Caring for Communities Sipi Gupta’s summer plans begin at the Office of Homeless Services in Baltimore and then take her to a community health organization in West India. At the Office of Homeless Services, Gupta will help evaluate the 2002-03 Code Blue Policy, which includes a first-time program to find shelter for the homeless when temperatures fall to a minimum number of degrees. Her internship is sponsored by the Abell Foundation. In India, Gupta will survey community needs, including access to water for the elderly, and vision care. Gupta, who has been a volunteer coordinator at UMBC’s Shriver Center, received both… Continue Reading Caring for Communities
Art Matters Zachary Handler, who graduated magna cum laude from UMBC in May, begins a master’s degree in arts administration at Columbia University this fall. “My goal and dream in life is to start a visual and performing arts secondary school for deaf youth,” says Handler, a Linehan Artist Scholar who majored in visual arts. Handler is a American Sign Language Program creator and drama teacher at the Green Acres Day Camp (Rockville, Maryland). He has been a teacher’s assistant in deaf and hard-of-hearing K-12 classrooms and an arts assistant at the Maryland School for the deaf. He first became… Continue Reading Art Matters
The Power of Social Work In high school, Tera Foster decided she wanted to be a social worker after participating in a local social activism project dealing with sexual assault awareness. Now Foster is a member of the first class to graduate from the Universities at Shady Grove, where she received hands-on training and participated in community service. UMBC is one of eight University System of Maryland institutions that offer upper-division courses leading to a bachelorÂ’s degree at the Shady Grove Center in Rockville, Maryland. UMBC offers programs in social work and information systems at Shady Grove. “Since the program is… Continue Reading The Power of Social Work
A Passion for UMBC AthleticsUMBC Athletic Director Dr. Charles Brown came to UMBC from his native New York in 1988 looking forward to the challenge of leading a Division I program after several years as AD for Division III Hunter College. “As soon as I stepped on campus, I knew UMBC was a diamond in the rough,” says Brown. “I wanted to take a chance to put UMBC on the map.”Fifteen years later, Brown has exceeded that goal and turned UMBC into a regional dynamo in college athletics. He has just been selected to receive UMBC’s Presidential Distinguished Professional Staff… Continue Reading A Passion for UMBC Athletics
Tomasz Macura loves a challenge.At sixteen, Macura is putting the finishing touches on two Honors Theses for B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. He will continue studies towards a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge’s (UK) Trinity College — considered the most prestigious of the 37 Cambridge colleges. Cambridge has more Nobel Prize winning alumni, 70, than any other university in the world. He will be the school’s youngest and he will be its youngest Ph.D. student since World War I.Age aside, Macura stands out as one of the nation’s most promising scholars in the areas… Continue Reading Tomasz Macura, Class of 2003
One of the 1.8 million photographs in UMBC’s Special Collections: Newsboys and Supply Men at Newspaper Office for Baseball Edition, 5 p.m., Cincinnati, Ohio, August 1908 by Lewis Hine “Curating UMBC’s Special Collections”UMBCÂ’s Special Collections Department is one of the countryÂ’s leading resources for photography, science fiction, Marylandia, biological science archives, and other notable collections of rare books, artifacts and manuscripts. And itÂ’s all at the fingertips—wearing protective gloves, of course—of the campus community and visiting scholars. As Chief Curator, Tom Beck manages and continues to develop the collection, housed at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery.UMBCÂ’s Photography Collections… Continue Reading Curating UMBC’s Special Collections
Class of 2003 Valedictorian Erika Danna2003 Valedictorian Erika Danna  Class of 2003 Valedictorian Erika Danna balanced academic excellence, research experience and community service while at UMBC. She accumulated a 4.0 GPA while working in Dr. Suzanne RosenbergÂ’s lab since June 2001 as one of the first students in the Department of Defense-funded Breast Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (BCURE) program.A biological sciences major, Danna presented her research findings at two major national scientific meetings, as well as four UMBC-sponsored research symposia. She also was part of the BCURE programÂ’s Race for the Cure team to raise money and awareness for breast cancer… Continue Reading 2003 Valedictorian Erika Danna
 UMBC Psychology chair Carlo DiClemente’s work has revolutionized treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse. The Psychology of Conquering Addiction  Psychology professor and department chair Carlo DiClemente began studying addiction among smokers while completing his dissertation at the University of Rhode Island. Now, more than twenty years later, his research has revolutionized how health professionals treat alcoholism and drug abuse. In October, 2002, DiClemente’s work was recognized nationally when he received one of five Innovators Combating Substance Abuse awards from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). “I was first drawn to studying smoking because it was a behavior that… Continue Reading UMBC’s 2002 Distinguished Alumnus
 Men’s Lacrosse Coach Don Zimmerman was recently inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame. A Classroom with Goals  Don Zimmerman is a teacher. You may know him as the head coach of the menÂ’s lacrosse program at UMBC, but for over two decades he has taught the game to All Americans and beginners with the same basic principles. On January 25, Zimmerman was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the United States Lacrosse Hall of Fame. UMBC standout defenseman Gary Clipp ‘77 joined him as an inductee during the gala affair… Continue Reading A Classroom with Goals
 Policy Sciences PhD graduate Keith Elder’s studies how race impacts America’s health care system. Inquiries and Inequities in managed Care    In a time when health care is one of the most urgent issues in the U.S. political spectrum, Keith Elder, Ph.D. graduate from the UMBC Policy Sciences (POSI) Graduate Program, is examining the tough questions surrounding our nation’s health care system. Elder’s dissertation examines the racial disparities in managed care between majority and minority physicians. Specifically, it looks at health care contracts between physicians and organizations (such as HMOs) and attempts to determine if there is any… Continue Reading Building a Future
 Ronald Holzloehner (right) celebrates his successful Ph.D. defense with his mentor, Prof. Curtis Menyuk. A Global Education in Telecommunications  Berlin, Germany native Ronald Holzloehner will receive his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at UMBC this month, after traveling the world while winning international acclaim for his research on how to make fiber optics communications faster and more reliable. Holzloehner came to UMBC after receiving his master’s degree from the Technical University of Berlin and spending a year at UC Santa Barbara on a Fulbright scholarship. In late 1998 he came to UMBC and joined Dr. Curtis MenyukÂ’s… Continue Reading A Global Education in Telecommunications
 UMBC’s Ram Hosmane is the 2002 Maryland Chemist of the Year Maryland Chemist of the Year  UMBC chemistry professor Ramachandra “Ram” Hosmane was named the Maryland Chemist of the Year by the Maryland division of the American Chemical Society in a ceremony on December 11 in Towson. Hosmane, a faculty member at UMBC for 20 years, was honored for his career contributions to biomedical research, including the development of anti-cancer and anti-viral drugs as well as for creation of a powdered, artificial blood mix for use in emergency transfusions. Hosmane is the third UMBC chemist to be named… Continue Reading Making Engineering Exciting
