a regional health care system that now meets the needs of many. His business acumen will prove to be of value here, as the laboratory continues its work advancing what is known about the tiniest inhabitants of the global ocean and how they influence global ocean processes.”

Paris served as president and CEO of Regional Memorial Hospital since 1978 and its successor Mid Coast Health Services and its subsidiaries until his retirement in 2011. Prior to joining Mid Coast in 1987, Paris was associate director of the Yale New Haven Hospital and a member of the faculty at Yale University School of Medicine, where he was also honored as a Fellow at Berkeley College.

He is a graduate of Brandeis University and holds a Master of Hospital Administration degree from the Medical College of Virginia. He has served or currently serves on the board of trustees of Brandeis University and the boards of directors of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Medical Mutual Insurance Company of Maine. He also is a member of the board of fellows of Brandeis University.

Shimmield also announced term endings for four members of the board of trustees — Helen and Walter Norton, Bob Healing and Mary Chatterton.

“I’d also like to personally acknowledge and thank Helen and Walter Norton, Bob Healing and Mary Chatterton, whose generosity, enthusiasm and total commitment to Bigelow Laboratory have been so inspirational. Their contributions were many and they will be deeply missed,” Shimmield said.