Notable Alumni

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

J. Scott Angle MS, Soil Microbiology '78

J. Scott Angle held faculty and administrative positions at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and served as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia. Currently, Angle serves as President and CEO of the International Fertilizer Development Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating hunger and improving farming practices around the world.

 

Richard R. Arnold II MS, Marine Estuarine Environmental Science '92

Richard R. Arnold began his professional as an Oceanographic Technician with the United States Naval Academy, and later became a middle and high school science teacher in Maryland and around the world. In 2004, Arnold was selected by NASA as a Mission Specialist-Educator and, after significant training, participated in Mission STS-119, and Expedition 55/56.

 

Lester Brown MS, Agricultural Economics '59

Lester Brown, described as 'one of the world's most influential thinkers' by The Washington Post, founded the Worldwatch Institute in 1974, and the Earth Policy Institute in 2001. During a career that started with tomato farming in New Jersey, Brown authored or co-authored some 50 books, including Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Widely published, his books have appeared in more than 40 languages. Brown is a MacArthur Fellow with 24 honorary degrees. He has received many awards, including the 1987 United Nations Environment Prize, Japan's Blue Planet Prize and the 2009 Lindbergh Award.

 

Robert F. Chandler, Jr. PhD, Pomology '34

During the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, world food production increased substantially, thanks in part to Robert Chandler. In 1954, after a prestigious career in academia and four years as president of the University of New Hampshire, Chandler joined the Rockefeller Foundation, researching ways to increase global agricultural output. He helped establish the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines in 1959, and led a team of scientists in developing new varieties of rice that tripled harvests. Chandler received the 1988 World Food Prize—just one of his many awards—that recognizes major contributions to the science of food production.

 

Michelle Colby MS, Food Science '07

Michelle Colby led a team of scientists that ultimately licensed the first vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease to be manufactured in the United States. Currently, she serves as the National Program Leader for Animal Biosecurity for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture within the U.S Department of Agriculture.

 

Elmer L. Cooper MS, Agricultural Education '65

Elmer Cooper worked as a high school teacher, advisor in Maryland’s Department of Education, and later as associate professor at the University of Maryland. After his retirement from the University, Cooper wrote two textbooks that are held in high regard within the agricultural field to this day. Cooper was a recipient of an Outstanding Alumnus Meritorious Service Award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

 

George P. Demas PhD, Agronomy '98

George P. Demas worked as a soil surveyor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Maryland and New Jersey, during which time he conducted various studies that changed the collective understanding of subaqueous soil formation. As a result of this research, the United States Department of Agriculture revised its official soil taxonomy.

 

Govindarajan Dhanasekaran PhD, Veterinary Medical Sciences '05

During the course of his doctoral studies at the University of Maryland, Govindarajan Dhanasekaran became the first scientist to determine the complete genome sequence of the avian pneumovirus - a leading cause of strife in the turkey industry. Since then, Dhanasekaran has worked toward the development of vaccinations for diseases that are not currently preventable in this way. Currently, he serves as Associate Director of the Drug Substance Process Development (Cell, Gene, and Viral Vaccine Products) at Johnson & Johnson.

 

Mylo S. Downey MS, Agronomy '40

Mylo Downey devoted his life to encouraging rural youth to pursue their educational opportunities. As a leader of the Maryland and Federal 4-H programs, he influenced thousands of young people to choose careers in the agricultural field, and to accept leadership roles. He achieved the position of national director of 4-H and later developed 4-H-style programs in countries around the world for the U.S. State Department. Downey also served as consultant for the Peace Corps, and co-founded the International Farm Youth Exchange. Leaving his mark on his alma mater, Downey established the University of Maryland Agricultural Scholarship Fund.

 

Geary Francis 'Swede' Eppley MS, Agronomy '26

Geary 'Swede' Eppley arrived as a Maryland freshman in 1914. After a hiatus to serve as a cavalry lieutenant in World War I, he finished his degree, and became assistant professor of agronomy in 1922. An undergraduate track and football star, Eppley later coached Maryland’s track team to two national championships. Both director and faculty chairman of athletics, he helped found the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and was its first president. Recalled to duty in World War II, Eppley earned the Legion of Merit. He ended his 42-year career at Maryland in 1964 as Dean of Men and Director of Student Activities. In 2006, the Campus Recreation Center was named in his honor.

 

Francis R. Gouin PhD, Horticulture '69

Francis Gouin was a revered horticulturalist, and has published over 700 scientific papers on the subject. Among his top accomplishments are the first-ever successful cloning of the Wye oak, development of a hot sauce animal repellent, thermal blankets for container-grown ornamental plants, and development of various fertilizers, including Osmocote 18-6-12. Gouin also set up the composting system for Disney World, which now composts and reuses 80% of its waste.

 

Ruth Haug PhD, Agriculture Extension Education '92

Professor of Development Studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ruth Haug was also Deputy Vice Chancellor from 2008-2013. Before that she was head of the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) for seven years. Additionally, Haug has taught and researched throughout Africa and Asia, has worked with NORAD, the World Bank, and the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture, and in 1998, won UMD's International Alumni Award.

 

Lawrence A. Johnson PhD, Animal Science '68

In 2001, Lawrence A. Johnson was inducted into the U.S.D.A. Beltsville Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Hall of Fame. He was recognized as the world authority on sex preselection in mammals, having developed the only validated method for selecting the sex of offspring at conception. Johnson also made outstanding contributions to semen preservation and artificial insemination in swine. He retired from ARS as research leader of the Germplasm and Gamete Physiology Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.

 

Robert G. Keenan MS, Agricultural Education '62

Robert G. Keenan earned his bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education from the University of Maryland in 1959, and went on to pursue graduate studies. Keenan taught middle and high school students in Caroline, Cecil, and Baltimore County schools about agriculture for more than 30 years. Not only was he co-founder of Maryland’s Ag in the Classroom summer program for teachers, he also started a children’s farm for elementary school students to learn about animals, and foster an appreciation for agriculture. Keenan was a recipient of an Outstanding Alumnus Meritorious Service Award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

 

Albin O. Khun PhD, Agronomy '48

Thanks in large part to Albin Kuhn, the University of Maryland System has thriving campuses in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. In 1965, Kuhn was appointed vice president at both locations then Chancellor, serving at Baltimore County through 1971, and at the Baltimore City campus through 1979. During that time, he constructed new buildings to provide more space for teaching and research. Kuhn went on to become Executive Vice President of the University System of Maryland in 1979, retiring in 1982. That year, UMBC named the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery in honor of his career-long devotion to the University of Maryland System.

 

Amihud Kramer PhD, Agricultural Education '68

After earning his bachelor’s, as well as his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Maryland, Amihud Kramer joined the University’s Department of Horticulture faculty where he served from 1942 to 1980, when he was named professor emeritus. He is credited with numerous contributions to the food industry, perhaps most notably his invention of the shear press and his advisory roles to an array of international governments and industrial groups. A recipient of UMD’s Excellence in Research Award, Kramer remained active in the field of food science research until the end of his life.

 

Louis B. Lynn PhD, Horticulture '79

Louis B. Lynn is Chairman and Founder of ENVIRO AgScience, Inc., a company that provides construction, management, landscape, and design services to public and private organizations. Lynn also serves as a National Board Member of the American Horticultural Society, and the National Associations of Minority Contractors. Additionally, Lynn has been Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and an adjunct professor of horticulture at Clemson University.

 

Claude G. McKee MS, Agronomy '59

Known as 'Mr. Maryland Tobacco,' Claude G. McKee was widely considered an international expert on the unique qualities of tobacco grown in Maryland. McKee’s expertise was employed in both research at the University of Maryland’s experimental tobacco farm, and industry as a representative for the Maryland tobacco industry at the first ever World Tobacco Exhibition (1971).

 

Jeffrey Moore PhD, Food Science '07

Jeffrey Moore is the creator and lead analyst for the U.S Pharmacopeial Convention Food Fraud Database. He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has years of experience with heavy emphasis in food adulteration detection.

 

Budhan Pukazhenthi PhD, Animal Science '96

Budhan Pukazhenthi works as a Research Physiologist at the Center for Species Survival in the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute. His research revolves primarily around reproductive biology of critically endangered hoofed animals. Recently, Pukazhenthi led a team that produced the world’s first Przewalski horse via artificial insemination.

 

Charles E. Sando PhD, Agriculture '21

At age 24, Charles E. Sando was the first PhD recipient of the newly formed (1919) Graduate School. Later he held various government research positions, and developed a method for entombing plants and bugs in a synthetic methacrylate resin. Sando designed, cast, machined and polished each embedded specimen. In 1941, he presented these resin products in the U.S. Department of Commerce's exhibition, and they were also displayed in the November issue of Popular Science. In 1945, his resulting work was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1949, Sando was promoted to Project Advisor for the USDA Research on Crop Utilization.

 

Fred R. Shank PhD, Nutrition '69

Fred R. Shank served as Director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition where he led the development of policies and programs focused on consumer protection, including the implementation of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, the most comprehensive food labeling legislation is U.S. History. Shank was also the recipient of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Award for Outstanding Alumni Meritorious Service.

 

Thomas B. Symons MS, Agriculture 1904

Thomas B. Symons (1880-1970) was acting president of the University of Maryland in 1954, four years after his retirement as Dean of Agriculture and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. During his brief tenure, his major accomplishment was to remodel the Rossborough Inn into a faculty club. A building on campus, constructed in 1940, was named after Symons in 1954. Symons Hall is now home to the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, the Department of Entomology, other parts of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, and several other programs and offices.

College of Arts and Humanities

Ai Addyson-Zhang PhD, Communication '10

Ai Addyson-Zhang is a college professor, digital learning consultant, and social media entrepreneur. Her entrepreneurial enterprise revolves around using social media and other digital technologies to revolutionize the classroom for the internet age.

 

Safoi Babana-Hampton PhD, French '05

Safoi Babana-Hampton is an author, filmmaker, and Associate Professor of French at Michigan State University. Her award winning documentaries have been featured at national and international film festivals.

 

Richard A. Baker PhD, History '82

In 1975, Richard A. Baker became the first director of the U.S. Senate Historical Office and first Historian of the U.S. Senate and held those positions until his retirement in 2009. Richard A. Baker later co-authored the book The American Senate: An Insider’s History.

 

Brent F. Blackwelder PhD, Philosophy '75

Brent F. Blackwelder reieved the 2001's Arts and Humanities Distinguished Alumnus Award. An advocate for environmental protection, Blackwelder is retired president of Friends of the Earth and testified in front of the U.S. Congress on pressing environmental issues more than 100 times. He helped expand the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System from eight rivers in 1973 to over 250. He initiated campaigns to reform the World Bank and succeeded in getting Congress to enact a series of significant reforms directing the Bank to pay more attention to the environment.

 

William Breazeale PhD, Art History '05

William Breazeale currently serves as Curator at the Crocker Museum of Art in Sacramento, California, where his specialties include Old Master drawings, Meissen porcelain, and other European art. Prior to his appointment at the Crocker Museum, he worked as a curatorial fellow at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

 

Aaron Bryant PhD, American Studies '16

Aaron Bryant serves as Curator of Photography and Visual Culture at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Prior to his work for the NMAAHC, Bryant curated content for Morgan State University and its Lewis Museum of Art, the National Electronics Museum, and the National Institutes of Health, and the Library of Medicine. He has lectured on cultural theory and historiography at various universities and museums, and his research appears in numerous publications. Bryant also served as chair of Baltimore City’s Commission to Review Confederate Monuments, and currently serves as a commissioner for the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.

 

Adrienne Childs PhD, Art History '02

Adrienne Childs is an scholar associated with the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Between 2005 and 2010, she served as Curator for the David D. Driskell Center here at the University of Maryland.

 

Christa Clarke PhD, Art History and Archaeology '98

Christa Clarke is a Senior Curator of Arts of Africa and the Americas at the Newark Museum. She has held teaching appointments at George Washington University, the Corcoran School of Art, Rutgers University, Purchase College, and Drew University, and has been held fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Clark Institute. At Newark, Clarke has organized several exhibitions, including Power Dressing: Men’s Fashion and Prestige in Africa (2005), Another Modernity: Works on Paper by Uche Okeke (2006), Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art (2008) and Partytime: Re-imagine America, a Centennial Commission by Yinka Shonibare MBE (2009).

 

Douglas Comer PhD, American Studies '93

After his work as Chief of the National Park Service Applied Archaeology Center, Douglas Comer now serves as Principal of his company, Cultural Site Research and Management, and as President of the United States branch of the International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management. Additionally, Comer is the author of Ritual Ground, a book exploring the relationship between humanly contrived landscapes and culture, and is a former Fulbright scholar.

 

Janice G. Davidson PhD, American Studies '73

Janice G. Davidson created Math Blaster and other early computer products to help students learn. In 1989 she was recognized by Business Week, Fortune, and Forbes as one of the best small growth companies in the world. She and her husband co-founded the University of Reno affiliated free public school for gifted students called the Davidson Academy.

 

Cedric Dent PhD, Music '97

Cedric Dent is a baritone vocalist, music arranger, and co-producer of the 10-time GRAMMY Award-winning vocal group, TAKE 6. After 25 years, Dent retired from full-time performing and has been an emeritus member of the group since 2011. He is also a 2-time Grammy-nominated music arranger and contributed several arrangements for the Grammy-award winning recording Handel's Messiah A Soulful Celebration (1992). In 2014, Dent rejoined TAKE 6 for their induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Dent is a professor in the School of Music at Middle Tennessee State University where he directs the MTSU Singers and teaches a course he developed on the history of black gospel music. He continues to compose and arrange for various live and recording projects - most recently, for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. (Photo: Middle Tennessee State University)

 

John Devlin DMA, Conducting '15

John Devlin is the founding artistic director of the Gourmet Symphony, and has been Cover Conductor of the National Symphony, and Assistant Conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. He has been appointed as the new Music Director of the Hawaii Youth Symphony, and is a finalist in the Music Director search for the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra.

 

Lloyd DeWitt PhD, Art History and Archaeology '06

Lloyd DeWitt was named the Chief Curator of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. Previously, he served as Curator of European Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Associate Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His scholarly research focuses most closely on 17th-century Dutch art, though his curatorial interests cover a much broader range.

 

Kathrin DiPaola PhD, German '04

Kathrin DiPaola held an appointment as the youngest and first female director of Deutsches Haus at New York University, and currently works with the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia where she is responsible for cultural reception of technologies, and academic partnerships.

 

Robert Echols PhD, Art History '93

Robert Echols is an independent scholar and curator who has worked on exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museo del Prado, Madrid; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He has also worked as a consultant to the American Bar Association. Recently, Robert was involved in an historic Tintoretto exhibition, the first of its kind outside of Venice, Italy. Echols, in concert with Frederick Ilchman published a book in 2018 entitled Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice.

 

Andrew Eschelbacher PhD, Art History '13

Andrew Eschelbacher is an Assistant Curator of European Art at the Portland Museum of Art. A specialist of nineteenth-century European art, he is currently working to transform his dissertation 'Labor in the Cauldron of Progress: Jules Dalou, the Inconstant Worker, and the Parisian Memorial Environment,' into a book-length manuscript. During the 2013-14 academic year, while serving as Assistant Professor of Art History at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, Andrew presented papers at the annual conferences of the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) as well as the College Arts Association (CAA). His essay on the tomb of Auguste Blanqui at Père Lachaise cemetery is forthcoming as part of an edited volume on time, space, and structure.

 

Laurel Farrin MFA, Art Studio '93

Laurel Farrin has held numerous artistic residencies across the U.S. and has been the recipient of and individual artist grant from the Washington D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She currently holds an associate professorship at the University of Iowa.

 

Andrew Fellows MA, American Studies '97

Former Mayor of College Park, Maryland, Andrew Fellows currently works for the University of Maryland as Community & Outreach Program manager in a dual appointment between the College of Information Studies and the UMD Environmental Finance Center.

 

Rosario Ferre PhD, Spanish '87

Puerto Rican writer, poet, and essayist, Rosario Ferre won the first prize in a short story contest of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño in 1974. In 1992, she was the recipient of the "Liberatur Prix" award from the Frankfurt Book Fair for Kristallzucker, the German translation of Maldito Amor. In 1997, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University. Ferre was a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient in 2004. She was also recognized at Ponce's Tricentennial Park for her contributions in the field of literature. Ferre worked as a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and was a contributing editor for The San Juan Star.

 

Jason Fettig DMA, Conducting '05

Colonel Jason K. Fettig serves as director of 'The President’s Own' United States Marine Band. He began his military career in 1997 as clarinetist in the Marine Band, and was later promoted to Assistant Director, Executive Officer, and then finally Director in 2014. In his capacity as Director, Col. Fettig acts as music adviser to the White House, and conducts both the Marine Band and the Marine Chamber Orchestra.

 

Tuliza Fleming PhD, Art History and Archaeology '07

Tuliza Fleming is the Curator of American Art at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. During her tenure at the NMAAHC, she worked to build the museum’s foundational American art collection, and supervised the creation of a collection-based multi-media interactive. She co-curated the traveling exhibition, Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment; curated Clementine Hunter: Life on Melrose Plantation; and, served as the lead curator for the museum’s inaugural exhibition Visual Art and the American Experience. Formerly, Fleming served in the position of Associate Curator and head of the Department of American Art at The Dayton Art Institute. In total, Fleming has curated or co-curated more than 20 exhibitions, and been involved with numerous publications.

 

Patricia S. Florestano PhD, Government and Politics '74

Former Member of the Board of Regents, Patricia S. Florestano was Maryland Secretary of Higher Education from 1996 to 2000. She served as a professor at the University of Baltimore’s Schaefer Center for Public Policy, and in the University’s own Institute for Urban Studies. She is a Fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration.

 

Bryce Fuhrman DMA, Composition '17

Bryce Fuhrman is an arranger and composer of a wide range of instrumental and electronic music. In 2013, Singularity, a work for wind ensemble, was selected as a finalist in the Frank Ticheli International Composition Contest.

 

Chris Gekker MM, Trumpet

Chris Gekker is Distinguished University Professor of Trumpet at the University of Maryland School of Music. He has been featured as soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. After performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 at Carnegie Hall, the New York Times praised his “bright virtuosity” and described his playing as “clear toned and pitch perfect.” Chris appears as soloist on more than thirty recordings and on more than one hundred chamber music, orchestral, and jazz recordings. CD Review called his recording of Copland’s Quiet City “a model of quiet perfection” and in an overview of several solo recordings Grammophone Magazine described his performances as “astonishingly poised.” Of his recording of Eric Ewazen’s Sonata for Trumpet and Piano American Record Guide states “Ewazen writes that he had Gekker’s sound in his mind when he wrote the Sonata, and I can understand why. It is round, soft edged, and gorgeous at soft dynamic levels, and always full and well controlled at fortissimo.” Chris is one of the featured artists on Deutsche Grammophon’s 2005 compilation “Masters of the Trumpet.” In the Washington DC area, Chris serves as principal trumpet of the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, is a member of the Washington Symphonic Brass, Post Classical Ensemble and performs regularly at Wolf Trap. During the summer he is principal trumpet of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC. Many of his former students occupy orchestral positions in major symphonies throughout the world.

 

Adam Greenhalgh PhD, Art History '11

Adam Greenhalgh is an Associate Curator at the National Gallery of Art, and currently serves as the lead author of the catalogue raisonné Mark Rothko: The Works on Paper. He joined the Gallery in 2012 as a Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellow for which he curated or co-curated several exhibitions, including The Serial Impulse at Gemini G.E.L. (2015), Yes, No, Maybe: Artists Working at Crown Point Press (2013), and John Cage: Rocks, Paper, Fire (2012).

 

Hiroyuki Hamada MFA, Studio Art '95

Hiroyuki Hamada is a New York-based painter and sculptor who earned a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Maryland. His work has been featured in exhibitions around the world since 1995. Most recently, Hamada has added a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship to his extensive list of grants, fellowships, and residencies.

 

Sara Hart DMA, Viola Performance '15

Sarah Hart is Principal Violist of the Annapolis Symphony. Additionally, she has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Music Festival, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, and 'The President’s Own' U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra, with whom she has been a featured soloist.

 

Gordon Hawkins MM, Voice '82

Gordon Hawkins is a critically acclaimed opera singer praised for his luxuriant tone, rich lyricism, and dramatic instinct. In addition to his operatic engagements, Gordon can be heard performing around the world in concert with top-tier orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra.

 

Lindsey Hayes PhD, Communication '13

Lindsey Hayes served as Lecturer in the UMD Department of Communication, and went on to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Communication. Hayes has previously worked as a speechwriter in the U.S. Senate, for a Cabinet-level agency, and on two presidential campaigns. Currently, she leads Redpath Writing, a firm which provides clients assistance with their major speeches or communication projects.

 

Liza Kirwin PhD, American Studies '99

Liza Kirwin is the Deputy Director of the Archives of American art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. In addition to her work for the Smithsonian Institution, Liza has been involved in the publication of several books related to artist-related documents found within the Archive.

 

Kuo-Sheng Lai PhD, Art History and Archaeology '06

Kuo-Sheng Lai is Assistant Curator at the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in Chiayi, Taiwan and adjunct assistant professor at the National Chung Cheng University where he teaches museum studies. Lai's current research interests include but are not limited to 20th century East Asian art, and cultural interactions between Europe and East Asia since the Age of Discovery.

 

Cheryl LaRoche PhD, American Studies '04

Cheryl LaRoche is a historical and archaeological consultant who specializes in nineteenth century African American history and its relationship to the escape from slavery. Her first book Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance was published after extensive physical archaeological research across the United States. Currently, LaRoche is a professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland.

 

Rodrigo Lazo PhD, English Language & Literature '98

Rodrigo Lazo, author of Writing to Cuba: Filibustering and Cuban Exiles, recently collaborated as editor for The Latino Nineteenth Century. He currently serves Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Core at the University of California, Irvine.

 

Alexandra Libby PhD, Art History and Archaeology '14

Alexandra Libby is assistant curator of northern baroque paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. A specialist on the art of Peter Paul Rubens, she has lectured and published widely on 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting, contributing to the collection and exhibition catalogs of The Leiden Collection Online Scholarly Catalogue (2016), Vermeer e il secolo d’oro dell’arte olandese (2012), and Human Connections in the Age of Vermeer (2011), as well as to the journals Artibus et Historiae and Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art.

 

Matthew Lincoln PhD, Art History and Archaeology '16

Matthew Lincoln is a data research specialist at the Getty Research Institute, where he uses computer-aided analysis of cultural datasets to help model long-term trends in iconography, art markets, and the social relations between artists. His current book project with Dr. Sandra van Ginhoven approaches the history of collecting and the art market through the lens of complex systems.

 

Pamela O. Long PhD, History '79

In 2016, Pamela O. Long reieved the Arts and Humanities Distinguished Alumnus Award. An independent American historian specializing in late Medieval and Renaissance history and the history of science and technology, she was chosen as a Guggenheim Fellow in 2007, and in 2014, she was made a MacArthur Fellow.

 

Alison Lowell DMA, Oboe Performance '16

Alison Lowell has performed extensively throughout South Africa, where she was Principal Oboist of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the United States, where she performs with numerous musical ensembles including her wind quintet, District5.

 

Manning Marable PhD, History '76

Manning Marable (1950 - 2011) won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. He served as professor of history, public affairs, and African-American studies at Columbia University and was the founder of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies.

 

Edwin Martini PhD, American Studies '04

Edwin Martini holds a professorship at Western Michigan University and currently serves as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. His academic focus revolves around recent United States history, and he has published several books to this end. Prior to his appointment at WMU, Martin held teaching positions at Georgetown University, Deep Springs College, and George Washington University.

 

Donald L. Miller PhD, History '72

In 2003 Donald L. Miller recieved the Arts and Humanities Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is also a New York Times bestselling author of seven books,and one of the most respected authorities on World War II and U.S history. He has been nominated for and won a variety of awards. Miller is a frequent consultant and adviser to historical production and has been nominated for the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize three times each, and a finalist for the Bancroft Prize National Book Critics Circle Award. He is a professor emeritus at Lafayette College.

 

Koritha Mitchell PhD, English Language & Literature '05

Cultural critic, professional development expert, and award-winning author of Living with Lynching: African American Lynching plays, Performance, and Citezenship, 1830 - 1930, Koritha Mitchell currently serves as an associate professor in English at Ohio State University. Koritha Mitchell has lectured at the Library of Congress as part of C-SPAN’s BookTV, and has offered her professional development expertise to fellow scholars through personal guidance and her curation of professional development workshops.

 

Asma Naeem PhD, Art History and Archaeology '10

Asma Naeem is an art historian and curator of prints, drawings and media arts at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. She has been invited to be the keynote speaker and lecture at the Courtauld Institute, University of Minnesota, and University of Rhode Island, and has delivered papers at numerous conferences such as the American Association of Museum Curators, College Art Association, American Studies Association, and the Southeastern College Art Conference. In 2018, Naeem was appointed the Chief Curator of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

 

Michael Olmert PhD, English Language & Literature '80

Michael Olmert is an author, playwright, magazine contributor, and documentary writer. His work with the Discovery Channel has earned him three Emmy Awards. Currently, Olmert serves as Professor of English at the University of Maryland.

 

Eric Olson PhD, American Studies '95

Eric Olson currently serves as Executive Director of the College Park City-University Partnership, an organization working to improve the way the University of Maryland and the surrounding community interact. Prior to his work with the Partnership, Olson served as a Prince George’s County Council member, including two years as Vice Chair of that Council.

 

Maria B. Otero MA, English '74

Maria B. Otero is a 2002 Arts and Humanities Distinguished Alumnus. She joined The Kresge Foundation Board of Trustees in 2013 and she served as U.S. Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights under Secretary Hillary Clinton from 2009 to 2013. She was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCION International, a leader in microfinance and economic development working in 26 countries. Currently, she serves as a trustee for Herbalife, the Public Welfare Foundation, Development Alternatives, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and Oxfam America. She has an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College.

 

Patrick Phillips MFA, Creative Writing '95

Patrick Phillips is a Professor of Writing and Literature at Stanford University. His last book of poems, Elegy for a Broken Machine, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and his nonfiction book, Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in American, received a tremendous amount of national attention. A recipient of Guggenheim and NEA fellowships, Phillips has also received awards for his work in translation.

 

Jefferson Pinder MFA, Painting and Mixed Media '03

Jefferson Pinder is a celebrated visual artist and recipient of a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship. His work, often revolving around race, identity, and struggle, has been featured throughout the U.S and the world. He currently serves as a professor of Sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

Donald Ritchie PhD, History '75

After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Donald A. Ritchie began work as an Associate Historian of the U.S. Senate Historical Office. In 2009, Ritchie went on to become the Senate Historian, and held that position until his retirement in 2015. He is currently Historian Emeritus of the United States Senate.

 

Henry Schoebel MFA, Studio Art '80

Henry Schoebel has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards. He has exhibited and lectured internationally, and was the first foreigner to deliver the Coomaraswamy Memorial Lecture at the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, India. Schoebel has taught at the university level for more than 25 years, and currently serves as Professor of Painting and Drawing at Arizona State University.

 

Rachel Shapiro DMA, Violin Performance '16

Rachel Shapiro is a founding member of the Aeolus Quartet, an award winning string quartet of international renown. She was appointed Professorial Lecturer at George Washington University in 2013, and is in demand as both a performer and educator across the country.

 

Geoff Sheil DMA, Composition '16

Formerly a production coordinator for the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at UMD, Geoff Sheil is a performing arts photographer and videographer currently based in Berlin, Germany. His award-winning musical compositions have been premiered in Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Serbia, Ireland, the UK, and the U.S.

 

Caroline Shields PhD, Art History and Archaeology '17

Caroline Shields is the Assistant Curator of European Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Her dissertation, titled "Objects of Memory: Paul Gauguin and Still Life Painting, 1880-1901," won the Charles A. Caramello Distinguished Dissertation Prize for the area of Humanities and Fine Arts. This work examines the relationship between objects and memory in the still-life painting of Symbolist artist Paul Gauguin through the lens of period and present-day science. She has presented her research at museums, conferences, and symposia in the United States and Europe.

 

Shirley L. Thomson MA, Art '75

Shirley L. Thomson received her Ph.D. from McGill University in Art History in 1981. From 1982 until 1985 she was Director of the McCord Museum in Montreal and from 1985 until 1987 she was Secretary-General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Later, she was Director of the National Gallery of Canada and the Director of the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2003 she was appointed Chair of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board.

 

Raúl Vallejo MA, Latin American Literature '97

Raúl Vallejo is a novelist, poet, essayist, and professor based in Ecuador. He has served as Minister of Education, Minister of Culture, and Ecuadorian Ambassador to Colombia. He currently heads the Literature Department at the Universidad de las Artes in Guayaquil.

 

Daniel MacLean Wagner MA, Design/Technical Theatre '82

Daniel MacLean Wagner was Professor of Lighting Design at the University of Maryland from 1990-2014, where he served as Director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies from 2001-2012. He remains active as a lighting designer based in the Washington, DC area. He has designed more than 400 productions at many theaters, including The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The John F. Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Signature Theatre, Theatre of the First Amendment, Horizons Theatre, Potomac Theatre Project, The Rep Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, National Players, Olney Theatre Center, New Repertory Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Arden Theatre Company, and several Off-Broadway theaters. Mr. Wagner is an eight-time recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design, for which he has been nominated twenty-eight times; he has also been a nominee for the Barrymore Award in Philadelphia.

 

Jonathan Frederick Walz PhD, Art History and Archaeology '10

Jonathan Frederick Walz is an expert on American Modernism. He has taught at the University of Maryland, Catholic University of America, Rollins College, and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Walz has curated or co-curated numerous exhibitions across the United States and currently serves on the College Art Association Professorial Practices Committee. For his activism on behalf of diversity, inclusion, and multi-culturalism, he has received the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Chancellor’s Outstanding Contributions to the GLBT Community Award (2015) and the Rollins College President’s Award for Diversity and Inclusion (2012).

 

Christine M. Warnke PhD, American Studies '81

Christine M. Warnke represents individuals, groups, agencies, and corporations of all stripes on legislative and regulatory matters before the Congress, the White House, and the Executive Branch. She heads the D.C. Commission for Women, serves on the Business Advisory Board of the Opportunities Industrialization, and serves on the Council of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Warnke was also appointed to the National Institute of Building Sciences. She has previously served on the District of Columbia Human Rights Commission. Warnke is a recipient of the Women of Excellence award and the Salute to Women Award. She has written numerous articles on the city's immigrant population and history and co-authored The Urban Odyssey. (MS, School of Public Health)

 

Dennis Weller PhD, Art History and Archaeology '92

Dennis Weller has been the Curator of Northern European Art at the North Carolina Museum of Art since 1995. He has curated many exhibitions and co-authored a number of publications revolving for the most part around his specialty of Dutch art.

 

Timothy White PhD, Communication '94

Brigadier General Dale Timothy White currently serves as mobilization assistant and advisor to the Director of Public Affairs within the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Additionally, Brig. Gen. White has worked as a broadcast journalist, producer, and university faculty member.

 

Tamara Wilds Lawson PhD, American Studies '09

Tamara Wilds Lawson works as the Director of the Posse Foundation's Washington, DC office. The Posse Foundation is a national comprehensive college access and leadership program that is over 20 years old and has a 90% graduation rate. Wilds Lawson is responsible for managing a large staff, and a budget of over one million dollars.

 

Joshua Woodfork PhD, Art History and Archaeology '05

Joshua Woodfork currently serves as Executive Director of the Office of the President and Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives at Skidmore College. Prior to this position, Woodfork had been an assistant professor in American Studies at both Skidmore College and American University. In addition to his academic and administrative work, Woodfork has been awarded an Emerging Scholar Award by Franklin and Marshall’s Center for Liberal Arts and Society, and a Community Service Award by the Saratoga chapter of the NAACP.

 

Yuriko Yamaguchi MFA, Studio Art '79

Yuriko Yamaguchi’s work can be found in museums and public spaces throughout the United States and Japan. She is the recipient of numerous awards and residencies, and is currently an adjunct professor of Sculpture at the George Washington University.

 

Lara Yeager-Crasselt PhD, Art History and Archaeology '13

Lara Yeager-Crasselt is Curator of The Leiden Collection in New York and was formerly the interim Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Clark Art Institute. She is an accomplished author and editor with numerous works covering her specialty of early-modern Dutch and Flemish paintings and sculptures. Her engagements as a Lecturer include George Washington University and the Catholic University of America. www.theleidencollection.com)

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Rania Al-Mashat PhD, Economics '01

Rania Al-Mashat currently serves as Egypt’s Minister of Tourism, and she is the first woman ever appointed to that position in the Egyptian government. Prior to her appointment as Tourism Minister, Al-Mashat was an economist with the International Monetary Fund. Al-Mashat was invited by the University of Maryland to speak at the 2018 Economics commencement.

 

Alvin N. Alvarez PhD, Psychology '96

Alvin N. Alvarez is the Dean of the College of Health Social Sciences at San Francisco State University, where he has been a professor since 1997, and later became Associate Dean and Interim Dean before rising to his current role. Alvarez is an award winning scholar focusing on psychological studies of Asian Americans and has previously served as president of the Asian American Psychological Association.

 

Anirban Basu MA, Economics '98

Anirban Basu is the Chairman and Chief Executive Office of the Sage Policy Group, Inc., an economic policy consulting firm in Baltimore, Maryland. Basu is widely recognized as one of the most influential Maryland residents, and his influence can be seen in his high profile economic consultations for the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County.

 

Julius Becton MA, Economics '67

After nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the U.S. Army, retired Lieutenant General Julius Becton served as Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and later served as Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under Presidents Reagan and Bush. Becton later switched careers to education administration, and in 1996 became the Superintendent of the Washington, DC Public School System.

 

Linton Brooks MA, Government and Politics '72

Linton Brooks is Former U.S. Ambassador and former Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Currently, Brooks serves as Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a distinguished research fellow at the National Defense University.

 

William J. Byron PhD, Economics '68

Rev. William J. Byron has served as President of Catholic University of America and was formerly the President of St. Joseph's Preparatory School. He is a past Trustee of Georgetown University, the University of San Francisco, Loyola University of Chicago, and a renowned Jesuit scholar and author.

 

Anthony Chan PhD, Economics '86

As the Chief Economist for JPMorgan Chase Anthony Chan is responsible for economic analysis and research to support Chase Private Client. He is also a member of Chase's Global Investment Committee. Often interviewed mainly by CNBC's Squawk Box, Bloomberg Television and Radio on employment figures and interest rates, Chan joined Chase in 1994 from Barclays, where he served as a senior economist. Earlier, Chan was an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an economics professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree from Baruch College.

 

Reginald M. Cram MA, Government and Politics '63

Major General Reginald M. Cram was a decorated veteran of the United States Air Force, and also served as Adjutant General of the Vermont National Guard. During the later portion of his career in the Air Force, Cram established himself as an expert in strategic planning and international relations.

 

Edward J. DeMarco PhD, Economics '91

In 2017, Edward J. DeMarco was selected by Financial Services Roundtable to serve as president of their Housing Policy Council. Prior to his work with the Financial Services Roundtable, DeMarco was a Senior Fellow in Residence at the Milken Institute. Previously, DeMarco had served a five-year stint as acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

 

Arthur C. Evans PhD, Psychology '90

Arthur C. Evans, Jr. currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the American Psychological Association, the premiere professional association in the field of psychology. Prior to his work with the American Psychological Association, Evans was commissioner of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Service.

 

Edwin A. Fleishman MA, Psychology '49

American psychologist Edwin A. Fleishman is best known for his work in the field of industrial and organizational psychology. Among his notable achievements was a taxonomy for describing individual differences in perceptual-motor performance. He earned his doctorate in applied psychology in 1951 from Ohio State Universityand is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at George Mason University.

 

William Form PhD, Sociology '44

William Form was the first graduate student awarded a doctoral degree from the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. During his doctoral studies, Form held teaching positions at Hood College, American University, and in UMD’s Sociology Department. Form later held faculty appointments at Kent State University, Michigan State University, the University of Illinois, and Ohio State University. In tribute to his scholarly contributions, the University of Maryland established the William Form Lecture, which invites sociology alumni to present on their current research.

 

Mary Furlong Minkoff PhD, Anthropology '15

Mary Furlong Minkoff currently serves as Curator of Archaeological Collections at James Madison’s Montpelier. Previously, Minkoff worked with the National Park Service as both an Archaeologist and Graduate Research Assistant.

 

Frances Hughes Glendening MA, Government and Politics '77

Currently Executive Director of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, Frances Hughes Glendening earlier in her career she was a Legal and Policy Advisor at the Federal Election Commission for almost 20 years. She was also the Chief Executive Officer of Jobs for America’s Graduates. Glendening is a former First Lady of Maryland - she was married to former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening. As first lady, she did much toward promoting the history of the state's accomplished women and opening Maryland's official gubernatorial home, Government House, to the public. She received her J.D. from Catholic University in 1986.

 

Maria Grenchik MA, Anthropology '12

Maria Grenchik currently serves as Executive Director of the Museum of Chincoteague Island. In her capacity as Executive Director, she employs her background in historical archaeology to work with the local community to preserve and interpret the history and culture of Chincoteague Island.

 

James F. Hoobler PhD, Government and Politics '80

James F. Hoobler was appointed by George H. W. Bush to serve as Inspector General of the Small Business Administration. Prior to that appointment, he had served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, Senior executive for the President's Management Improvement Program at the Office of Management and Budget, Associate Deputy Administrator for Planning and Finance at the Veterans Administration, Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Resource Management at the Department of Energy, Director of the Program Review, budget staff at the Department of Justice, and Senior Program Analyst in the Office of the Director at the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

Charlene Drew Jarvis PhD, Neuropsychology '71

Neuroscientist, legislator and former university president, Charlene Drew Jarvis is currently a Trustee at the University of the District of Columbia. After receiving her Ph.D. she worked as a neuroscientist at NIH. In addition, responding to the need to help rebuild the economy of The District after the riots that followed the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., Drew Jarvis ran for public office and was elected six times to the Council of the District of Columbia (1979-2000). In 1996 as President of Southeastern University she orchestrated a unique merger of the University with the USDA Graduate School. She was named one of the most powerful women in Washington by Washingtonian magazine in 1989, 1994, and 2007. She has honorary doctorates from Amherst College, George Washington University, Oberlin College, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Howard University.

 

Robert Jordan MA, Government and Politics '71

Robert Jordan served as United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2003. Currently, Jordan is Diplomat in Residence and adjunct professor of political science in the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University. He can be seen in frequent television appearances as a commentator for CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNBC, and in print with Bloomberg and the New York Times.

 

Katherine L. Kling PhD, Economics '86

Katherine L. Kling is a Distinguished Professor at Iowa State University, where she had previously served as Director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. Kling is a widely published author of journal articles, and currently chairs the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

J. Steven Landefeld PhD, Economics '79

J. Steven Landefeld served the United States Commerce Department as Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) for 20 years. Prior to his work as Director of the BEA, Landefeld was Chief of Staff for the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors. His tenure as Director with the BEA is the second longest in the agency’s history.

 

Mickey Levy PhD, Economics '80

Mickey Levy currently serves as Chief Economist for Berenberg Capital Markets, LLC. Previously, Levy was Chief Economist with Bank of America, and has served as advisor to U.S. Federal Reserve Banks, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office Panel of Economic Advisors.

 

John MacDonald PhD, Criminology '99

John MacDonald currently holds an appointment as Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also Chair of the department. He is a widely published author in the field of criminology, and among his many scholarly awards he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology.

 

Joseph E. McCarthy PhD, Government and Politics '65

Joseph E. McCarthy retired from the U.S. Army as a Brigadier General, and was instrumental in the development of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, PA.

 

Sean McCormack MA, Government and Politics '90

Sean McCormack is the Managing Director of TrailRunner International, and previously had served as Vice President of Communications for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In the public sector, McCormack has served as United States Assistant Secretary of State and has served in the U.S embassies for Ankara and Algiers.

 

Parren Mitchell MA, Sociology '52

Parren Mitchell was the first African-American student to take graduate courses on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, and later became the first African-American elected to the the House of Representatives by the state of Maryland, representing the states’s 7th district in the U.S. House of Representatives. To commemorate his life accomplishments, the University of Maryland held a dedication ceremony renaming the Art/Sociology Building in his honor.

 

Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak PhD, Economics '02

Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak holds dual appointments as Professor of Economics in both the Department of Management and the Department of Economics at Yale University. While on the faculty at Yale, Mobarak founded, and currently serves as faculty director, of the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale.

 

David Nelson MA, Economics '87

David Nelson was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Uraguay. Prior to that appointment, Nelson had a long career in the U.S. Senior Foreign Service.

 

Peter Peter Barlerin MA, Economics '86

In 2017, Peter Barlerin was appointed Ambassador to Cameroon. Even before his appointment as Ambassador, Barlerin had maintained a long career as a foreign service officer, serving most recently as Senior Bureau Official of African Affairs and as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.

 

Paul Rao PhD, Hearing and Speech Science '85

 

Paul Rao Chair of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Government Relations and Public Policy Board and an ASHA Past President. He also currently serves on the BSOS Board of Visitors. Rao has held academic appointments at the University of Maryland, Gallaudet University, and Loyola College of Maryland.

 

Robin Raphel MA, Economics '73

In 1993, Robin Raphel was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the nation's first Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. She later served as U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia from November 7, 1997 to August 6, 2000. Since then, she has continued to do policy and lobby work in a variety of settings.

 

Tina Q. Richardson PhD, Psychology '91

In 2015, Tina Q. Richardson was named Chancellor of the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus. Immediately prior to that appointment, she was Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Drexel University College of Education.

 

Nela Richardson PhD, Economics '05

Nela Richardson currently serves as investment strategist at the Edward Jones Financial Services. Prior to joining Edward Jones, Richardson worked as an economist for Redfin, Bloomberg LP., and has held academic appointments at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University.

 

John Sabelhaus PhD, Economics '98

John Sabelhaus is currently Assistant Director in the Division of Research and Statistics at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC. He also holds an appointment as adjunct professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland.

 

Charles L. Schultze PhD, Economics '60

Charles L. Schultze served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. Schultze was also appointed Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Budget by President John F. Kennedy, and was later promoted to Director of the same agency by Lyndon B. Johnson. In addition to his public service, Schultze was a widely published author of books and articles on economic matters.

 

Kumea Shorter-Gooden PhD, Psychology '78

Kumea Shorter-Gooden heads her own eponymous consulting firm specializing in diversity-related educational consultation. Previously, she had served as the Associate Vice President and was the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer, overseeing initiatives to create an equitable, diverse, and inclusive campus.

 

Kosali Simon PhD, Economics '99

Kosali Simon is the Herman B. Wells Endowed Professor at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Simon is a research associate of the National Bureau for Economic Research, and maintains membership on the governing body of the Association for Public Policy Research.

 

Adele Stamp MA, Sociology '24

Adele Stamp was the first Dean of Women at the University of Maryland, where her intended one-year stint in 1922 stretched to 38 years. During that time, Stamp helped female enrollment grow from 103 to 3,618. She started the first women’s student government organization, the Mortar Board Honor Society and a branch of the American Association of University Women while serving as teacher, counselor, philosopher, administrator and role model for countless coeds. When Stamp retired, the Board of Regents granted her emeritus rank, making her the first woman to receive this faculty honor. The student union was renamed for her in 1983 in recognition of her achievements.

 

Beth Stevens PhD, Neuroscience '03

Beth Stevens currently holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Neurology at the Harvard University Medical School. Stevens is an award-winning Neuroscience scholar, and has been recipient of the Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, a participant in the John Merck Scholar Program, and a Fellow with the MacArthur Foundation.

 

Mark Turner PhD, Economics '96

Mark Turner is the Founder, President, and Principal Associate of Optimal Solutions Group, LLC., a non-partisan public policy research group. Turner has held academic appointments at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, and the University of Chicago, and serves on the University of Maryland's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Board of Visitors.

 

Barbara Van Dahlen PhD, Psychology '91

Barbara Van Dahlen is Founder and President of the national non-profit organization Give An Hour, which helps to coordinate a national network of mental health professionals to provide free services to U.S. military troops, veterans, and their loved ones. She has over 20 years of experience as a practicing clinical psychologist, and was named by Time Magazine in 2012 as one of the 100 most influential people.

 

Charles F. Wellford MA, Sociology '63

Professor Emeritus, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at UMD, Charles F. Wellford has been named a lifetime National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences - the first criminologist to receive this honor. He won the 2018 August Vollmer Award from the American Society of Criminology for his continuing contributions to the field. Wellford was Director of the Maryland Justice Analysis Center (1984-2007), member of the Athletic Council (1986-89 and 1992-95, and 1997-present) and is past Chair of the Campus Senates. He served for 16 years as the Faculty Athletic Representative to the NCAA and Chair of the Athletic Council and served two terms as President of the Atlantic Coast Conference Council.

 

Stephen Wendel PhD, Government and Politics '12

Stephen Wendel currently serves as Head Behavioral Scientist for Morningstar, Inc., an investment management company headquartered in Chicago, and is the Cofounder of Action Design Network, the largest organization of behavioral science practitioners.

 

Christopher M. Whitt PhD, Political Science '10

Christopher M. Whitt is the inaugural Vice Provost for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion at Creighton University. Previously, Whitt was an Associate Professor of Political Science at Augustana College, where he was also chair of the Political Science Department, and established the College’s Africana Studies Program.

 

Gregory H. Williams MA, Government and Politics '69

Scholar, attorney, law school professor, author, and formerly the 27th President of the University of Cincinnati, Gregory H. Williams was also the 11th President of the City College of New York. His appointment at CCNY followed his tenure as a Law School Dean at Ohio State. During his tenure as Dean of the Law School at Ohio State, Williams also served as the President of the Association of American Law Schools, and his autobiographical book, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black, won the 1995 Los Angeles Times Book Award. Williams has received honorary doctoral degrees from the California Western School of Law (1997), Ball State University (1999), College of Wooster (2000), New York Law School (2009), Skidmore College (2010), and Columbia University (2016).

 

Jingli Yang PhD, Geographic Information Sciences '95

Jingli Yang is the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of ERT Corporation, a company that provides technological support for Federal and State government agencies. Yang is President of the Maryland Space Business Roundtable, and serves on the Board of Visitors at the University of Maryland College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

 

Lawrence Yun PhD, Economics '95

Lawrence Yun is the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research at the National Association of Realtors. Yun participates in numerous economic forecasting panels, including the Blue Chip Council and the Wall Street Journal Forecasting Survey, and is a regular contributor to various financial news sources.

College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

John R. Apel MS, Physics '61

John R. Apel was a physicist and oceanographer who served as President of Global Ocean Associates. Apel was revered in his field for his pioneering efforts toward the use of satellite remote sensing in the study of Earth’s oceans, and is the author of the textbook Principles of Ocean Physics.

 

Andrew Baker PhD, Zoology '91

Andrew Baker is Chief Operating Officer of the Philadelphia Zoo, a position he has held since 2008. Baker joined the Philadelphia Zoo as Assistant Curator of Mammals in 1992, and was later promoted to Curator of Primates and Small Mammals, and again to Vice President for Animal Programs before promotion to his current position. Much of Baker’s academic research was centered around study of golden lion tamarins, including field research in the Poço das Antas Reserve in Brazil in preparation for his doctoral dissertation.

 

Roscoe G. Bartlett Jr. PhD, Physiology '52

Roscoe G. Bartlett, Jr. was U.S. Representative for Maryland's 6th congressional district, serving from 1993 to 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a member of the Tea Party Caucus. At the end of his tenure in Congress, Bartlett was the second-oldest serving member of the House of Representatives. Earlier as a faculty member at Maryland, he taught anatomy, physiology, and zoology while working toward his doctorate. He holds 20 patents in flight life-support systems.

 

Nathan Bluzer PhD, Physics '74

Prior to his decade long stint as Senior Consulting Scientist at Northrop Grumman, Nathan Bluzer served as a Senior Advisory Physicist at the Westinghouse Advanced Technology Center where, for over 20 years, he formulated innovative practical device structures to extend the performance of electronic systems. Using his broad technical background, Bluzer has played key technical and leadership roles in research and development programs on micro-electronic devices such as: infrared sensors, visible sensors, radiation hard electronics, cryogenic focal plane multiplexers, charge-coupled devices, and superconducting multispectral sensors. He has published over 40 scientific papers, written over 120 invention disclosures, and been granted 31 U.S. patents.

 

Janete Boughman PhD, Zoology '98

Janette Boughman is Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at Michigan State University. Boughman’s research lab at MSU deals primarily with behavioral traits within certain species and the ways they lead to selection and evolutionary change.

 

Robb T. Brumfield PhD, Zoology '99

Robb T. Brumfield is the Roy Paul Daniels Professor of Biology at Louisiana State University, where he also serves as Director of the Louisiana State University's Museum of Natural Science. Brumfield has held this position since 2013.

 

R. Paul Butler PhD, Astronomy '93

R. Paul Butler is a staff scientist at the Carnegie Science Department of Terrestrial Magnetism where his areas of expertise include observational astrophysics, stellar spectroscopy, and extrasolar planets. He has been involved in extensive efforts to survey stars within 150 light-years of our own in search of Earth-like planets.

 

Homer W. Carhart PhD, Organic Chemistry '39

Homer W. Carhart taught chemistry at Gallaudet University until 1942 when he joined the Naval Research Laboratory. His main areas of research included chemical and biological protection, mobility and high energy fuels, control of atmospheres in manned closed capsules (submarines, space vehicles, SeaLab), combustion, fire extinguishment and protection, and damage control. Carhart was a key member of the Fire Panel investigating the fatal Apollo fire in 1967. He holds six patents, wrote poetry, and composed over 300 musical pieces, mainly for piano. He was also keenly interested in horticulture, developing many Amaryllis and Christmas Cactus hybrids, and had an apple tree with 15 different kinds of apples which he had grafted himself.

 

Gary Christian PhD, Chemistry '64

Gary Christian currently serves as Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Washington. Christian’s specialties include flow and sequential injection, and he is widely published on these and related subjects. His numerous awards include Honorary Membership to the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry, an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from Chiang Mai University in Thailand, and a Medal of Honor from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

 

Ruth M. Davis PhD, Mathematics '55

One of the first women to receive a doctorate in Mathematics from Maryland, Ruth M. Davis helped design some of the earliest computers and satellites. She went on to serve in the federal government as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Advanced Technology, and served on the boards of more Fortune 500 companies than any other woman known to date.

 

Raymond Davis, Jr. MS, Chemistry '40

Raymond Davis, Jr. is a renowned chemist and physicist who led the Homestake Experiment, the first experiment to detect the presence of neutrinos emitted from the sun, which earned him a shared 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics. Davis was the recipient of numerous other prizes, including the National Medal of Science, which was awarded to him by President George W. Bush.

 

John M. Dawson PhD, Physics '57

Computational physicist and the father of plasma-based acceleration techniques, John M. Dawson joined UCLA in 1973 as a professor of physics. He served as Director of UCLA's Center for Plasma Physics and Fusion Engineering from 1976 to 1987 and was Associate Director of the Institute for Plasma and Fusion Research from 1989 to 1991. Dawson was considered a leading figure in the plasma physics community for more than four decades. He received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize in Plasma Physics in 1977 and the Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics in 1994 - both are the highest honors bestowed by the American Physical Society's plasma physics and computational physics divisions, respectively.

 

Walter R. Dowdle PhD, Microbiology '61

Walter R. Dowdle joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1960, and within four years was leading the agency’s Respiratory Virology Branch. Dowdle ultimately retired from the agency as Deputy Director and was credited with laying much of the necessary foundation for the immunology research of the past decades. In addition to his work for the CDC, Dowdle was involved with the World Health Organization and served as director of the Poliovirus Antiviral Drugs Initiative under the purview of the Task Force for Global Health at Emory University.

 

John E. Faber PhD, Microbiology '37

John “Jack” E. Faber was deeply involved in the University of Maryland for many decades. Faber earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees here, became a Professor of microbiology, and, perhaps most famously, coached the lacrosse team for 35 years. Faber found himself in various other leadership roles throughout his career, serving as head of the Microbiology Department, faculty chairman of the University Athletic Council, and president of the ACC, founded in 1953. By the end of his lacrosse-coaching tenure, Faber had led the Maryland lacrosse team to an impressive 249 victories and 57 losses.

 

Brian D. Farrell PhD, Entomology '91

Brian D. Farrell is the Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America, and a Professor of Biology at Harvard University. In addition to his professorial roles, Farrell serves Harvard as Curator of Entomology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and and Faculty Dean of Leverett House of Harvard College. Much of his research deals with the relationship between a species’ environment and its rate of evolution.

 

Robert E. Fischell MS, Physics '53

The holder of more than 200 U.S. patents, Robert E. Fischell is a physicist and inventor who worked for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab for nearly forty years. His inventions spurred the creation of numerous biomedical companies and Fischell donated $30 million to the University of Maryland to establish the bioengineering department within the A. James Clark School of Engineering. Fischell was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2016 by President Barack Obama.

 

Gary Flake PhD, Computer Science '93

Gary Flake is Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Clipboard, Inc., and later served as Chief Technology Officer of Search at Salesforce.com, the company that ultimately bought Clipboard, Inc. Prior to his work at Clipboard and Salesforce, Flake penned several publications involving data mining, self-organization, and machine learning, later working for Overture, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.

 

Alexander Flecker PhD, Zoology '90

Alexander Flecker is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. Additionally, Flecker maintains membership on Cornell’s graduate faculties of International Development, Natural Resources, and Conservation and Sustainable Development, and maintains associate membership in the Latin American Studies Program.

 

Judith C. Giordan PhD, Chemistry '80

Judith C. Giordan is Co-founder of the Chemical Angels Network, as well as an entrepreneur and former Fortune 100 executive. Her previous executive positions include Vice President and Global Corporate Director of Research and Development at International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc., Vice-President Worldwide Research and Development for the Pepsi-Cola Company, Vice President Research and Development for the Henkel Corporation, and co-founder and managing partner of 1EXECStreet, a successful San Francisco-based boutique executive search firm. Giordan she has also held management and technical contributor positions at Polaroid and ALCOA and has served with the National Science Foundation as Program Director for the IGERT Program.

 

Naresh Gupta PhD, Computer Science '93

Naresh Gupta is an investor, entrepreneur, and computer scientist currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Accuracap, a financial management firm based in Noida, India. Prior to his work at Accuracap, Gupta worked for Adobe Systems, serving as Founding Managing Director of Adobe Systems India, and Founding Senior Vice President of its Print and Publishing Unit. Gupta was awarded International Alum of the Year from the University of Maryland Alumni Society in 2006, and is in the Computer Science Department's Hall of Fame.

 

Alan Harbitter MS, Computer Science '82

Alan Harbitter, after earning his Ph.D. from George Mason University, was part of the executive team responsible for propelling his former company, PEC Solutions, to great success. Since his time with PEC, Harbitter has been founding chair of the Washington Area Chief Technology Officers’ Roundtable, served as treasurer and trustee for the Arc Foundation of Northern Virginia as well as the Medical Care for Children Partnership Foundation, and has served as chair of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences Board of Visitors.

 

Herbert A. Hauptman PhD, Mathematics '55

Herbert A. Hauptman pioneered and developed a mathematical method that allowed for precise determination of the molecular structures of crystalized materials. For this work, Hauptman, along with Jerome Karle, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985. Hauptman has been the recipient of numerous honorary degrees for his contributions to the field of chemistry and mathematics.

 

Ali Hirsa PhD, Applied Mathematics '98

Ali Hirsa has worked in leadership positions at numerous financial and strategic institutions, relying primarily on his background in algorithmic trading, machine learning, data mining, computational and quantitative finance, and optimization. He is currently Managing Partner at Sauma Capital, LLC., and holds an academic appointment as Professor of Professional Practice and Co-Director of Financial Engineering at Columbia University.

 

Anne E. Houde PhD, Zoology '87

Anne E. Houde is the Foster G. and Mary W. McGraw Professor in the Life Sciences, Emerita at Lake Forest College where she has began as an Assistant Professor in 1992. Prior to joining the faculty at Lake Forest, Houde conducted research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Princeton University, and the University of Maryland. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, and is widely published in the fields of behavioral ecology and evolution.

 

Liuqing Huang PhD, Computer Science '93

Liuqing “Larry” Huang has served as President of Actiz Software and Chief Technology Officer of Primeton Technologies, two Shanghai-based companies. Huang was awarded the 2008 International Alumni Honors Award, an award given for providing significant leadership to another country’s educational, cultural, social, or economic development.

 

Kate Hutton PhD, Astronomy '76

Nicknamed by the media as the 'Earthquake Lady', Hutton is a staff seismologist with the California Institute of Technology Seismological Laboratory. She is often sought by the media for her professional commentary. Her local celebrity is such that people take note of her shopping, whether she is replacing glassware or stocking up. According to LA Weekly, "Hutton strikes just the right balance between calm and caution" in explaining earthquake science to viewers.

 

Franklyn G. Jenifer PhD, Botany '70

After earning his doctorate specializing in plant virology, Franklyn G. Jenifer lead a successful and varied career in higher education administration. Jenifer was on the Board of Trustees for Fairleigh Dickinson University, and served as President for the University of Texas at Dallas, and President of Howard University, where he was the first Howard alumnus to hold the role. Jenifer has also been Provost at the Rutgers Newark Campus, Chancellor of the Massachusetts Board of Regents, and Vice Chancellor of the New Jersey Department of Higher Education.

 

David Johnston PhD, Geology '07

David Johnston is a Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, where he also serves as Co-Director of Graduate Studies. Johnston began his work at Harvard in 2007 as a Fellow in the Microbial Science Initiative, and became an assistant professor at the end of his fellowship. Johnston is an internationally sought-after lecturer, and has been invited to present on his research all over the world.

 

Klaus Kaestner MS, Botany '86

Klaus Kaestner is the Thomas And Evelyn Suor Butterworth Professor In Genetics at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine where he operates a laboratory under the purview of the Institute of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism. His graduate group affiliations at UPenn include Pharmacology, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Genomics and Computational Biology.

 

James L. Kaplan PhD, Applied Mathematics '70

James L. Kaplan is the founder and Portfolio Manager of Cubic Asset Management, LLC. Kaplan has held teaching appointments at Northwestern University and Boston University, and throughout his career in academia was the author of more than thirty scholarly papers and co-authored a calculus textbook. Kaplan founded J.L. Kaplan Associates in 1972, and managed the company until 2007 when he founded Cubic Asset Management. He is also owner of Aftermath Wines on the Silverado Trail, in California.

 

Carol Kendall PhD, Geology '93

Carol Kendall is a research hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, which operates under the purview of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Since joining the agency in 1980, Kendall has been involved in National Research Program projects, most recently aimed at developing new isotope methods and applications for use in solving problems of national importance.

 

Gina Kolata MA, Mathematics '73

Gina Kolata is science journalist with The New York Times. Kolata began her career as a copy editor for Science magazine, and then went on to write for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has held her position as Health and Science Reporter at the Times since 1987, and has taught writing as a visiting professor at Princeton University, and frequently offers lectures across the country.

 

Ravi Kuchimanchi PhD, Physics '95

Ravi Kuchimanchi founded the Association for India’s Development in 1991, while he was still a graduate student at the University of Maryland. Over the last three decades, the organization has morphed into a volunteer movement geared toward sustainable, holistic development with chapters throughout the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom, and India.

 

William Kuperman PhD, Physics '72

William 'Bill' Kuperman is the Director of the Marine Physical Laboratory and Professor of Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Kuperman is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Geophysical Union, and is a Fellow and former President of the Acoustical Society of America.

 

Simon A. Levin PhD, Mathematics '64

Simon A. Levin began his academic career on the faculty at Cornell University where he was Chair of the Section of Ecology and Systematics, and served as Director of the Ecosystems Research Center, the Center for Environmental Research, and the Program on Theoretical and Computational Biology, and additionally held the distinction of Charles A. Alexander Professor of Biology. Levin is currently the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology at Princeton University.

 

Dilip B. Madan PhD, Mathematics '75

Dilip B. Madan is currently a professor of finance at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where his scholarly focus is in mathematical finance. He is the recipient of numerous awards, and is a widely published author and editor of financial and mathematical articles. Currently he serves as a consultant to Morgan Stanley, Meru Capital, and Caspian Capital. In this role he has worked with Citigroup, Bloomberg, the FDIC and Wachovia Securities and is a founding member and Past President of the Bachelier Finance Society.

 

Russell E. Marker MS, Chemistry '24

Russell E. Marker is an award winning chemist and inventor of the octane rating system, developed while he was an employee of the Ethyl Corporation. Additionally, Marker founded a steroid industry in Mexico based around his proprietary chemical process known as Marker degradation.

 

Willie E. May PhD, Chemistry '77

Willie E. May began his work for the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 1971, when it was known as the National Bureau of Standards, and ultimately went on to head the agency from 2015 to 2017. May is widely recognized for his contributions to measurement science, most notably in the fields of climate science and food security. Dr. May was recently appointed Vice President of Research and Economic Development for Morgan State University.

 

William C. McCool MS, Computer Science '85

American naval officer, aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut, William C. McCool was the pilot of Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107. He and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into the atmosphere. The 1983 U.S.N.A. graduate (2nd in his class) was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.

 

James McGroddy PhD, Physics '65

James McGroddy served as the Vice President of Research at IBM for more than 30 years. To commemorate McGroddy’s contributions to the field of physics, IBM, upon their endowment to the American Physical Society, renamed the APA’s International Prize in New Materials to the James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials in his honor.

 

Beverly A. Mock PhD, Zoology '94

Beverly A. Mock is Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, within the National Institutes of Health. After earning her doctoral degree at the University of Maryland, Mock continued her research in the Department of Immunology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Mock’s recent research deals closely with finding pharmacological solutions to genetic predispositions to cancer initiation.

 

Gavin Naylor PhD, Zoology '89

Gavin Naylor currently serves as director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, which operates under the purview of the University of Florida in Gainesville Florida. Prior to his involvement with the Florida Museum, Naylor had maintained teaching appointments at Florida State University, the College of Charleston, and the Medical University of South Carolina.

 

Harry Oduro PhD, Geology '12

Harry Oduro is a research geochemist and project leader for Saudi Aramco Sulfur Technology and Analytical Research Laboratory where one of his primary research interests has been mitigating oil pipeline deposition. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, Oduro conducted postdoctoral research at the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Mary Ann Ottinger PhD, Animal and Avian Sciences '77

Mary Ann Otinger serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for the University of Houston System and Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Houston. Before her move to Houston, Ottinger earned tenure on the faculty of the University of Maryland Department of Animal and Avian Sciences where she is now Emeritus Professor, and served as Associate Vice President of Research and Interim Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Ottinger has also held administrative positions in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation.

 

John Parsch PhD, Zoology '98

In 2001, after postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Rochester and Harvard University, John Parsch joined the biology faculty at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Munich, Germany. Parsch has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards for his research which revolves primarily around the evolutionary genetics of Drosophila.

 

Jogesh Pati PhD, Physics '61

Jogesh Pati is a renowned theoretical physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center National Accelerator Laboratory. Pati was awarded the Dirac Medal for his contributions to the understanding of quantum elementary particles and is Professor Emeritus in the Physics Department at the University of Maryland, College Park.

 

Dhanurjay Patil PhD, Applied Mathematics '01

Dhanurjay “DJ” Patil currently serves as Head of Technology on the executive team of Devoted Health. In 2015, Patil was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist and held that position until the end of the Obama administration, then going on to join the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. Patil has also held positions at LinkedIn, Greylock Partners, Skype, PayPal, and eBay.

 

Michael J. Pelczar Jr. MS, Bacteriology '38

After earning two degrees at the University of Maryland culminating with a doctorate in 1941 from the University Iowa, Pelczar’s began his professional career at the University in 1946 and worked here for more than 30 years. He was a Distinguished University Professor of Microbiology and served as Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research for many years. In honor of Pelczar’s retirement in 1977, the Michael J. Pelczar Graduate Award was established from contributions made by friends and alumni and the award is intended to honor excellence in graduate studies.

 

Lura J. Powell PhD, Analytical Chemistry '78

Lura J. Powell is on the Board of Regents of Washington State University until 2019. She was also appointed as the first chair of the Board of Trustees of the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund Authority by Governor Christine Gregoire in 2006 and served in that position until 2013. In 2011, Powell was Chair of the Washington State Redistricting Commission. She is former Director of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and was a Senior Vice President of Battelle. Prior to her DOE service, she was Director of the Advanced Technology Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

 

John Quinn PhD, Physics '58

John Quinn was a theoretical physicist and academic administrator who served as both a faculty member and Chancellor of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Quinn is internationally known for his help in the creation of two-dimensional electronic systems, a specialty within the field of condensed matter physics. The author of more than 350 publications, Quinn was a Fellow of both the American Physics Society and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and held the Ford Foundation Chair in Physics at Brown University, and the Willis Lincoln Chair of Excellence at the University of Tennessee.

 

Glenn Ricart PhD, Computer Science '80

In 1988, Glenn Ricart built the first Internet Exchange point, connecting the original federal TCP/IP to the first U.S. commercial and non-commercial Internet networks. He is widely recognized for his contributions to the field of computer science, including an algorithm for mutual exclusions in distributed systems written as a result of his doctoral dissertation research. Currently, Ricart is founder and Chief Technology Officer of US Ignite, a non profit organization focused on next-generation internet applications.

 

Joseph V. Rodricks PhD, Chemistry '68

Joseph V. Rodricks is Founding Principal at Ramboll-Environ, where he has employed his expertise in toxicology and risk analysis to provide consultation to hundreds of manufacturers, government agencies, and the World Health Organization. Prior to his work for Ramboll-Environ, Rodricks worked as a scientist and associate commissioner for the United States Food and Drug Administration, and served as a visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Jerome Rovner PhD, Zoology '66

Jerome Rovner holds the title Professor Emeritus at Ohio University, where he has taught since 1967. Rovner specialized in ethology, and studying several aspects of spider behavior. Rovner’s research has earned him numerous grants and awards, including postdoctoral fellowships from the National Science Foundation, and NASA. Throughout his career, Rovner has also had his research funded by the Ohio University Baker Fund and the National Geographic Society.

 

Pooja Sankar MS, Computer Science '04

Pooja Sankar has has a successful career as a software engineer for Oracle, Kosmix, and most recently Facebook. In 2009, she founded Piazza, a social learning platform that connects students, instructors and employers. Sankar has served as CEO of Piazza since its founding.

 

Karen Schumaker PhD, Botany '87

Karen Schumaker currently serves as Director of the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona, where she has been a professor since 2011. Prior to her involvement with the University of Arizona, Schumaker was Program Director of Plant and Microbial Developmental Mechanisms for the National Science Foundation.

 

Chun-Shan Shen PhD, Physics '61

Shen Chun-Shan began his academic training at National Taiwan University before coming to the University of Maryland to earn his doctoral degree in physics. While in America, Shen held teaching appointments at Princeton University and Purdue University, and worked for NASA. Upon his return to Taiwan, Shen assumed a position as head of the Sciences Faculty at National Tsing Hua University, where he went on to serve as president. Shen also became a prominent political figure in Taiwan, serving most notably for the National Unification Council.

 

Granger Sutton PhD, Computer Science '92

Granger Sutton currently serves as a Professor of Informatics at the J. Craig Venter Institute. His primary role at the Venter Institute is the coordination of prokaryotic informatics groups, and he is widely published on the subjects of biomedical informatics and genomic research.

 

Reginald Truitt MS, Biological Sciences '22

Reginald Van Trump Truitt led an impressive double career as lacrosse coach and biological researcher. Truitt served as the University of Maryland’s first official lacrosse coach, beginning when he was a graduate assistant in zoology. Toward the end of his tenure as lacrosse coach, Truitt was appointed as a full professor of zoology and served in that capacity from 1925 to 1941. Truitt spent decades researching oyster habitats in the Chesapeake Bay, and went on to found the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory that would later become the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

 

John M. Ward PhD, Botany '91

John M. Ward is a Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, and serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of Minnesota. He has published numerous articles, demonstrating expertise in membrane proteins and transport physiology.

 

James A. Yorke PhD, Mathematics '66

James A. Yorke is a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics in the Institute for Physical Sciences and Technology at the University of Maryland. He is most widely known for his mathematical contributions to chaos theory (coining the term 'chaos') and was awarded the 2003 Japan prize for his work in that field.

 

Stephen Younger PhD, Physics '78

Stephen Younger is the Labs Director for Sandia National Laboratories, and previously worked for various governmental and private organizations dealing primarily with research and the development of nuclear devices. Younger is a Fellow with the American Physical Society, and has written extensively on topics of atomic theory, plasma physics, anthropology, and national security.

 

Shayan Zadeh MS, Computer Science '02

Shayan Zadeh is founder and CEO of Leap Rail, company focused on helping hospital operating rooms run more efficiently through machine learning and predictive analytics. Zadeh also co-founded Zoosk, one of the largest online dating apps, and led the company to great success in his seven years as CEO. Prior to Zoosk, Zadeh was a program manager and software design engineer at Microsoft.

College of Education

Carl E. Anderson EdD, Higher Education Administration '69

In 2003, Carl E. Anderson was named the College of Education's Distinguished Alumnus. He is Vice President Emeritus for Student Affairs at Howard University and among the chapter founders of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity's Alumni Chapter in the District of Columbia. Anderson served for 10 years as President of the Kappa Scholarship Endowment Fund— a scholarship program for deserving seniors in financial need attending public high schools within the District. Anderson was honored in 2006 by President George W. Bush with the President’s Volunteer Service Award during a White House celebration of African American History Month.

 

Marilyn Berman Pollans PhD, Education Administration '79

Marilyn Berman Pollans served the A. Clark School of Engineering as a former associate dean, member of its Board of Visitors, founder/supporter of its Women in Engineering (WIE) program and Innovation Hall of Fame (IHOF), and one of the founding donors of the Women in Engineering Opportunity Scholarship. She also served the larger UMD community as a member of the university’s College Park Foundation Board of Trustees, and in 1991, was awarded the title of “Outstanding Woman of the Year” by the UMD President’s Commission on Women's Affairs.

 

Camellia A. Blackwell-Taffel PhD, Art Education '85

Camellia A. Blackwell-Taffel is a conservationist, fine artist, printmaker, and restorer of family antiques and heirlooms. As owner of the 73-acre Camp Camellia Tree Farm in Goldvein, Virginia, Blackwell-Taffel was named the Virginia 2018 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year. She is the 5th generation to own the farm dating back to 1895. Blackwell-Taffel is also the Executive Director of The International Center for Artistic Development (ICAD). She is also on the board of the Columbia Association, and a former full professor at University of the District Columbia.

 

Rebecca Carroll EdD, Human Development '66

In her professional capacity as an educator, Rebecca Carroll has served as teacher, principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent, and deputy superintendent. She has also been a professor at Morgan College (which would later become Morgan State University) and Johns Hopkins University, and has fulfilled a gubernatorial appointment as vice president of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission. Notably, Carroll was the first African-American woman to be awarded a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland.

 

Michael D. Casserly PhD, Counseling and Personnel Services '84

Michael D. Casserly has served as Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools, the nation’s primary coalition of large urban public school systems, since 1992. The Council of the Great City Schools brings together 70 of nation’s largest urban public school systems in a coalition dedicated to the improvement of education for children in the inner cities. As head of the Council, Casserly unified urban schools nationwide around a vision of reform and improvement, launched an aggressive research program on trends in urban education, convened the first Education Summit of Big City Mayors and Urban School Superintendents, and led the nation's largest urban school districts to volunteer for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). He has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including the "Julian Bond Show,” "All Things Considered,” "Larry King Live" and many others.

 

Christine A. Courtois PhD, Counseling Psychology '79

Christine A. Courtois is the 2008 College of Education's Distinguished Alumnus. She is a retired clinical psychologist who specialized in the treatment of trauma, particularly for adults experiencing the effects of childhood incest and other forms of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Courtois worked with these issues for 30 years and developed treatment approaches for complex posttraumatic and dissociative conditions for which she has received international recognition. She was recently been appointed Chair of the American Psychological Association PTSD Guidelines Development Panel.

 

John Francis Davis MEd '51

John Francis Davis, Myrtle Holmes Wake, and Rose Shockley Wiseman graduated with a Master's of Education in 1951. All three took classes off-campus and earned an M.Ed. through the School of Education. They were the first three African-American graduate students to complete degrees at the University of Maryland.

 

Joan Develin Coley PhD, Elementary Education '76

Immediately after earning her doctorate, Joan Develin Coley joined the faculty at McDaniel College as an Assistant Professor in the Education Department, and was Director of the Graduate Reading Program. Coley eventually rose through the ranks to serve as Chair of the Education Department, Dean of Graduate Affairs, Provost and Dean of Faculty, and ultimately President of McDaniel College. In addition to her service to McDaniel, Coley served as Interim President of Notre Dame University during that university’s presidential search.

 

Richard A. Duschl PhD, Science Education '83

Richard A. Duschl was the College of Education's 2007 Distinguished Alumnus. He was Professor of Science Education at Rutgers University, and an executive member of its Center for Cognitive Studies. Currently, Duschl is Waterbury Chaired Professor of Secondary Education at Penn State. Prior to this, he held the Chair of Science Education at King's College, London and served for more than a decade as editor of the research journal Science Education and editor for TC Press Ways of Knowing in Science and Math book series.

 

James Fielder MEd, Counseling '72

James Fielder currently serves as the Secretary of Higher Education in the State of Maryland. Prior to his appointment by Governor Hogan, Fielder had served the state of Maryland as the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, and the Acting Secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development. Additionally, Fielder has served in the administrations of Towson University, Michigan State University and University of Michigan, Flint.

 

Thomas E. Florestano PhD, Education and Counseling Services '70

Thomas E. Florestano served as Anne Arundel Community College's President from 1979-94. He is credited with enlarging the campus, and increasing enrollment and expanding curriculum. When he retired in 1994, the college named its new Allied Health and Public Services Building after Florestano to honor the work he put into expanding health career training at the college. Following his retirement, he served on local boards, including the county Board of Education, where he served until 1999.

 

David J. Gleason PhD, Human Development '79

David J. Gleason was the 2005 College of Education's Distinguished Alumnus. He is a champion for children and was President of Bright Horizons Foundation for Children where he was involved in setting up over 300 Bright Spaces for families who are homeless. Previously, Gleason was president of Alliance of Work/Life Professionals, chief operating officer of Corporate Family Solutions, vice president of Children's World Learning Centers, special assistant to the president of Bank Street College, executive director of the National Child Development Associate Program, and policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

Myrtle Holmes Wake MEd '51

John Francis Davis, Myrtle Holmes Wake, and Rose Shockley Wiseman graduated with a Master's of Education in 1951. All three took classes off-campus and earned an M.Ed. through the School of Education. They were the first three African-American graduate students to complete degrees at the University of Maryland.

 

Danette Howard PhD, Higher Education Policy '86

Danette Howard currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Lumina Foundation, an organization focused solely on increasing student access and success in postsecondary education. Prior to her work with Lumina, Howard served as the Secretary of Higher Education for the state of Maryland and lead the the state’s postsecondary education coordinating agency, the Maryland higher Education Commission, where she had previously served as director of research and policy analysis.

 

Kathleen S. Magee MEd, Human Development '72

In 1982, Kathleen S. Magee used her background as a nurse and clinical social worker to found Operation Smile, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing medical evaluations and, when possible, free reconstructive surgeries to children and young adults with cleft palate and lip deformities. She has served as President and been a member of the Board of Directors since the company’s founding. Magee is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, and maintains active involvement in the World of Children organization, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Hilton Laureates Collaborative.

 

Lydia Minatoya PhD, Counseling '81

Lydia Minatoya was the 2001 College of Education's Distinguished Alumna. A long-time faculty member at North Seattle College, she wrote a book about her experiences growing up as an Asian American and her travels of self-discovery in Asia in Talking to Monks in High Snow: An Asian-American Odyssey. Montoya also published a novel The Strangeness of Beauty about several generations of Japanese-Americans who return to Japan just before World War II. She won Washington State Governor's Writers Award, for Talking to High Monks, and was a nominee for the National Book Award, and PEN Hemmingway Award, both for The Strangeness of Beauty.

 

Josephine K. Olsen PhD, Human Development '72

Josephine K. Olsen was the 2011 College of Education's Distinguished Alumna. From 2000 to 2001, she was the President of the University of Maryland Alumni Association and in 2018 was sworn in as the 20th Director of the Peace Corps. Olsen previously served the agency in various capacities, including as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia from 1966-1968.

 

Evelyn Pasteur Valentine EdD, Education '86

Evelyn Pasteur Valentine held nearly every title in the education profession, serving in a variety of roles in Baltimore’s public school system. In 1988, she helped the University System of Maryland manage the formation of the University of Maryland College Park Alumni Association.

 

Karen Salmon PhD, Special Education '86

Karen Salmon began her career as a special education teacher in the Caroline Public School system on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Salmon later moved to Talbot County, where she became the Assistant Superintendent in 1997, and Superintendent in 2003. Dr. Salmon currently serves as State Superintendent of Schools for the state of Maryland.

 

Bernice Sandler EdD, Counseling and Personnel Services '69

Bernice Sandler is a Senior Scholar at the Women’s Research and Education Institute in Washington, DC and serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Drexel University College of Medicine. Perhaps her most famous accomplishment is the role she played in the development and passage of Title IX and other laws prohibiting sex discrimination in education. Sandler has served on numerous advisory boards, earned ten honorary doctorates, and has made various television appearances.

 

Portia Holmes Shields PhD, Elementary Education '74

Portia Holmes Shields was named Albany State University’s first woman President in 1996. Previously, Holmes Shields had served as Dean of the School of Education and Director of the College of Medicine at Howard University where she had also filled faculty and other administrative roles.

 

Rose Shockley Wiseman MEd '51

John Francis Davis, Myrtle Holmes Wake, and Rose Shockley Wiseman graduated with a Master's of Education in 1951. All three took classes off-campus and earned an M.Ed. through the School of Education. They were the first three African-American graduate students to complete degrees at the University of Maryland.

 

William C. Strasser, Jr. PhD, Educational Administration '61

William C. Strasser Jr. was the 2006 College of Education's Distinguished Alumnus. He was also 4th President of Montgomery College (1966-79) and led the county-wide development of a long-range master plan to transform Montgomery Junior College into a highly diversified, three-campus community college, renamed Montgomery College. Earlier in his career, Strasser was a higher education specialist in the U.S. Office of Education during President Lyndon Johnson’s development of the “Great Society” programs.

 

Morris Tischler MA, Industrial Education '55

Morris Tischler was a science teacher who invented a 1950s transistorized cardiac pacemaker. An Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation publication later said Tischler "is believed to be the inventor of the first 'solid state' — or transistorized — external cardiac pacemaker." Earlier, Tischler befriended R. Adams Cowley (later founder of University of Maryland Shock Trauma), a cardiac surgeon, while teaching an adult education class in high-fidelity stereo electronics, who encouraged him to work on his early idea at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Eventually, he took one of his devices to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's physician, Dr. Howard McC. Snyder. He never knew if it was used on the President, who had a history of heart disease but the President wore the second model he made on his belt, said his son. Tischler won a patent on his Cardiac Pacer in 1963. He also had other patents, including a cardiac monitor, a pacer defibrillator and a nerve finder.

College of Information Studies

Diane Barlow PhD, Information Studies '89

Diane Barlow’s dedication to the field of information science led her directly into a leadership position at the University of Maryland iSchool in 1990 as the Director of Student Services, where for five years she adeptly led teams and brought advancement to the iSchool. From 1995 through 2016, she then served as Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, and Special Assistant to the Dean consecutively, retiring in 2016. Throughout these roles, Barlow continued her championship of growth and advancement for the iSchool, which directly shaped what the college has become today – a top ten ranked information science school and nationally recognized public research institution. She was an iSchool Research Associate and Affiliate Faculty member for many years, receiving over a million dollars in research funding. Barlow’s research interests were varied, but always centered on the advancement of the library field.

 

Sue Baughman MLS, Library Science '81

Sue Baughman is the deputy executive director of Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Her responsibilities include promoting and facilitating the strategic development of ARL policies and programs. In addition, she engages in issue analysis and program development, and practical management and coordination of the Association, by working closely with the ARL executive director and Board of Directors. Prior to joining ARL in March 2010, Baughman was Assistant Dean for Organizational Development at the University of Maryland Libraries, where she supported the development of individual staff, teams, and work groups, and the organization as a whole. While at Maryland she served in a variety of roles including Interim Director of Collection Development & Special Collections and manager of McKeldin Library Public Services. In her career, Baughman has held positions in school, special, and public libraries. Her areas of research and writings include issues relating to organization development in libraries, teams, leadership, and assessment of team development.

 

Denise Davis MLS, Library Science '75

Denise Davis is the immediate Past President & Board member of the Maryland Library Association. She is also a member of the iLead Board at the University of Maryland. As a consultant, librarian, and attorney, Davis focused on strategic leadership, advocating for libraries and librarians, community impact, core values, and keeping doors of opportunity open for all.

 

Susan Fifer Canby MLS, Library Science '74

Susan Fifer Canby is vice president of the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C., where she uses nearly 30 years of experience in information management to shape and direct the Society's libraries and information services. She supports the editorial and business staff and partners of the National Geographic Society with a team of 26 librarians, archivists, record managers, and indexers. She also manages the Society's internal university as well as its Intranet/Portal and Knowledge Management Teams. Fifer Canby is president of the D.C. Special Libraries Association and is a former member of the Online Computer Library Center Member's Council and the Washington Literacy Council. She is also vice president of the Board of the Sandy Springs (Md.) Museum. In 2001, the Special Library Association recognized her with the Innovations with Technology Award; that same year she was featured in Library Journal. Dominique Dawes (B.S. ’02) presented the award to Fifer Canby. Johnny Holliday, radio announcer and Voice of the Terrapins, was Master of Ceremonies for the Gala. Canby delivered the commencement address to iSchool graduates in December 2003.

 

Robyn C. Frank MLS, Library Science '72

Robyn C. Frank worked for 34 years as a career federal library manager. She began as a research assistant in the D.C. Public Schools during the late sixties, after which Frank took a position at the American Society for Information Science to work on developing a national model educational information center for the U.S. Department of Education. From 1992 to 1994, Frank created and edited the Directory of Food and Nutrition Information for Professionals and Consumers, which was followed by work as Chief Editor for the Journal of Agricultural and Food Information from 1993 to 1997. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Special Libraries Association and is also a member of the American Library Association.

 

Joan Giesecke MLS, Library Science '73

Joan Giesecke spent 25 years with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln libraries, including 16 as Dean. During her tenure, Giesecke tripled the library’s endowment, oversaw renovations to enhance the libraries in size and service, developed relationships to help colleges advance teaching and research, and enhanced the diversity of the libraries’ faculty. Improving diversity within the libraries was a priority for Giesecke. Under her leadership, the University Libraries developed a long-term commitment to promoting and supporting diversity. For her work in this area, Giesecke received the American Library Association’s Equality Award in 2011. Giesecke joined the University Libraries in 1987 as an associate dean, advancing to the dean position in 1996. In 2009, she became Interim Director of the University of Nebraska Press and, in 2010, Giesecke was named Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Extended Education and Outreach. From 2012 until her retirement in 2014, Giesecke served as Special Assistant to the Chancellor and coordinated campus-wide accreditation efforts. Upon retirement, Giesecke was recognized as Dean and professor emeritus.

 

Betsy L. Humphreys MLS, Library Science '70

Betsy L. Humphreys was appointed the National Library of Medicine’s Deputy Director in 2005. From April 1, 2015 to August 14, 2016, she also served as NLM's Acting Director. NLM is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health. Humphreys, who joined the NLM in 1973, previously led the NLM’s Library Operations Division and directed the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) project, which produces knowledge sources to support advanced processing, retrieval, and integration of information from disparate electronic information sources. Humphreys is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (previously the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences), a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, and a Fellow of the Medical Library Association. She is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence from the American College of Medical Informatics, considered the highest honor in the field of medical informatics, the Marcia C. Noyes Award, which is the Medical Library Association's highest honor, the first Cornerstone Award conferred by the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, and the President’s Meritorious Rank Award, Senior Executive Service. Humphreys, who retired as deputy director in 2017, will be remembered for many contributions to both the organization and the field at large.

 

Jane Kinney Meyers MLS, Library Science '78

Jane Kinney Meyers, Board Chairman and President of Lubuto Library Partners, is a professional librarian with over 35 years’ experience consulting, teaching, and working with libraries throughout Africa, including her participation in the formulation of National Information Policies of Malawi and Zambia. She developed a network of research libraries for Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and pioneered African CD-ROM applications in the 1980s. Meyers was instrumental in establishing the first professional librarian positions in Malawi’s civil service and has promoted special librarianship in Africa, consulting for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Unicef, and other international agencies. Most of Kinney Meyers’ professional career prior to establishing Lubuto focused on libraries and information in international agriculture. To that end, she has worked at the World Bank, National Agriculture Library, U.S. Agency for International Development, and as a consultant to numerous international organizations.

 

Maureen Sullivan MLS, Library Science '76

Maureen Sullivan is a widely recognized leader and educator in the library profession. Her career has included positions as human resources administrator at two major research libraries; a consultant and trainer with the Association of Research Libraries; a member of the faculty in the Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions PhD program at Simmons College and in one of the annual institutes sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is the immediate past president of the American Library Association, and her contributions and visionary leadership in the profession have been recognized in three major awards. She was the recipient of the American Library Association’s Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award in 1999. The Chicago Public Library named her its 2006 Charlotte Kim Scholar in Residence and invited her to address The Promise of Appreciative Inquiry in Library Organizations. She also was named the 2010 Academic Research Librarian of the Year by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

 

James C. Welbourne MLS, Library Science '70

From July 2000 until October 2010, James C. Welbourne served as the City Librarian for New Haven, Connecticut. Before coming to New Haven, he was the Deputy Director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library (1993-2000) in Baltimore, Maryland, where he had worked as a book page while in high school, and was Assistant Director of the Carnegie Library (1986-1993) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The crowning achievement of Welbourne's career in public library service was the conception and realization of the Courtland Seymour Wilson Library branch of the New Haven Public Library system that opened in the Hill District in October 2006. But Welbourne's true legacy lies in the profound effect he had on the countless men and women he mentored and taught throughout his career, many of whom went on to lead major library systems and teach in the library education field.

Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Kelley Benham French MA, Journalism '02

Kelley Benham French, Pulitzer Finalist for Never Let Go, a three-part series about the premature birth of her daughter, currently serves as a Professor of Journalism at the Media School of Indiana University (IU). Prior to her appointment at IU, she worked as a reporter and editor at the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper.

 

Catherine B. Campbell MA, Journalism '91

Catherine B. Campbell is the Founder of the Wish Upon a Cure Foundation for Pediatric Mitochondrial Disease Research. She was the 2006 recipient of the University of Maryland's Alumni Humanitarian Award.

 

Guy Cecala MA, Journalism '84

Guy Cecala is founder, CEO, and publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, a mortgage market and financial news organization based in Bethesda, Maryland. Over the course of his career, Cecala has been quoted in numerous nationally distributed newspapers, has made television appearances, and has testified before the Congressional Oversight Panel to provide his expertise on home foreclosures and their potential impact on the American housing market.

 

Sarah Cohen MA, Journalism '92

Sarah Cohen currently serves as the Knight Chair for Data Journalism on the faculty at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Formerly, she was editor for computer-assisted reporting at the New York Times. She won a Pulitzer prize for work she did as a database editor for the Washington Post, and is the immediate past President of Investigative Reporters and Editors, a journalistic educational and training organization.

 

Richard Davis MA, Television Production '84

Richard Davis is the award-winning Executive Vice President of News Standards and Practices at CNN, where he has worked since the company’s conception in 1980. Throughout his career at CNN, Davis has been involved in the organization and production of global political news coverage.

 

Rochelle Ford MA, Journalism '95

Rochelle Ford currently serves as the Dean of the School of Communications at Elon University. Previously she had held senior administrative positions at both Syracuse University and Howard University. Ford is a widely published author of books, industry reports, journal articles, and sponsored research examining student success as well as diversity and inclusion efforts in academia.

 

Larissa Grunig PhD, Journalism '85

Larissa Grunig is a prolific public relations theorist and scholar, widely recognized as one of the most influential in the field. She is professor emerita at the University of Maryland where she has taught since 1979. Grunig, along with her husband James, was awarded the Presidential Award by the International Public Relations Association for their scholarly contributions.

 

Christopher Hardwick MA, Communications '80

Christopher Hardwick currently serves as Assistant Dean of Public Affairs and Communications at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Prior to his appointment at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Hardwick had been Executive Vice President for Carnegie Communications and Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

 

Kim Hart MA, Journalism '05

Kim Hart currently works as Managing Editor of Axios, a new media company dedicated to delivering trustworthy news in efficient and digitably shareable ways. Prior to her work for Axios, Hart served as Press Secretary for the Federal Communications Commission, and had been a writer and editor for Politico Magazine and The Hill, and has written for the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun.

 

Natalie Hopkinson PhD, Journalism and Public Communication '07

Natalie Hopkinson is an author, scholar, and fellow with the Interactivity Foundation and currently serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies at Howard University. She has previously held academic appointments at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland. Hopkinson has also contributed the Washington Post as both writer and editor, and was a part of the editorial team at the founding of TheRoot.com.

 

Jolene Ivy MA, Journalism '92

Jolene Ivey was recently elected to the Prince George’s County Council as a representative for District 5. Prior to this office, she defeated an incumbent legislator to win an a race for the Maryland House of Delegates. As a journalist, Ivey has worked with National Public Radio, appearing on both “Tell Me More,” and “All Things Considered.” She is also founder and president of Jolene Ivey Communications.

 

Seema Kumar MS, Science Journalism and Science Communication '80

Seema Kumar currently serves as Vice President of Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication at Johnson & Johnson, where she began as a member of the Pharmaceutical Research and Development management team. Prior to her work with Johnson & Johnson, Kumar was Chief Communications Officer for the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the author of more than two hundred published articles covering topics in science and medicine.

 

Rebecca McCracken MS, Journalism '77

Rebecca McCracken is a recently retired Executive Editor for Bloomberg BNA where she covered corporate, tax, trade, and pension and benefit law in the company’s Daily Tax Report.

 

Jamie McIntyre MA, Journalism '14

Jamie McIntyre in a Senior Writer for the Washington Examiner where he covers defense and national security. Prior to his work at the Examiner, McIntyre worked as senior Pentagon correspondent for CNN, and national security correspondent for Al Jazeera America. McIntyre also has experience in radio, beginning his career with WTOP in Washington, and serving as newscaster for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Additionally, McIntyre teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland Merrill College of Journalism.

 

Amal Mudallali PhD, Political Communication '97

The 2011 Journalism Distinguished Alumnus Award, Amal Mudallali has been serving as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations since January 2018. Prior to her appointment, Mudallali was based in Washington D.C. as the principal advisor on American Affairs to Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon. She also followed United Nations issues, including the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

 

John O'Connor MJ, Journalism '02

John O’Connor is the Washington Correspondent for WNYC in New York City. Previously, he covered education for public radio in Florida, and worked for newspapers in Maryland and South Carolina. While covering politics in South Carolina, O’Connor uncovered the scandalous extramarital affair of U.S. Representative Mark Sanford during his presidential campaign.

 

Maria Reeve MA, Journalism '92

Maria Reeve is the Assistant Managing Editor for News at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she began as a Features Team leader. Prior to her work at the Star Tribune, Reeve had worked as a Politics Editor for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and as a reporter for the Bradenton Herald.

 

Allissa Richardson PhD, Journalism '17

Allissa Richardson is an award-winning journalist and Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Richardson joined the Faculty at Morgan State University at age 25, and under her leadership as coordinator for the Journalism program Morgan became the first historically black college or university to offer courses in mobile journalism. Richardson is the founder of MOJO MediaWorks, a firm dedicated to the development of mobile journalism education. Her journalistic writings appear in Oprah Magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, JET Magazine, the Baltimore Sun, the Miami Herald, and the Chicago tribune.

 

Robert Salonga MA, Journalism '05

Robert Salonga is a reporter specializing in Criminal Justice and Public safety for the San Jose Mercury News. In his capacity at Mercury, Salonga was part of the team awarded a 2017 Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, California.

 

Alicia Shepard MA, Journalism '01

Alicia Shepard is an independent journalist based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Shepard has held teaching positions at University of Texas, Georgetown University, Duke University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, and the University of Arkansas. She previously served as Ombudsman for NPR, and currently maintains membership on USA Today’s Board of Contributors.

 

Jack Speer MA, Journalism '13

Jack Speer is a newscaster for National Public Radio in Washington, DC where he has written, edited, and reported for more than twenty years. He began his career at NPR as a business and economic correspondent and later moved to the organization’s Newscast Unit. In addition to his journalistic work, Speer serves as Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University.

 

Christopher Weaver JM, Journalism '08

Christopher Weaver is an investigative journalist for the Wall Street Journal, covering the economic matters of healthcare. Weaver was part of a team of journalists who won a Pulitzer Prize for their work on the Wall Street Journal series 'Medicare Unmasked.' Prior to his work at the Wall Street Journal, Weaver was a reporter for Kaiser Health News.

 

Rob Wells PhD, Journalism '16

Rob Wells currently enjoys an appointment as Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Arkansas. Prior to that appointment, Wells served as adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland and as Visiting Professor and Consultant-Lecturer at the University of South Carolina. Wells has also worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and Bloomberg News, and was Deputy Bureau Chief of Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal.

 

Mei Xu MA, Journalism '92

Mei Xu was the recipient of the 2009 School of Journalism's Distinguished Alumnus Award. Xu is an entrepreneur and business executive who founded Pacific Trade International and its subsidiary, Chesapeake Bay Candle. In 2017, a New Jersey company agreed to pay $75 million for Chesapeake Bay Candle.

Robert H. Smith School of Business

Orlando P. Carvalho MBA '06

Orlando P. Carvalho served as Executive Vice President of the Aeronautics division of the Lockheed Martin Corporation from 2013 to October of 2018. Prior to his appointment to this position, Carvalho had been Vice President and General Manager of the corporation’s F-35 program. In addition to his work for Lockheed Martin, Carvalho served on the Board of Directors for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and on the Board of Advisors for the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

 

Cynthia L. Davis MBA, Business Administration '87

In 2018, Cynthia L. Davis was appointed to the board of Deckers, a global leader in designing, marketing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel and accessories. An all-American golfer at Furman University, she started at Nike in a senior executive in 2005 and rose to become Vice President then President at Nike Golf. Prior to this, Davis served as Senior Vice President at the Golf Channel and was a Vice President of the LPGA Tour.

 

Carly Fiorina MBA '80

Cara Carleton 'Carly' Fiorina served as CEO of Hewlett Packard for six years, during which time she oversaw the merger between HP and Compaq which stands as the largest ever business merger in the technology sector. Fiorina was the first woman to lead a company ranked in the top twenty by Fortune magazine. Additionally, Fiorina served as political adviser to Senator John McCain during his 2008 presidential run, and went on to mount her own campaigns for U.S. Senate (2010) and the U.S. Presidency (2016).

 

Sidney M. Graybeal MS, Business '50

Sidney M. Graybeal is a member of the National Air & Space Museum's Wall of Honor. He flew 32 combat missions as a B-29 pilot in World War II and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak clusters. He joined the CIA in 1950 as a guided missile intelligence analyst, and in 1973 he became the first U.S. Commissioner on the Standing Consultative Commission, the implementing body for the SALT-I agreements. By 1980, Graybeal received the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Service, the highest award a civilian can receive from the United States Government.

 

Harold D. Khan MBA, Business Administration '70

Harold (Hal) D. Khan worked in the retail business for his entire career, including 10 years as chairman and CEO of Macy’s East, a division of Macy’s, before leaving in 2004 to launch a retail consulting business. Prior to this, Khan was CEO of Abraham and Straus, President of Montgomery Ward, and CEO of Macy’s South and Macy’s West. Later, he was CEO of Steve & Barry’s and a board member of The Wet Seal, Inc. He began his career in the training program at Macy’s in 1970 after receiving his MBA.

 

William A. Longbrake DBA, Business Administration '76

William A. Longbrake was the 2007 Smith School's Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. Since 2009, Longbrake has been an Executive in Residence at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and participates in the Center for Financial Policy. He joined Washington Mutual in 1982 and served in many positions until his retirement in 2008, except from 1995-1996 when he was Chief Financial Officer and Deputy to the Chairman for Finance at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). During his years at Washington Mutual, Longbrake helped build the company from a $2.5 billion mutual savings bank located in Washington State to the 6th largest depository institution in the nation.

 

Odonna Mathews MBA, Business Administration '82

For many years Odonna Mathews was the vice president for consumer affairs and the always-visible TV spokesman for Giant Foods when it was locally-owned. She became Director of Consumer Affairs in 1977. In 1984 Mathews was promoted to vice president, and in that role forged partnerships between Giant Food and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; the Food and Drug Administration; the National Cancer Institute; and the Produce for Better Health Foundation, among other organizations. In 1998, she received the President’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.

 

William E. Mayer MBA '67

William E. Mayer is the founder of Park Avenue Equity Partners, a New York based equity firm. Mayer was involved as a Professor and Dean at the Colleges of Business at both the University of Maryland and University of Rochester. Mayer was President and CEO of The First Boston Corporation and has served on the board of various companies, such as Blackrock Capital Investment Corporation, Premier Inc., Rosehill Resources Inc., and Lee Enterprises. Additionally, Mayer has served as Chairman of the Aspen Institute, and Chairman of the Board of the University of Maryland.

 

Paul Mullan MBA, Business Administration '70

Paul Mullan was University of Maryland College Park Trustee from 2000 to 2006. He is current Vice Chair and a member of the University System of Maryland Foundation Board of Directors. He was also Co-chair of UMD's first capital campaign in 1990’s. He was Vice Chairman and Strategic Partner at Charterhouse Group International in New York from 1997 until 2013. Mullan joined Charterhouse in 1989 when they acquired Fleer Corporation, the national sports trading card and confectionery company, where he was Chairman and CEO. Upon build-up and sale of Fleer to Marvel Entertainment, Mullan became Co-Chairman and CEO of food processing giant Del Monte Foods. Other Charterhouse companies at which Mullan held Chairman/CEO roles included Wham-O, classic toys including Frisbees and Boogie boards, United Design, a maker of giftware and accessories, and Rudi’s Organic Foods.

 

Julia Rao MBA '92

Julia Rao currently serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for DC SCORES, a Washington-based non-profit dedicated to advancing the interests of underserved children in the Washington Metro area, and works as an independent Executive Finance and Operations Consultant in the Washington, DC area. Previously, Rao has worked in executive positions for the Discovery Channel, and was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the National Geographic Channels.

School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation

Thomas J. Bucci MArch, Architecture '90

Thomas J. Bucci is a Washington, DC based artist who works primarily in the medium of watercolor, depicting images of man-made environments. Bucci began his academic training with the intention of studying painting, though his first degree was ultimately in Graphic Design. Bucci credits his time and training at the University of Maryland School of Architecture Planning and Preservation as an eye-opening experience that ultimately led him back to his passion for art, now with a renewed vigor for his chosen subject matter.

 

David Do MCP, Community Planning '14

David Do is Director of the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. Previously he has served in the Executive Office of the Mayor and has been involved extensively with community projects during his tenure in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

 

Rei Harada MHP, Historic Preservation '08

Rei Harada has worked as a Project Researcher at the International Center for Cultural Heritage, and Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, and has worked extensively to create a representative, visible identity of Historic Cairo and the story of its history. Currently, Harada’s work can be seen through the Cultural Property Restoration Project.

 

Rodney Harrell PhD, Urban and Regional Planning & Design '08

Rodney Harrell, Director of Livability Thought Leadership at the AARP Public Policy Institute, provides expertise in livable communities, housing, community revitalization, economic development, strategic planning and social media. He has extensive experience as a local, national and international issue expert, program manager, author, speaker, blogger, consultant, instructor and mentor in government, academia, and nonprofit sectors. Throughout his career, Harrell has proven himself a strong leader dedicated to improving the lives of others, working through the policy, research, political, academic, community, traditional media, and social media spheres.

 

Kevin Heinly MArch, Architecture '94

Kevin Heinly serves as Managing Director of the San Diego office of Gensler, a collaborative architecture and design firm whose business extends across the globe. Under Heinly’s management, the Gensler team in San Diego has quintupled in size from 20 to 100. In addition to his work for Gensler, Heinly serves on the Board of Directors for the NAIOP and is an Advisory Board Member to the NewSchool of Architecture and Design.

 

Herb Heiserman MArch, Architecture '93

Herb Heiserman is a highly acclaimed architect who serves as the Managing Principal at Streetsense where he oversees the expansion and creation of restaurant opportunities. Heiserman came to Streetsense when his company, the Heiserman Group joined with Streetsense.

 

Priya Kanchan MRED '10

Priya Kanchan, founder of Thrivingreen, began her career as an architect in Mumbai, India, in 2006 after graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Mumbai, Sir J.J. College of Architecture. She came to UMD in 2008, serving as a Graduate Assistant for the MRED program and participating with the first team to enter the ULI Hines Student Design Competition, which received an honorable mention. Following graduation, Kanchan worked for the Real Property Research Group in Columbia, Maryland, focusing on market analysis work and community impact studies. She returned to Mumbai in late 2011, starting her own business, Thrivingreen, in Mumbai in December 2011. Thrivingreen is a real estate strategy consulting firm focusing on projects in South Asia and the Middle-East, providing market research, feasibility studies, positioning strategies and predevelopment design reviews for over 50 projects of varying size. After returning to India, Kanchan also taught as a visiting scholar for the University of Mumbai. In order to expand her business and consulting services, Priya moved to London in the fall of 2016 to attend the Bartlett School of Planning at the University College London, where she was part of the winning team competing in the Oxford Real Estate Conference's Business Plan Competition. Her team proposed a $100 million investment in Barcelona to create a mixed-use, community-centric development. Kanchan graduated in the summer of 2017 with a Master of Science in International Planning.

 

Charles Kibel MArch, Architecture '90

Charles Kibel serves as an Architect and Real Estate Developer for his family-owned Kibel Company, a New York based architectural firm responsible for more than 3200 residential building projects of the last half-century. In addition to his architectural work, Kibel maintains a busy schedule as a guitarist in Crazy Mary, the post-punk rock band he founded with drummer Nick Raisz. The band has toured across the U.S. to critical acclaim, and has released eleven albums.

 

Joseph F. Kunkel MArch, Architecture '09

Joseph F. Kunkel serves as the Executive Director of Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative, an organization committed to establishing culturally and environmentally sustainable development for American Indian, First Nation, and Indigenous communities. In addition to his work for SNCC, Kunkel is a Visiting Eminent Scholar at Arizona State University where he is working toward developing curriculum and research that advances indigenous values. In 2017-2018, he was The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design's William Wilson Corcoran Visiting Professor of Community Engagement.

 

Kirin Makker MArch, Architecture '02

Kirin Makker is an Associate Professor of Art and Architecture at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Over the course of her extensive academic career she has published two books and more than twenty articles. Makker has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, and her design installations have been featured around the world.

 

Kofi Minta MRED '15

Kofi Minta, President and CEO, KOM INVESTMENTS, LLC in Texas, founded the company in March 2016 as a boutique hotel development consulting firm; offers hotel developers and investors guidance throughout the development process from concept inception through operational profitability. Kofi's company facilitated $50 million in development contracts to date, with three hotels currently in the pipeline for development in Texas and Colorado, and provided consulting for the closing of a $30 Million medical office portfolio. Minta is involved with Toastmasters Houston and Dallas, NAIOP Houston, Houston Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Houston Area Urban League, and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

 

Stephen N. Parker MArch, Architecture '13

Stephen N. Parker is a licensed architect and healthcare planner in the Washington, DC office of SmithGroup, an international, integrated design firm. As an architect focused on the design of healing spaces, Stephen has built on his original graduate thesis of Wounded Warrior Polytrauma Care into his professional practice, having developed a diverse portfolio of built work and design research for the VA, Kaiser Permanente, MedStar and the DoD, among other institutions in the U.S. and abroad. A prolific community designer, Stephen leads the office's pro-bono Community Design team, helping design and build community projects across the District in recent years. Stephen co-founded the American Institute of Architect's (AIA) National Design Services Act Coalition, a first for the AIA. This proposed bill would allow recent graduates to pay off their student debt through community design service. While serving as the National Advocacy Director of the AIA's Young Architects Forum, Stephen collaborated on the A’18 Day of Service during the AIA Conference on Architecture in NYC, with 6 projects executed by volunteer teams in a single day. His service leadership extends to founding several groups, including the Young Architects Roundtable, a group of Advocates funded by Hunter Douglas Architectural to push issues of impact for the profession. Stephen has also been a studio critic and guest lecturer at both UMD and Catholic University architecture schools since 2014. His mentorship, advocacy and design work were recognized when he received the AIA's Young Architects Award and is the youngest elected architect to the AIA's Strategic Council.

 

Jonathan W. Pliska MHP, Historic Preservation '07

Jonathan W. Pliska is a celebrated landscape historian and award winning author. Pliska’s recent book, A Garden for the President: A History of the White House Grounds, delves into the relationship between the occupants of the White House and its surrounding landscape and was awarded the Gold Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association.

 

Ilana Preuss MCP, Community Planning '01

Ilana Preuss, founder of Recast City, has spent nearly 20 years working with communities and businesses across the country helping them build strong places by adopting and implementing real estate and infrastructure development policies. These days, Preuss focuses on connecting small-scale manufacturing and maker industries to neighborhood redevelopment and real estate opportunities. Preuss brings a wealth of knowledge around federal, state and local real estate policy, creating national networks, leading trainings on communications and community engagement practices. She is an expert at direct engagement and recruitment of local elected, business and other community leaders. Preuss is an experienced speaker, see her TEDx presentation, 'The Economic Power of Great Places,' and a regular press spokesperson who has been featured in the New York Times and USA Today.

 

Mary R. Rankin MArch, Architecture and Urban Planning '01

Mary R. Rankin currently serves as Principal and Managing Director at Perkins Eastman DC, a firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design, Planning, and Programming. During her tenure at Perkins Eastman, Rankin has repeatedly shown her commitment to sustainable design practices, earning LEED Gold designations for many of the projects with which she has been involved. Additionally, Rankin serves as co-chair of the American Institute of Architects DC Committee on Architecture for Education.

 

Mahmoud Riad MArch, Urban and Regional Planning and Design '09

Mahmoud Riad is the Director and Principal Architect at RiadArchitecture, a Cairo based, family owned and operated architectural firm that spans three generations. Riad was the recipient of the Cairo Design Award for work relating to his graduate thesis project, which examined the connection between architecture and music. Under Riad’s leadership, Riad Architecture has been involved in various design projects across the Arab world, perhaps most notably the extension of the Arab League Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

 

Ted L. Strosser MArch, Architecture '94

Ted L. Strosser is the Principal Architect at Strosser Baer Architects, LLC., located near Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In his work with his architectural firm, Strosser demonstrates commitment to preservation of local cultural and natural resources, and design with traditional forms and materials, blended with the newest sustainable practices.

 

B. D. Wortham-Galvin MArch, Architecture '98

B.D. Wortham-Galvin serves as Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Resilient Urban Design Program at Clemson University, though her work in this regard is not bound to academia. She has worked with local community groups in Oregon as well as groups around the nation to address issues of equity and resilience in built spaces, rural and urban alike. Wortham-Galvin's work has earned recognition from the Journal of Commerce as one of Oregon’s 'Women of Vision,' in 2015, and 2009 Outstanding Project of the Year from the Chesapeake County Heritage Foundation. She also holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

School of Public Health

Linda Alexander PhD, Health Education '88

Linda Alexander is a retired Lt. Colonel with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. She recently served as Chair of the Board of Directors for Women Deliver, an international NGO dedicated to achieving the UN development goals of reducing premature morbidity and mortality of women, especially in the developing world. Alexander also serves on the Advisory Board of Cervical Cancer Free America. She recently retired from QIAGEN Corporation where she served as Vice President, Women’s Health and Global Advocacy.

 

Noel Brathwaite PhD, Health Education '83

Noel Brathwaite currently serves as the Director of the Maryland Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, which functions as a part of the Maryland Department of Health. Prior to his appointment to Director of MHHD, Brathwaite served in leadership positions within the Florida Department of Health, the Cancer Center in the University of Miami Medical Center, the Morehouse School of Medicine, and as Director of Research in Trinidad. Additionally, Brathwaite helped the Greater Los Angeles Health Network organize to address urban and suburban health issues that disproportionately affect citizens of African descent.

 

Susan G. Braun MA, Health Science Education '86

Susan G. Braun is Chief Executive Officer for the V Foundation. As a passionate advocate for people with cancer, she has spent more than 20 years working toward ways to diminish suffering caused by cancer and other conditions, at the individual and the global level. Among her appointments and responsibilities, Susan has served on boards and committees for several organizations, including the National Cancer Institute, the American Society for Breast Disease, the World Society of Breast Health, the California Breast Cancer Research Program, the Barbara Smith Fund, Americorps NCCC, the National Dialogue on Cancer, the Intercultural Cancer Council, the ASCEND Foundation and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts.

 

Patricia Davison Mail PhD, Health Education '96

Patricia Davison Mail is a retired Commissioned Corps Officer for the United States Public Health Service. She served as president of the American Public Health Association in 2006, and was a two-term president of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. She was on the faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle University, and Medicine Creek Tribal College, where she worked on substance abuse and tribal health issues in the Pacific Northwest. Davison Mail's leadership in national organizations has resulted in key policy changes that address health equity and reduce health disparities, and her gift to the school established a $250,000 fund for SPH student dissertations.

 

Maria Fernandez PhD, Health Education '95

Maria Fernandez has extensive experience in community-based participatory research in cancer control among underserved populations. She has conducted studies ranging from the description of conceptual models of cancer control, to the development and evaluation of interventions to increase cancer control, to the science of understanding and accelerating the use of evidence-based interventions in real-world settings. Fernandez has received over $12 million in funding as principal investigator (PI) over the last five years, is PI on nine and co-PI on four federally and state-funded studies, and collaborates as a co-PI on five other studies. Her work is featured in 106 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters.Fernandez co-authored “Planning Health Promotion Programs: An Intervention Mapping Approach” (2011, 2016), considered the standard reference on health promotion planning, Fernandez recently became director of the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research.

 

Ralph Friedgen MA, Physical Education '72

Ralph Friedgen spent 10 years (2001-10) as Head Coach at the University of Maryland with a reputation as one of the top offensive minds in college football. Friedgen lifted the Terrapins to unprecedented heights in his tenure, taking the team to seven bowl games, including a pair of New Year’s Day appearances, and a school record five bowl victories. Prior to Friedgen’s arrival, Maryland had just one bowl game appearance in the previous 15 seasons.

 

Jamal K. Gwathney MPH, Public Health '94

Captain Jamal K. Gwathney is the Clinical Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons within the United States Public Health Service. He was the 2016 recipient of the Alumni Humanitarian Award from the University of Maryland.

 

Alice M. Horowitz PhD, Health Education '92

Alice M. Horowitz is a research associate professor in the UMD School of Public Health's Hershel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy. She formerly was a senior scientist, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Health (NIDCR), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Horowitz was a primary architect of the Maryland State Oral Cancer Prevention and Early Detection coalition. She initiated both state and national research on what health care providers and the public know and do about oral cancer prevention and early detection. She served as the NIH lead for the Healthy People 2010 Oral Health Chapter and worked on Healthy People and Healthy People 2000. She has organized numerous scientific sessions on health promotion, primary prevention and health literacy at a variety of national and international meetings. Horowitz also organized the NIDCR's workshop on oral health literacy and co-authored the resultant findings. She has published over 125 scientific papers and book chapters and is the recipient of numerous awards.

 

Scott J. Leischow PhD, Health Education '88

Scott J. Leischow joined Arizona State University in June 2017 as Professor and Associate Director for Public Health. Prior to that, Leischow was at the Mayo Clinic Arizona from 2012-2017, where he led the Research on Health Equity and Community Health (REACH) Program at Mayo Clinic Arizona, and co-led Cancer Prevention and Control within the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. He was formerly an Associate Director at University of Arizona Cancer Center and also served as Senior Advisor for Tobacco Policy in the US Department of Health and Human Services and Chief of the Tobacco Control Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute of NIH. Leischow completed his doctorate in Health Education from the University of Maryland, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Pharmacology from Johns Hopkins University. Leischow has received several awards, including the NIH Director’s Award. Most of Dr. Leischow’s research and publications focus on pharmacological and behavioral treatments for tobacco dependence, along with systems and network approaches to public health. Leischow is past President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Tobacco Regulatory Science.

 

Allison Lilly Tjaden MPH, Applied Environmental Health '12

Allison Lilly Tjaden is the sustainability and wellness coordinator at University of Maryland’s Dining Service in College Park. She has played a key role in launching the Terp Farm, UMD’s new sustainable vegetable farm in Prince George's County. The farm will help UMD meet its commitment that by 2020, 20 percent of the food it serves will be raised fairly, humanely, locally and in an ecologically sound manner. Lilly Tjaden is also the chair of the Local Food Production Work Group for the Prince George’s Food Equity Council.

 

Robin E. Mockenhaupt PhD, Health Education '99

Before joining the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as Chief of Staff, Robin E. Mockenhaupt spent 16 years with AARP in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in health and aging, managing Health Advocacy Services and the National Resource Center on Health Promotion and Aging. She co-authored the book Healthy Aging with Kathy Nelson. She also has held positions at Focus Technologies in Washington, D.C.; the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, Georgetown University; and the National Health Screening Council, Bethesda, MD. Mockenhaupt is a member of the American Society on Aging, where she sits on the Generations Editorial Review Board, and is a member of the George Mason University College of Health and Human Services Advisory Board. She is also a longtime member of the Society for Public Health Education and the American Public Health Association. She formerly chaired Grantmakers In Health and was the vice chair of the Francis E. Parker Memorial Home Board of Trustees.

 

Suma Nair PhD, Health Services Administration '17

Suma Nair earned her Bachelor's in Nutrition and Master's in Public Health Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University, before starting as a public health analyst at the Bureau of Public Health Care. She climbed the ranks at the Health Resources and Services Administrations's Bureau of Primary Health Care, becoming the Director of Quality Improvement in 2008. Nair started the PhD program in health services research in 2013 and completed it in 2017. She applies her research and analytic skills to answering important questions about population health, health disparities, and access to care for underserved patients who rely on federally-funded community health centers for primary care. Nair oversees the Office of Quality Improvement (OQI), which serves as the organizational focus for program performance including, clinical and operational quality improvement, patient safety and risk management, data reporting, and program evaluation.

 

Robin Sawyer PhD, Health Education '90

Robin Sawyer is Associate Professor (retired) in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland. He taught courses in human sexuality, and methods & materials in health education for 33 years. His areas of research interest include contraception compliance, sexually transmitted diseases prevention, AIDS education and date rape. Sawyer has published extensively and is a nationally known speaker having made over 450 presentations at schools, colleges and universities throughout the United States. He has developed a sexual assault/date rape program specifically for student athletes and has worked closely with the NCAA on this issue. Sawyer’s teaching gained national attention in the Washington Post and through appearances on the Today Show and the Tyra Banks show, and as a consultant for MTV. Sawyer has received 13 national and international film awards for developing sexuality-related media, and received numerous teaching awards, including the prestigious Regent’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001, identifying the outstanding teacher among five thousand faculty in the University of Maryland system; the 2012 University of Maryland Kirwan Undergraduate Education award, and the 2012 American Schools of Public Health/Pfizer national award for Teaching Excellence.

 

Suzanne Tyler PhD, Physical Education '86

In 1999, Suzanne Tyler was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame and in 2018, she was selected for induction into the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's Hall of Fame. Tyler was elected to the M Club Hall of Fame and she coached field hockey at the University from 1974-87, winning the NCAA Championship in 1987. She went on to coach lacrosse in 1974, and from 1979-90, winning the 1981 AIAW championship and the NCAA Championship 1986. Tyler holds the distinction as the only Division I coach to win NCAA national championships in two different sports.

 

Christine M. Warnke MS, Family and Community Development '75

Christine M. Warnke represents individuals, groups, agencies, and corporations of all stripes on legislative and regulatory matters before the Congress, the White House, and the Executive Branch. She heads the D.C. Commission for Women, serves on the Business Advisory Board of the Opportunities Industrialization, and serves on the Woodrow Wilson of International Scholars' Council. Warnke was also appointed to the National Institute of Building Sciences. She has previously served on the District of Columbia Human Rights Commission. Warnke is a recipient of the Women of Excellence award and the Salute to Women Award. She has written numerous articles on the city's immigrant population and history and co-authored The Urban Odyssey. (PhD, American Studies 1993)

 

Jerry P. Wrenn PhD, Physical Education '70

Jerry P. Wrenn was a faculty member, student advisor, Associate Dean of Student Services, and finally Dean of the College of Health and Human Performance (which became the School of Public Health). He currently serves as a Professor in the Kinesiology Department at UMD's School of Public Health. The Wrenn Endowment was established under his name, and provides tem $1,000 scholarships to SPH undergraduates each year.

 

Judith C. Young PhD, Physical Education '81

Throughout her career, Judith C. Young has reached out beyond the HPERD profession to educate others in business, government, and civic organizations about the value of physical and health education, healthy physical activity, sport and dance. She has represented the profession admirably as a member of various national boards of directors, including Action for Healthy Kids (board chair for six years), the Coalition for Healthy Active Americans, the Council for Corporate and School Partnerships, and the United States Collegiate Sports Council. Young has also contributed to numerous collaborative initiatives on the national level, including the Healthy People 2010 Consortium, Citizenship through Sports Alliance and the American Council for fitness and Nutrition.

School of Public Policy

Benoît Bosquet PhD, Environmental Policy '01

Benoît Bosquet is Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the World Bank in Washington, DC. In this position, he oversees climate change mitigation efforts, environmental protection, natural resource management, and humanitarian relief in developing countries throughout the world.

 

Jody A. Breckenridge MPP, Public Policy '91

Jody A. Breckenridge was former Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard's Pacific Area. The area of operations for this command encompassed over 73 million square miles throughout the Pacific Basin to the Far East. Vice Admiral Breckenridge oversaw the operation of units performing missions in maritime safety, maritime mobility, protection of natural resources, maritime security, homeland security, and national defense. Her awards include two Legion of Merits, the Meritorious Service Medal, four Coast Guard Commendation Medals, two Achievement Medals, the Commandant's Letter of Commendation, and four Meritorious Team Commendations.

 

Debra Cammer Hines MPM, Public Policy and Financial Management '92

Debra Cammer Hines works as Principal at Ernst & Young, and had previously held a wide variety of leadership positions with IBM’s Global Business Services, including Vice President of Services for BNP Paribas, based in Paris, France. She is also an author and frequent public speaker, and has offered her public management expertise in testimony to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

 

Dereck E. Davis MPP, Public Policy '99

Dereck E. Davis has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates since 1995. In his capacity as Delegate, Davis is the Chairman of the House Economic Matters Committee, and maintains membership in the Legislative Policy Committee and the Legislative Black Caucus. In addition to his political career, Davis has been involved as an administrator for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

 

Dannielle Glaros MPP, Public Policy '01

Dannielle Glaros represents the 3rd District of Prince George’s County on the PG County Council and was recently elected by her colleagues to serve as Chair of that Council for the 2018 legislative session. Prior to her service on the Council, Glaros had been Chief of Staff for previous District 3 County Council Member Eric Olson.

 

Gwendolyn M. Hall PhD, Public Policy '92

Gwendolyn M. Hall was Chief of Staff in the President's office of American Military University (APUS), where she has been since 2005. A retired Air Force officer, Hall's last assignment was Chief of the National Security Policy Division, at Air Force Headquarters. She was one of the highest-ranking African-American women in the service as a Lieutenant Colonel. She also crafted the Air Force's smallpox and anthrax vaccination guidance that prepared U.S. forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. From 1999-2002, Hall was the Commander and Director of Operations of the Dean of the Faculty Squadron at the United States Air Force Academy.

 

Robert Hoffman MPP, Public Policy '04

Robert Hoffman is Managing Director of Government Relations for Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services firm. Prior to his work with Accenture, Hoffman held leadership position with Invariant GR, Motorola Solutions, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Oracle. In 2013, as Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the Informations Technology Industry Council, Hoffman was asked by the U.S House of Representatives to testify before their Energy and Commerce Subcommittee.

 

Maxine Isaacs PhD, Public Policy '94

Maxine Isaacs was recognized as the 2003 School of Public Policy's Distinguished Alumnus. She served as Press Secretary for Walter Mondale during his 1984 election campaign and has served as the board chair of the Washington Women’s Foreign Policy Group. Isaacs was also on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.

 

Patrick Kirwan MPM, Public Management and Public Policy Analysis '86

Patrick Kirwan is the Director of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee within the U.S Department of Commerce where he is involved in the development and implementation of policies that aim to increase exports from the United States to the rest of the world. Prior to his involvement with the Department of Commerce, Kirwan spent two years on the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, a division of the Executive Office of the President.

 

Karen Kirwan MPM, Public Management '85

Karen Kirwan currently serves as a Senior Advisor on Transfer Pricing at the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the IRS, Kirwan was an Executive Director of Ernst & Young, one of the largest professional service firms in the world.

 

Jeffrey Lewis PhD, Policy Studies '04

Jeffrey Lewis is the Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies as part of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Before his work with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Lewis was Director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation. As part of his appointment at the Middlebury Institute, Lewis teaches courses on arms control issues in Northeast Asia and Chinese nuclear policy.

 

Jazz Lewis MPP, Public Policy '14

Jazz Lewis is currently serving a term as a representative for Maryland’s 24th District in the Maryland House of Delegates. Lewis has been deeply involved in community organization, serving as President of Community Roots, and actively campaigning for other Democrats running political campaigns in Maryland.

 

David B. Mitchell MPP, Public Policy '86

David B. Mitchell was a recipient of the UMD School of Public Health's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is currently an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, and the Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police for the UMD Campus. Mitchell started out in 1971 as a police officer in Prince George’s County and in 1990 was appointed Chief of Police. In 1995, he was appointed Superintendent of the Maryland State Police. In 2004, he was named the Delaware Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security before coming to this campus.

 

Joan B. Rohlfing MPP, Public Policy '86

The 2011 School of Public Policy Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient Joan B. Rohlfing became president and chief operating officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in 2010, after nine years as NTI's senior vice president for programs and operations. She was part of the original team that created the mission and scope for NTI in 2000. Rohlfing was also member of the U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee and the Directorate Advisory Committee of the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

 

Jeremy D. Rosner PhD, Policy Studies '07

Jeremy D. Rosner is a Managing Partner at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, an opinion research and strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC, with other branches in London and Toronto. Prior to his work with the firm, Rosner served as advisor to President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, working with them in their efforts to induct Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into the NATO alliance.

 

Kori Schake PhD, Government and Politics '96

The 2004 School of Public Policy Distinguished Alumnus Award winner, Kori Schake currently serves as Deputy Director-General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. She served in various policy roles including at the White House for the National Security Council, the Department of Defense for the Office of the Secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the State Department for the Policy Planning Staff. During the 2008 presidential election, she was Senior Policy Advisor for the McCain campaign. Her most recent publication includes: Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony, Harvard University Press, 2017.

 

Chloe G. Schwenke PhD, Public Policy '02

The 2013 School of Public Policy Distinguished Alumnus Award, Chloe G. Schwenke is a current lecturer at the School of Public Policy. She is also a human rights and peacebuilding activist, development practitioner, and academic with over three decades of international experience – nearly half of it while living in Africa and Asia. She recently served as vice president for global programs at the Freedom House in Washington, D.C. and earlier as a senior political appointee for the Obama Administration at USAID. Schwenke also works as an independent consultant in international development, primarily for the World Bank.

 

Andy Smarick MPP, Public Policy '01

Andy Smarick recently joined the R Street Institute, a Washington-based public policy research organization, as Director of Civil Society, Education, and Work. Immediately prior to R Street, Smarick was a Morgridge Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and served as the president of the Maryland State Board of Education. Smarick is also an author of books dealing primarily with public policy as it relates to education.

 

Christine E. Wormuth MPM, Public Management '95

The 2016 School of Public Policy Distinguished Alumnus Award winner Christine E. Wormuth was appointed director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. Earlier career stops include Undersecretary of Defense for Policy (2014-2016), Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Forces (2012-2014); Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense at the National Security Council (2010-2012); and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense (2009-2010). (Photo: Department of Defense)