MIDDLEBURY — A well-known Middlebury College administrator who has in many situations acted as a liaison between the college and the local community will be leaving the institution at the end of October after 21 years.
Dave Donahue, Chief of Staff and Director of Community Relations in the office of college President Laurie Patton, announced on Sept. 20 that he has accepted a position as senior vice president and chief of staff at Ultimate Medical Academy, a 15,000-student, 2,000-employee nationwide educational nonprofit based in Tampa, Fla.
Donahue, who graduated from Middlebury in 1991, served in many capacities at the college, including as Special Assistant to the President under Ron Liebowitz, who headed Middlebury College before Patton. 
Among other things, Donahue was an intermediary when the college offered the town several million dollars in support for the building of the new town offices and municipal gym, worked on the college’s behalf on the town’s Middlebury Business Development Fund, and helped site a dog park on college land near Porter Hospital
Locally, Donahue served on the Cornwall School Board from 2008 to 2013; he has been on the board of the Better Middlebury Partnership since 2010 and was with its predecessor, the Middlebury Business Association, for years before that. He is the current chair of the Middlebury Chamber of Commerce, and was also was instrumental in numerous collaborative projects with the town, most notably the public input and design of the new park. 
Donahue for the past few years served as an assistant coach of the Middlebury Union High School boys’ lacrosse team, and coached at elementary and middle school levels for many years before that.
President Patton, in an email to the college community, said Donahue will be missed.
“These contributions are extraordinary, and speak to Dave’s immense talents and commitment,” Patton wrote. “Dave is a consummate team player, an exemplary citizen both of the college and the town.”
The mission of Ultimate Medical Academy, where Donahue is headed, is to help underserved populations complete their degrees and achieve greater economic independence and security.