U.S. Senator George Mitchell returned to campus during Reunion Weekend to speak for Bowdoin’s “Back to School Series,” a series of lectures offered to returning alumni. Mitchell served as U.S. Attorney for Maine and U.S. District Court Judge for Maine. In 1980, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate. He left the Senate in 1995 as the majority Leader. He served as chairman of the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland and chairman of the international fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East. In 2009, Mitchell became a special envoy for the Middle East. He is also the founder of the Mitchell Institute, a scholarship program for Maine students.