Guests enjoyed dances choreographed and performed by UMBC students.

There is no question that one of the secrets to UMBC’s incredible success is our dedicated donors. This past fall, we took an evening to say a special thank you to a very important group of our supporters, the Hilltop Society. These generous leadership donors support the university annually with gifts of $1,000 or more, providing powerful support for research, teaching, student activities, financial aid, and more. Their leadership gifts make an incredible difference to the University—and to every student at UMBC.

In November, we invited Hilltop Society members to join us in the new Performing Arts and Humanities Building. That night, they had the opportunity to meet the students and faculty they are supporting. They also enjoyed dances that were choreographed by some of our talented UMBC students.

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski visits with donors Joy and Kingsley Achikeh and scholarship recipient Marta Stachorowski.

Two UMBC students, Markus Proctor, interdisciplinary studies, and Emily Grace, English, shared their stories with donors. Grace, a humanities scholar, shared her experiences as a member of UMBC’s Engineers Without Borders, a program that gives students a chance to create a more stable and prosperous world by addressing people’s basic human needs, such as clean water, power, sanitation, and education.

Proctor, recipient of the Joseph and Freida Faiman Eisenberg/VPC, Inc. Scholarship, told donors that after a stellar high school career that included captaining robotics teams and internships at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, he set his sights on college. Although many schools offered Proctor admission, UMBC was the only school that also offered him much-needed financial aid.

Markus Proctor, scholarship recipient, shares his story.

That support and UMBC’s culture turned out to be just what Proctor wanted. “UMBC is not too big or too small, but it is the right size to build truly amazing relationships with professors and administrators,” says Proctor. He went on to share that his current and future successes—and those of so many UMBC students—hinged on the support of our donors.

“I have to admit, it is difficult to put into words how thankful I am for your support, however, just know, the magnitude of your impact on our campus is appreciated by every student,” Proctor said, echoing the sentiments of all our UMBC scholarship recipients.

—Meredith Purvis

Shari Waldstein, professor of psychology, has been named the Lipitz Professor for 2015-2016. This professorship is supported by an endowment created by Roger C. Lipitz and the Lipitz Family Foundation “to recognize and support innovative and distinguished teaching and research in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.”

A clinical psychologist who specializes in cardiovascular behavioral medicine and medical neuropsychology, Dr. Waldstein is known internationally for fundamental contributions to the understanding of the links among early, multi-level risk factors for cardiovascular disease, sub-clinical brain pathology, neurocognitive performance, and their development across the lifespan. In recent years she has increasingly focused on identifying the multi-level mechanisms underlying race and socioeconomic status-related disparities in cardiovascular and brain health.

Since coming to UMBC, she has been awarded more than $6,000,000 in grants and contracts. Dr. Waldstein’s contributions to the profession of psychology are numerous. She has served for 18 years as director of the behavioral medicine track in our human services psychology Ph.D. program and has mentored 22 Ph.D. students. She also works closely with colleagues at UMB, where she holds a secondary faculty appointment as professor of medicine.

Read more about Dr. Waldstein’s work. 

Dr. Jodi Crandall

UMBC has announced four recipients in the inaugural round of the Jodi Crandall Fellowship for Research in Language, Literacy & Culture. Named for The LLC Doctoral Program’s founder and professor emerita Dr. Jodi Crandall, the prizes will promote collaborative interdisciplinary research by LLC doctoral students.

“The Jodi Crandall Fellowship will allow our doctoral students to pursue important interdisciplinary research in areas of increasingly pressing importance in our local Baltimore community and internationally; in very general terms, all of the Fellowships in 2015 will study issues involved in communicating across cultural borders,” said Dr. Craig Saper, Professor and Director of The Language, Literacy, and Culture Doctoral program.

The inaugural fellows are:

•  Jermaine Ellerbee for his research titled “Social Context of Education Lab,” in the Social Context of Education Lab Category, with mentor Dr. Susan M. Blunck, and collaborator Dr. Juanita Ashby-Bey
• Erin Berry for her research on “Online Sociolinguistic Practices Among Black Female Millennials at Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” in the Sociolinguistics Lab Category, with mentor and collaborator Dr. Christine Mallinson
• Landry Digeon and Ibrahim Er, for their research titled “Social Context of Education Lab,” in the Digital Publishing Lab Category,” with mentor and collaborator Dr. Edward Larkey

Back row, L-R: Jermaine Ellerbe, Landry Digeon, Dr. Craig Saper; front row, L-R: Dr. Jodi Crandall, Erin Berry, Ibrahim Er

“The LLC Doctoral Program will benefit enormously from the Crandall Fellowships as it helps us establish research clusters and applied research laboratories in our program, and each of the Fellows will do research relevant in those areas,” said Dr. Saper.

The fellowship program was first announced at Dr. Crandall’s retirement celebration in 2012 to support students of the program; the LLC faculty decided it should be named to honor her. Crandall hopes to grow the endowment in the coming years with the help of the LLC community.

“Support for interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences is quite limited. There are always fewer research assistantships for our students than are needed,” she said. “I specifically wanted to start a fellowship to support students and to encourage interdisciplinary, collaborative research between LLC students, LLC students and faculty, or LLC current and former students.”

In addition to acting as the founding director of The Language, Literacy & Culture Doctoral program at UMBC, Crandall is a professor emerita of the Department of Education, as well as a former co-director of UMBC’s TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) master’s program.

Click here to support the Jodi Crandall Fellowship.

Editor’s note: Here at UMBC, our students are the heartbeat of campus, and we are committed to providing them the best possible education. So, for the month of March, we will be highlighting our amazing academic departments, some of their recent achievements, and ways that you can help fund their continued excellence.

Your gift is extremely important and many of our students are depending on you. Please show your support and make an impact today. With you we can make a difference.

 The Africana Studies Department is proud to announce that Dr. Gloria Chuku, assistant professor of AFST, presented on the life, work, and death of literary mogul Chinua Achebe in Johannesburg, South Africa. The department would also like to announce that Drs. Chuku and King-Meadows were awarded a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Grant that will enable them to fund a study-abroad program for students and educators of grades K-12.

With your help the Africana Studies department can advance research and engage communities through undergraduate research and internship fellowships and promote the W.E.B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture Series & Symposium.

Click here to donate.

The American Studies Department is pleased to announce that Professors King and Shewbridge received the Hrabowski Grant that will fund their community-based project, Emerging Media Across the Curriculum. The department would also like to announce that Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor of American Studies, spoke at UMBC’s first TEDx event.

With your help the American Studies department can support special programming and projects, like the Mill Stories project, as well as foster innovative collaborations among scholars.

To donate, click here.

The Ancient Studies Department is excited to announce that it is now housed in new, state-of-the-art facilities, which include an archaeology lab. The department also announces that it plans to celebrate its 50th annual study tour with a trip to Rome and Italy in March 2016.

With your help the Ancient Studies department can provide scholarships for study tours to such places as France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey and fund student participation in Maryland field schools and archaeological digs in the Mediterranean.

Click here to donate today.

Editor’s note: Here at UMBC, our students are the heartbeat of campus, and we are committed to providing them the best possible education. So, for the month of March, we will be highlighting our amazing academic departments, some of their recent achievements, and ways that you can help fund their continued excellence.

Your gift is extremely important and many of our students are depending on you. Please show your support and make an impact today. With you we can make a difference.

 The Africana Studies Department is proud to announce that Dr. Gloria Chuku, assistant professor of AFST, presented on the life, work, and death of literary mogul Chinua Achebe in Johannesburg, South Africa. The department would also like to announce that Drs. Chuku and King-Meadows were awarded a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Grant that will enable them to fund a study-abroad program for students and educators of grades K-12.

With your help the Africana Studies department can advance research and engage communities through undergraduate research and internship fellowships and promote the W.E.B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture Series & Symposium.

Click here to donate.

The American Studies Department is pleased to announce that Professors King and Shewbridge received the Hrabowski Grant that will fund their community-based project, Emerging Media Across the Curriculum. The department would also like to announce that Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor of American Studies, spoke at UMBC’s first TEDx event.

With your help the American Studies department can support special programming and projects, like the Mill Stories project, as well as foster innovative collaborations among scholars.

To donate, click here.

The Ancient Studies Department is excited to announce that it is now housed in new, state-of-the-art facilities, which include an archaeology lab. The department also announces that it plans to celebrate its 50th annual study tour with a trip to Rome and Italy in March 2016.

With your help the Ancient Studies department can provide scholarships for study tours to such places as France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey and fund student participation in Maryland field schools and archaeological digs in the Mediterranean.

Click here to donate today.

UMBC is an incredible and diverse community of thinkers, creators, and innovators. When we work together, we can accomplish great things.

Alums enjoy the IT & Engineering Happy Hour and Fundraiser

Case in point? Just today, a group of our Information Technology and Engineering alumni raised enough money to fund a student scholarship. They decided to shoot for $1,600, and they raised 105% of that goal with two days left in their campaign.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. This is one story among many of the generosity of our alumni and the ways in which they change UMBC for the better each year.

As our fiscal year comes to a close today, this demonstration of support is especially timely. Gifts made now will have the most immediate impact on our students as we get to work planning for an amazing new school year.

Give today and watch your gift go to work immediately
for our students.

Your college experience is made up of many different things: eye-opening classes, talented professors, fun campus events, and amazing friends, just to name a few. But there’s one thing that has a unique and important impact on a student’s intellectual growth and future career aspirations – your department. Once you declare a major, your department often becomes a new family, the people you spend the most time with, the community that moves you through your college years.

The professors in your department help you shape and improve your work. They advise you as you build the foundation for your career. They become mentors you can count on for the rest of your life.

Your classmates become your team. You learn and grow side by side, developing a strong network of peers who you trust. You work on projects together, cram for finals together, and you launch your careers together.

The department is at the core of your college experience, and it’s one that is more than worthy of your support. When you donate to your department, you’re giving aid to the people on the ground. Your gift will ensure that future generations of Retrievers get to have the same wonderful experiences that you did. Your gift will help develop new and better courses, ensure that the best faculty are hired and retained, and give students unique, hands-on learning opportunities.

There are so many ways you can support UMBC. If you’re looking for something that you can connect to and that will have a real impact, please consider making a gift to your department today.

Every so often, we highlight the importance of student scholarships by introducing you to the very students they help to succeed. Today, we’re featuring Kaitlyn Golden, a senior psychology major who is also a Shattuck Family Entrepreneurial Scholarship recipient. This scholarship was established to recognize and celebrate outstanding UMBC students who have demonstrated an interest in entrepreneurship, high academic potential and drive, and an exceptional value system and commitment to the community.

Name: Kaitlyn Golden
Grad year/major: May 2014, psychology
Affiliation: Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, Honors College

Q: Why did you decide to attend UMBC?

A: My sister attended UMBC, and so I wanted to do something different. But with encouragement from my family, I took a tour during the fall of my senior year in high school and really liked the campus. When we got to Academic Row, I saw the library pond and the green trees arching overhead, and I remember thinking, “Wow, I could definitely go here.” I’ve always felt really fond of Academic Row and the library pond ever since then – they helped change my mind about UMBC, and helped me appreciate the school’s beauty.

That spring, I found out I’d been accepted into the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program and the Honors College, and so I knew then that I was definitely going to go to UMBC.

Q: What’s been the most amazing discovery you’ve made so far as a student here?

A: People here at UMBC are boundlessly generous and giving of their time, energy, wisdom and patience. From my peers, mentors and professors, I’ve learned about many different social justice issues. My most amazing discovery was how students can make change in the world, and from this, I realized my own personal power and strength. This year, I have also realized how, in so many ways, we are not isolated beings; we need the support of people who love us to move forward.

Q: What was your time like in the Shattuck Family Internship Program?

A: While most students were using the scholarship during the spring semester to complete internships, I interned during the summer. I spent five weeks working at a non-profit in Baja California, Mexico. Prior to my internship, during the spring semester, I attended three speaker sessions sponsored by the Alex. Brown Center. All Shattuck recipients were invited to have breakfast with Molly and Mayo Shattuck, which was really fun. I loved meeting the other interns, who were doing such great work at their respective sites. The program thus prepared me very well for my time in Mexico and gave me a solid foundation of knowledge and support.

Q: How important is it to you as a student to get scholarship support?

A: Scholarships make my education possible. Without financial assistance, I would not be free to pursue some of the wonderful opportunities I’ve had at UMBC, such as research, volunteering, playing club Ultimate and being involved in many organizations. In addition to the Shattuck Program’s financial assistance, I am also a member of Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program. The Sondheim Program helped me financially during my college career, and gave me a solid foundation to learn about public service and public affairs. Scholarship support gave me the time to become a freer, more well-rounded thinker and an involved student.

Q: What did you do with the scholarship money you received?

A: The Shattuck Program’s grant enabled me to pay for my plane ticket to Mexico, my baggage fees and it also covered most of my living expenses while I was there. I felt really lucky to be able to do international service without worrying about the financial stress of traveling to another country.

Q: What would you say to the people who provided your scholarship?

A: Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you. The Shattucks’ generosity is incredible. Both Molly and Mayo Shattuck are inspiring and great examples of leading a positive and giving life. I really admire both of them for their innovations, like their internship program, and all of the service work they do in the Baltimore community.

Q: What do you hope to do after graduation and why?

A: My favorite quote is derived from the Bible and immortalized by John F. Kennedy: “To those whom much is given, much is expected.” I believe in this very strongly. I have been given very much, and after college graduation I want to give back. I plan to serve both domestically and internationally. I am applying to several AmeriCorps programs and the Peace Corps. After this service, I will pursue a Ph.D. in Community Psychology. I plan on using my degree to work for food justice, access and sustainability within communities of immigrants and refugees in the United States.

When she began her college search, the Honorable Wanda Keyes Heard ‘79, political science, knew very little about UMBC. But when she and her family — then living in Long Island, New York — returned from a visit to schools in the DC area, they decided to stop by the new university in Catonsville. That chance decision would change Wanda’s life.

“I fell in love with UMBC,” she says. That means a lot coming from Wanda, whose father Sterling Keyes, was a veteran educator and civil rights activist who impressed upon her from an early age the importance of education. And so she came to UMBC, where she would study political science and launch her career as a lawyer and then Baltimore Circuit Court judge.

When Wanda lost her father a year ago, she found herself making another decision about her future–the decision of what to do with her estate. In honor of her father’s legacy and her own experience at UMBC, she decided to establish a planned gift to the university.  “When you leave the earth, you can’t take it [money] with you,” she explains. “What better way is there to honor your life than to give back? I know UMBC will make good use of the money.”

Wanda’s decision isn’t surprising. Throughout her career as a judge for the Baltimore City Circuit Court, she has been paying it forward. She’s an avid supporter of UMBC’s Second Generation scholarship, and she’s also given students–many of them from her alma mater–the opportunity to gain invaluable career experience as interns in her office. It’s that kind of experience that rounds out an education and launches careers.

As Wanda is quick to tell you, UMBC was truly where her life and career got started. “I received an excellent education there, and that set me on the road to law school and being a judge,” she says. “Once UMBC has put its print on you, you can do anything you want to.”

In Wanda’s case, that print was indelible, and was made by her experiences both in and out of the classroom. Wanda was active in the Student Government Association, joined the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and worked as a Resident Assistant. Each and every one of those activities left a distinct mark on her, she says, and showed her the importance of getting involved with and contributing to her community. In fact, for Wanda, education, service and giving back are inextricably intertwined.

“If you went to UMBC, giving back comes naturally,” she says. And that dedication to service and giving will now come full circle. Through her planned gift to UMBC, Wanda is ensuring future generations will have the same amazing educational and career opportunities that she did.

Learn more about making a planned gift like Wanda’s.