Recognizing Outstanding Faculty & Staff

On Wednesday, September 29, UMBC will recognize the exceptional performance, leadership and service of four members of the University’s faculty and staff at the Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony. UMBC’s Presidential Award recipients have careers distinguished by a dedication to the fulfillment of the campus’ goals and mission, by professional accomplishments and by campus service.

All members of the UMBC community are encouraged to attend the ceremony at 1 p.m. at the University Center Ballroom. President Hrabowski will also present his annual State of the University Address.

This year’s Presidential Award recipients are:

James Grubb
Professor, History
Presidential Research Professor 2004-2007

James Grubb is a master historian whose work is distinguished not only by its quality but by its range, importance and influence. Since arriving at UMBC in 1983, he has established an impressive research record while serving terms as president of the faculty senate and, in his own department, as graduate program director and department chair. A pre-eminent scholar of Renaissance Italy, Grubb has been recognized for pioneering contributions to his field. His first book, Firstborn of Venice, on Vincenza under Venetian rule, is considered fundamental to the study of regional states, examining and critiquing the dominant models of center-periphery relations. Grubb’s second book, Provincial Families of the Renaissance: Private and Public Life in the Veneto, won the 1997 Marraro Prize—considered the leading award in the field—for the best book in Italian history by an American author.

Cynthia Hody
Associate Professor and Chair, Political Science
Presidential Teaching Professor 2004-2007

A six-time recipient of the political science department’s teaching award, Cynthia Hody is a study in effective, compassionate and student-centered teaching. She has been recognized as Honors College Teacher of the Year, and is the recipient of the UMBC Alumni Association’s award for Student Teaching and Mentoring. A scholar of international affairs, Hody has mentored dozens of political science students since she arrived at UMBC in 1984 and consistently receives some of the highest scores on student evaluation for her teaching. Since Hody became chair of the political science department in 1998, the number of UMBC students choosing to major in the field has nearly doubled.

Jack Suess
Chief Information Officer
Office of Information Technology
Presidential Distinguished Staff Award
Professional Staff

Since he arrived at UMBC as a freshman in 1976, Jack Suess has uniquely experienced the University as undergraduate student, student employee, non-exempt staff, exempt staff, graduate student, part-time faculty, principal investigator and campus administrator. Suess received his B.A. in mathematics in 1981 and his M.S. in Information Systems in 1995. He began work as a student in 1979 and after graduation began his professional career at UMBC. During Suess’ tenure, UMBC has evolved from being dependent on UMCP for IT services to being recognized as one of the technology leaders in the country. Suess has also been at the helm of several successful initiatives to make necessary updates to UMBC’s technological resources, including the Y2K transition, the Assured Access program, the PeopleSoft Implementation and the Computer Replacement Initiative.

Terry Aylsworth
Executive Administrative Assistant
College of Arts and Sciences
Presidential Distinguished Staff Award
Non-Exempt Staff

Described as “committed,” “collegial” and “enthusiastic,” Terry Aylsworth, executive administrative assistant for the Dean’s Office of the College of Arts and Sciences, is known for her respect for everyone she works with, for her ability to invest every undertaking with a belief in its significance and for her dedication to UMBC’s goals and the value of higher education. A former program coordinator for the Center for the Humanities and the Shakespeare Association of America, Aylsworth previously served as vice president of the former Classified Staff Senate and helped to create the new Non-Exempt Excluded Staff Senate (NEESS). She is a member of UMBC’s Employee of the Quarter Committee and was recently elected chair of the University Steering Committee.

At the Presidential Faculty & Staff Awards Ceremony, UMBC will also recognize three members of the University community who were awarded a 2004 USM Board of Regents Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Regents to honor exemplary faculty and staff achievement.

Thomas Cronin
Professor, Biological Sciences
Director, Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Sciences (MEES) Graduate Program
Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Research/Scholarship/Creative Activity

Nancy Miller
Associate Professor, Public Policy
Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring

Kathy Lee Sutphin
Coordinator of Special Projects, Biological Sciences
Regents’ Exempt Staff Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Institution

(9/24/04)

A Smart Choice for Women

At UMBC, it is cool to be smart. And it is especially cool for girls to be smart.

UMBC’s array of programs that empower women to be both successful students and successful professionals has now been recognized nationally by CosmoGIRL! magazine’s new guide to the 50 best colleges for girls. Featured in the magazine’s October 2004 issue, the guide also includes such institutions as Amherst College; Brown University; Duke University; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

In compiling the list for its readership of young women ages 12 through 17, editors at CosmoGIRL! consulted admissions officers and guidance counselors across the country to determine the kind of environment that gives girls the best chance of success in school and after graduation. The result was a list of six key factors–small class size, prominent female faculty members, strong women’s sports programs, a career center that facilitates internship opportunities, opportunities to hold leadership positions in clubs and activities and an active alumni network.

“Not only is this first college guide designed specifically for girls, but what really makes it unique is that we’ve identified specific factors that give girls an edge,” said CosmoGIRL!’s Editor-in-Chief, Susan Schulz. “This is no arbitrary list.”

In addition to performing well on CosmoGIRL!’s key criteria, UMBC impressed the magazine’s editors with innovative programs that empower women and help them achieve their potential. For example, UMBC’s Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) is dedicated to achieving women’s full participation in all aspects of information technology (IT), while the Imaging Research Center (IRC), specializing in high-end computer animation and visualization, offers both undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to work on professional projects with clients such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, PBS and the Discovery Channel. UMBC is one of only 16 schools in the country chosen by the National Science Foundation to sponsor an ADVANCE program designed to support the recruitment and advancement of women faculty in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Other UMBC programs that help women prepare for success after graduation include Women Involved in Learning and Leadership (WILL), which engages the campus in a learning community that promotes academic excellence, leadership development, career exploration and civic engagement on women’s issues, and the UMBC Alumni Association’s popular “Backpack to Briefcase” program, which offers students the opportunity to network with the University’s successful alumni.

(9/15/04)

Training Today’s Workforce

UMBC is a leader in developing programs that help to create a more skilled and technologically literate workforce in the Baltimore-Washington area. The latest example is the debut this fall of new graduate programs in systems engineering, e-government and the non-profit sector.

The University’s Division of Professional Education and Training (DPET) is responding to the staffing needs of regional high-tech industries by offering two graduate programs in Systems Engineering (SE). According to officials with Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Electronic Systems Sector–a sponsor of the new programs–the shortage of qualified systems engineers is urgent and will grow over the next few years. Systems engineers typically work on large-scale projects in high-tech industries including aerospace, information technology, defense, transportation, space exploration, manufacturing and telecommunications.

The two new programs differ from traditional systems engineering training by offering curricula that is focused more on the technical, hands-on side of the field instead of management. “There will be a heavy emphasis on problem solving, practical application, mentoring by experienced systems engineers and a teamwork approach,” says Ted Foster, assistant dean of the college of engineering at UMBC and director of the new SE program.

E-government is another field in need of professional development resources for its workers. A recent study by the CIO Council found that just 15 percent of more than 19,000 federal IT workers have extensive knowledge in e-government. UMBC’s Departments of Public Policy and Information Systems are responding with a new graduate certificate program in electronic government (e-gov), the first in the Baltimore/Washington area focused on skills needed to increase and improve online transactions and services offered by federal, state and local government to individuals and businesses.

Three of the nation’s top e-gov experts are teaching in the program: Pattee Fletcher, whose extensive federal information technology (IT) experience includes work for the General Accounting Office and the U.S. Treasury and Freddie Mac; Stephen Holden, whose federal government IT experience includes helping to develop the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) e-file system; and Donald F. Norris, a nationally known analyst, author and consultant on state and local government IT management. Norris and Fletcher are co-editors in chief of The International Journal of Electronic Government Research.

To provide important skills that will help workers in health, aging, social services and other fields better support community needs, UMBC and the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations have created a flexible, 12-credit graduate certificate program in the nonprofit sector. Students may begin the program at any time during the year and earn a post-baccalaureate certificate in as little as 18 months. Courses, offered at UMBC and at the Maryland Nonprofits’ Baltimore Office, include the role of nonprofit institutions in American society, research and evaluation methods, nonprofit sectors such as health and aging, and internal structures and external relations of nonprofit organizations.

(8/31/04)

Preparing for a Public Service Career

Since 1987, over 300 students have participated in the Governor�s Summer Internship Program (GSIP), which is coordinated by The Shriver Center at UMBC. The program was created to introduce high achieving college students to the unique challenges and rewards of working within Maryland state government. This year, UMBC students Crisandra Bailey, Aaron Merki and Tiffany Deinzer joined 17 other students to jumpstart their careers in public service.

All participants in the program spend 10 weeks working full-time on substantive projects with senior level public administrators and policy makers in government departments or in policy areas that reflect the interns� fields of study and career interests. The interns also attend biweekly seminars and site visits that introduce them to a wide range of topics relevant to state government. This year, interns have met with a number of prominent state officials, including Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Speaker of the House of Delegates Michael Busch and Secretary Nelson Sabitini of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Throughout the summer, interns work in small groups to develop policy papers that are presented to the Governor at the end of the summer.

Crisandra Bailey, an English major, and Aaron Merki, who is studying political science, interned at the Maryland State Department of Education. Bailey worked with Professional Development Grant Programs, evaluating grants for state-aided programs and going on site visits to answer questions from groups looking to secure state education funding. Her future plans include graduate school and a career in advocacy for the disabled and special education.

Merki worked with the Program Improvement and Family Involvement Branch, researching and drafting recommendations on increasing parental involvement in public schools that can be implemented at the state and local level. He plans on attending law school and hopes to be involved in creating education systems in developing countries. Bailey and Merki are collaborating on their policy paper, which examines alternative methods of instruction that help students who do not respond to traditional pedagogy and make adequate yearly progress, as stipulated by No Child Left Behind.

Tiffany Deinzer, a political science and economics major, interned in the Maryland Office for New Americans, which assists recent refugees and political asylees who settle in Maryland. Her primary project for the summer was to assess existing English as a Second Language programs to determine which techniques and strategies were most effective in keeping refugees and asylees involved with such programs. Her policy paper, which she is writing with two other interns, examines ways in which new immigrants to the Baltimore region can be better integrated into the larger community. She plans to pursue a career with the federal government in the area of international affairs. Christine Routzahn, UMBC�s GSIP Coordinator and Associate Director of Professional Practice at the Shriver Center, states, �The Governor�s Summer Internship Program provides students with an opportunity to take their theoretical understanding of public policy out of the academic setting to real life. In addition to their work interning in State agencies, their policy papers allow them the opportunity to generate solutions to some of Maryland�s most critical issues.�

Training Today’s Trainers

UMBC is a leader in developing programs that help to create a more skilled and technologically literate workforce in the Baltimore-Washington area. The latest example is the debut this fall of new graduate programs in systems engineering, e-government and the non-profit sector.

The University’s Division of Professional Education and Training (DPET) is responding to the staffing needs of regional high-tech industries by offering two graduate programs in Systems Engineering (SE). According to officials with Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Electronic Systems Sector�a sponsor of the new programs�the shortage of qualified systems engineers is urgent and will grow over the next few years. Systems engineers typically work on large-scale projects in high-tech industries including aerospace, information technology, defense, transportation, space exploration, manufacturing and telecommunications.

The two new programs differ from traditional systems engineering training by offering curricula that is focused more on the technical, hands-on side of the field instead of management. “There will be a heavy emphasis on problem solving, practical application, mentoring by experienced systems engineers and a teamwork approach,” says Ted Foster, assistant dean of the college of engineering at UMBC and director of the new SE program.

E-government is another field in need of professional development resources for its workers. A recent study by the CIO Council found that just 15 percent of more than 19,000 federal IT workers have extensive knowledge in e-government. UMBC’s Departments of Public Policy and Information Systems are responding with a new graduate certificate program in electronic government (e-gov), the first in the Baltimore/Washington area focused on skills needed to increase and improve online transactions and services offered by federal, state and local government to individuals and businesses.

Three of the nation’s top e-gov experts are teaching in the program: Pattee Fletcher, whose extensive federal information technology (IT) experience includes work for the General Accounting Office and the U.S. Treasury and Freddie Mac; Stephen Holden, whose federal government IT experience includes helping to develop the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) e-file system; and Donald F. Norris, a nationally known analyst, author and consultant on state and local government IT management. Norris and Fletcher are co-editors in chief of The International Journal of Electronic Government Research.

To provide important skills that will help workers in health, aging, social services and other fields better support community needs, UMBC and the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations have created a flexible, 12-credit graduate certificate program in the nonprofit sector. Students may begin the program at any time during the year and earn a post-baccalaureate certificate in as little as 18 months. Courses, offered at UMBC and at the Maryland Nonprofits’ Baltimore Office, include the role of nonprofit institutions in American society, research and evaluation methods, nonprofit sectors such as health and aging, and internal structures and external relations of nonprofit organizations.

(8/31/04)

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Preparing for a Public Service Career

Since 1987, over 300 students have participated in the Governor�s Summer Internship Program (GSIP), which is coordinated by The Shriver Center at UMBC.  The program was created to introduce high achieving college students to the unique challenges and rewards of working within Maryland state government. This year, UMBC students Crisandra Bailey, Aaron Merki and Tiffany Deinzer joined 17 other students to jumpstart their careers in public service.

All participants in the program spend 10 weeks working full-time on substantive projects with senior level public administrators and policy makers in government departments or in policy areas that reflect the interns� fields of study and career interests. The interns also attend biweekly seminars and site visits that introduce them to a wide range of topics relevant to state government. This year, interns have met with a number of prominent state officials, including Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Speaker of the House of Delegates Michael Busch and Secretary Nelson Sabitini of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Throughout the summer, interns work in small groups to develop policy papers that are presented to the Governor at the end of the summer.

Crisandra Bailey, an English major, and Aaron Merki, who is studying political science, interned at the Maryland State Department of Education. Bailey worked with Professional Development Grant Programs, evaluating grants for state-aided programs and going on site visits to answer questions from groups looking to secure state education funding. Her future plans include graduate school and a career in advocacy for the disabled and special education.

Merki worked with the Program Improvement and Family Involvement Branch, researching and drafting recommendations on increasing parental involvement in public schools that can be implemented at the state and local level. He plans on attending law school and hopes to be involved in creating education systems in developing countries. Bailey and Merki are collaborating on their policy paper, which examines alternative methods of instruction that help students who do not respond to traditional pedagogy and make adequate yearly progress, as stipulated by No Child Left Behind.

Tiffany Deinzer, a political science and economics major, interned in the Maryland Office for New Americans, which assists recent refugees and political asylees who settle in Maryland. Her primary project for the summer was to assess existing English as a Second Language programs to determine which techniques and strategies were most effective in keeping refugees and asylees involved with such programs. Her policy paper, which she is writing with two other interns, examines ways in which new immigrants to the Baltimore region can be better integrated into the larger community. She plans to pursue a career with the federal government in the area of international affairs.

Christine Routzahn, UMBC�s GSIP Coordinator and Associate Director of Professional Practice at the Shriver Center, states, �The Governor�s Summer Internship Program provides students with an opportunity to take their theoretical understanding of public policy out of the academic setting to real life. In addition to their work interning in State agencies, their policy papers allow them the opportunity to generate solutions to some of Maryland�s most critical issues.�

Applicants to the program must be undergraduates attending a two-or four-year university or college in Maryland, or are Maryland residents attending an out-of-state college or university. The applicants must be entering their junior or senior year and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The interns are selected by a committee of representatives from the Governor�s Office, the Lt. Governor�s Office, and several state agencies. Information about the program is available online.

Pictured on UMBC homepage: David Hodnett, Coordinator of Professional Practice, The Shriver Center; Aaron Merki, UMBC Student; Michele Wolff, Director, The Shriver Center; Crisandra Bailey, UMBC student; Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.; Christine Routzahn, Associate Director of Professional Practice & Coordinator of GSIP, The Shriver Center; Shirley Carrington, Office Supervisor, The Shriver Center; Tiffany Deinzer, UMBC student.

(8/23/04)

Awards for UMBC Historians

UMBC�s historians are recent recipients of some of the most prestigious awards available to scholars in their field:

Distinguished University Professor of History Warren I. Cohen, one of the world�s leading experts on the history of American-East Asian relations, received the Norman and Laura Graebner Prize from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Cohen is the ninth person ever to win the award. Given every two years, the Graebner Prize is a career achievement honor that recognizes a senior historian of U.S. foreign relations who has made significant contributions to the field through excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

Associate Professor of History Kriste Lindenmeyer was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar grant for the 2004-2005 academic year. She is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 140 countries for the year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Lindenmeyer, who specializes in the history of women, gender and childhood, will be teaching courses in American history and public history at the Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany.

Associate Professor of History Marjoleine Kars received an Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship by the John Carter Brown Library, a major research institute for the colonial history of North and South America on the campus of Brown University. Kars will be using the award to continue her research on a massive slave uprising in the 1760s in the Dutch colony of Berbice�an area now part of the Republic of Guyana.

With these recent awards, Cohen, Lindenmeyer and Kars add honors to an already distinguished history faculty, whose members have been past recipients of prestigious fellowships and awards from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Historical Association and the National Science Foundation.

Says John Jeffries, professor and chair of the Department of History, �It is a noteworthy accomplishment to have three historians in a relatively small department win major national awards within the same year; but, in fact, this reflects the scholarly strengths and achievements of the department as a whole. The recent awards Professors Cohen, Lindenmeyer and Kars have earned are consistent with the history department�s remarkable record of success with highly competitive fellowships and other distinctions.�

Jeffries was recently honored for his own research when he was named a distinguished lecturer for 2004-07 by the Organization of American Historians. The OAH Distinguished Lectureship Program is designed to enable institutions and organizations to identify and invite as speakers historians “who have made major contributions to the many fields of American history.”

(7/13/04)

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Going for the Gold in Athens

The whole world will be watching later this month as an outstanding UMBC alumna, originally from the Caribbean, competes for her native country in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Cleopatra Borel (Interdisciplinary Studies, �02) is a three-time UMBC Track and Field NCAA All American in the shot put and was UMBC�s first-ever NCAA champion. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Borel will pursue the global pinnacle of her sport during Olympic track and field competition, which runs from August 18 through 29.

Borel graduated from UMBC in 2002 with a bachelor�s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies focused on health psychology, and is now a graduate student in psychology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Currently ranked 10th in the world in her event by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Borel is ready for the challenge at Athens.

�My goal is just to go out there and throw as far as I could possibly throw. I would love to get a PR (personal record) on that day,� Borel told The Trinidad & Tobago Express in a June interview.

�I plan to take everything step by step,� she told the Express. �The first target is getting past the qualifying round. And then, the goal is to be among the top eight. Once you’re in the final, anything could happen.�

Among those cheering Borel on stateside is UMBC Track and Field Head Coach David O. Bobb. �Cleopatra Borel is the ultimate student-athlete,� says Bobb. �She excelled in both the classroom and shot put circle. She put 100 percent into everything and the results show it. Being an Olympian is a great accomplishment. She will represent her country well and I wish her the best in Athens.�

Two other international UMBC student-athletes deserve congratulations this year for coming close to qualifying for their native Olympic teams. High jumper Huguens Jean of Haiti and swimmer Carlos Canepa of Peru will be watching the games from home this year with an eye on preparing for 2008.

The games of the 28th Olympiad will be held from August 11-29 and televised internationally on the NBC family of broadcast networks. A complete guide to the 2004 Games and a TV schedule is online. The women�s shot put qualifying rounds are scheduled for 1:30 a.m. (ET) on Wed. Aug 18.

(8/10/04)

Awards for UMBC Historians

UMBC�s historians are recent recipients of some of the most prestigious awards available to scholars in their field:

Distinguished University Professor of History Warren I. Cohen, one of the world�s leading experts on the history of American-East Asian relations, received the Norman and Laura Graebner Prize from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Cohen is the ninth person ever to win the award. Given every two years, the Graebner Prize is a career achievement honor that recognizes a senior historian of U.S. foreign relations who has made significant contributions to the field through excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

Associate Professor of History Kriste Lindenmeyer was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar grant for the 2004-2005 academic year. She is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 140 countries for the year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Lindenmeyer, who specializes in the history of women, gender and childhood, will be teaching courses in American history and public history at the Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany.

Associate Professor of History Marjoleine Kars received an Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship by the John Carter Brown Library, a major research institute for the colonial history of North and South America on the campus of Brown University. Kars will be using the award to continue her research on a massive slave uprising in the 1760s in the Dutch colony of Berbice�an area now part of the Republic of Guyana.

With these recent awards, Cohen, Lindenmeyer and Kars add honors to an already distinguished history faculty, whose members have been past recipients of prestigious fellowships and awards from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Historical Association and the National Science Foundation.

Says John Jeffries, professor and chair of the Department of History, �It is a noteworthy accomplishment to have three historians in a relatively small department win major national awards within the same year; but, in fact, this reflects the scholarly strengths and achievements of the department as a whole. The recent awards Professors Cohen, Lindenmeyer and Kars have earned are consistent with the history department�s remarkable record of success with highly competitive fellowships and other distinctions.�

Jeffries was recently honored for his own research when he was named a distinguished lecturer for 2004-07 by the Organization of American Historians. The OAH Distinguished Lectureship Program is designed to enable institutions and organizations to identify and invite as speakers historians “who have made major contributions to the many fields of American history.”

(7/13/04)