Meet Lynn Dutrow. Lynn graduated from UMBC in 1989 with a B.A. in psychology and a certificate in early childhood education. Since then, she has worn many hats, including counselor, coach, and speaker. In 2022, she added another hat—author—when she published her first book, Aligned As F*ck: Transforming Your Inner Assholes (Like Anxiety) into Allies. Much of her work focuses on anxiety, overwhelm, and creating lives that feel more aligned and less exhausting. Lynn is deeply curious about humans and firmly believes humor belongs in serious conversations. Take it away, Lynn!
Q: What brought you to UMBC?
A: I chose UMBC because it felt like the best of both worlds—it was close enough to home that I could get back when I wanted to, but far enough away that I could have the full experience of living on campus and becoming independent.
I actually didn’t know what I wanted to study. My parents wanted me to study business, but after my first psychology class, I was hooked!
Back then there were three dorms and two sets of apartments, only one of which even had kitchens! Living on campus was an education in itself. Some of my most memorable lessons about human behavior came not from textbooks, but from sharing living space with a variety of colorful personalities. In hindsight, my roommates may have unknowingly contributed to my professional training.
Pictured right: Dutrow on stage at her UMBC graduation.
What I remember most and appreciate, even 40 years later, are the approachable and supportive professors and the opportunities to gain hands-on experience through practicums and internships. Those experiences helped me connect what I was learning in the classroom to real people and real situations, something that has remained important throughout my career.
Looking back, I can see how those experiences laid the foundation for work that has taken many forms over the years: from education and school psychology to counseling, coaching, speaking, and writing. While the specific roles have changed, the common thread has always been a fascination with people and a desire to help them better understand themselves and navigate life’s challenges.
If you had told me in 1989 that my psychology degree would eventually lead me to become a counselor, coach, speaker, and author, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But the curiosity about people that drew me to psychology in the first place has been the common thread through every chapter of my career.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your current work?
A: Much of my work focuses on helping people navigate anxiety, overwhelm, and the exhausting experience of feeling like they’re constantly fighting with themselves. What I love most is helping people realize they aren’t broken. Watching someone shift from “Why am I like this?” to “Ohhh…this part was trying to help” never gets old.
Q: Can you tell us more about your work as an author?
A: People often ask what motivated me to write my book, Aligned As F*ck: Transforming Your Inner Assholes (Like Anxiety) into Allies, and the honest answer is that I realized I was repeating the same conversations over and over again…with clients, friends, family members, and occasionally random strangers. I wanted to put the information I found myself sharing most often into one place where people could return to it when they needed it.
I also hoped, somewhat naively, that writing the book would mean I could stop repeating myself. It turns out that’s not how humans work. What I discovered instead is that people often need to hear the same ideas many times and in many different ways, and I’m grateful to keep being part of those conversations.
Dutrow at the release party for the author’s first book.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
If you want help meeting a big new fitness goal, Manikanta Sirumalla may have the app for you. Manikanta came to UMBC from India as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in data science. Since arriving, he’s tapped into the wealth of support for aspiring Retriever entrepreneurs. Several UMBC-affiliated programs and people helped Manikanta as he developed and launched his AI-powered fitness and nutrition app, RepTrack Pro. He tells us what it took to be a student and a solo founder of a brand new venture. Take it away, Manikanta!
Q: Tell us about yourself.
A: I’m Manikanta, an M.S. in data science student at UMBC. I’m also the solo founder of RepTrack Pro, an AI-powered fitness and nutrition iOS app that’s live on the App Store. I’m currently building it out through UMBC’s Launchpad accelerator, and most of my energy these days goes into turning it into a real venture. Three years of iOS development before grad school got me here, but the founder path is what I’m all in on now.
Q: Who are some of the people at UMBC who have most supported you?
A:Masoud Soroush, the director of my graduate program at UMBC, has been a steady source of support throughout my time here. Balancing a demanding course load with building RepTrack Pro full-time hasn’t been easy, and Dr. Soroush has been understanding and encouraging of the path I’m on. Having a program leader who recognizes the value of building something real alongside academic work, and who supports rather than discourages that, has made a meaningful difference in how I’ve been able to pursue both.
Since joining UMBC, the support I’ve found has also gone far beyond the classroom. My growth as a founder has been shaped most by the mentors around me. Chris White, the entrepreneur-in-residence at bwtech [UMBC’s Research and Technology Park], has pushed me to think like a founder rather than just an engineer. Mike Adelstein [’96, biochemistry and molecular biology], with his background in fitness tech, has brought perspective directly relevant to what I’m building with RepTrack Pro.
Beyond individual mentors, the broader community has backed my work in tangible ways. Winning UMBC’s Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition gave RepTrack Pro real funding and validation, and the Launchpad accelerator has given me the structure and accountability a solo founder rarely has access to. What makes the difference isn’t just the resources—it’s that people here take my work seriously and invest in it.
Q: Tell us more about the Launchpad accelerator program.
A: The Launchpad accelerator is the part of my UMBC experience I value most. It’s given me structure and accountability I wouldn’t have on my own—a real framework for validating my business rather than just building features. Working through the business modeling tool Lean Canvas has forced me to question assumptions and to focus on the problems my customers actually have.
What stands out most about the program is the access to experienced mentors and a community that takes early-stage founders seriously. Being a student and a founder at the same time can feel isolating, and Launchpad has been the place where that work gets recognized, challenged, and supported. It’s turned a side project into something I’m pursuing as a genuine venture.
Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place?
A: I came to UMBC because I wanted to deepen my technical foundation and grow beyond where three years of iOS development had taken me. I’d been building software for others, and I was ready to build something of my own with the data science skills to back it. UMBC’s program offered the rigor I was looking for, but what I didn’t expect was the entrepreneurial support that came with it. What started as a path to a stronger career has turned into the launch point for my own venture.
Q: What would you tell other international students interested in entrepreneurship?
A: As an international student, coming to UMBC meant building a life and a career far from home, often while navigating things such as visas, paperwork, and a new system that domestic students don’t have to think about. What made the difference for me was finding a community that didn’t treat that as a limitation. Through the Launchpad accelerator and the bwtech ecosystem, I’ve been able to build my own venture and be taken seriously as a founder despite being new to the country.
To others in my shoes: Don’t assume the entrepreneurial and professional opportunities here are out of reach because you’re international. UMBC has the people and programs to support you if you’re willing to seek them out. Being an international student shaped my path here, but it never closed doors. If anything, the support I found opened them.
Manikanta Sirumalla at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (left), with Apple CEO Tim Cook (center) and at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California (right).
Q: What are your plans for after graduation?
A: After I graduate this December, my plan is to take RepTrack Pro full-time. What started as a project at UMBC has become a real venture, and post-graduation is when I commit to it completely growing the user base, launching the Pro tier, and building it into a sustainable business. UMBC’s entrepreneurship ecosystem gave me the foundation to make that leap, and my goal is to turn the momentum I’ve built here into a company that lasts.
Q: How has UMBC helped you get ready for life after graduation?
A: UMBC prepared me for life after graduation in a way I didn’t expect when I enrolled. I came for the technical foundation, but what I’m leaving with is the start of a real company. By the time I graduate, I won’t be starting from zero, I’ll be continuing something UMBC helped me build. That’s the best preparation I could have asked for.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?
A: The support here is real and hands-on, not just a brochure promise. As a solo founder, I expected to figure most things out alone. Instead I found mentors who take my work seriously, a competition that backed RepTrack Pro with real funding, and an accelerator that gave me structure and people to lean on. UMBC didn’t just let me build something on the side, it invested in it. That kind of support turns an individual effort into something bigger than what you could do on your own.
Manikanta Sirumalla (second from right) at a 1 Million Cups Baltimore event, part of a grassroots networking and educational program designed to connect local entrepreneurs with their communities.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
If you surveyed UMBC’s Class of 2026 and generated a word cloud, the word “community” would instantly dominate the screen. You might be tempted to dismiss it as a buzzword until you see how many graduating students highlight the communities they found and the communities they made as their defining experience of being a student at UMBC. “I can be myself here and I’m not going to be judged. Community is truly the word to describe UMBC,” says ShawnBearam, Jr., computer science.
Who are the graduates of the Class of 2026?
It’s safe to say they contain multitudes: There’s an engineering management graduate student from India who devoted time to helping Marylanders complete their taxes; an English and political science student who volunteered as an educational and workforce advocate for Baltimore City youth; a mathematician—and Survivor hopeful—teaching game theory and disease modeling to students in Rwanda while also helping them understand the U.S. college admissions process.
What do they have in common? If you meet a Retriever from the Class of 2026, you will walk away from the encounter feeling hopeful for the future. These leaders and educators and entertainers and researchers are making room in the world for each person’s voice to be heard and heeded. We can’t wait to see where they take it from here!
“It’s the people”
If community is the key takeaway from the Class of 2026, where are students finding their niche groups? Vunnathi Ankem, psychology, saw a way to bridge multiple areas together. As a resident assistant, a researcher, and a multifaceted student leader, she has spent her four years both building community and studying its impact on the human experience. From hosting public-service retreats in Baltimore to interviewing members of the South Asian diaspora for her thesis, Ankem’s work bridges the gap between community- centered research and heartfelt advocacy.
Vunnathi Ankem, psychology, looks forward to returning to her classical dancing roots as she heads to India for a nine-month research project through a Fulbright Scholarship.
As a newly awarded Fulbright Scholar to India, Ankem leaves behind a campus made stronger by her leadership and a personal roadmap focused on healing, mentorship, and global research. “When I think about what I’m proud of, it’s not the awards, it’s the people,” says Ankem. “I remember all the people who were there when I needed support—those people meant more to me than any accomplishment. My advice would be to think about what you’ll look back on. It will most likely be community—the people who were there when you weren’t at your best.”
Bearam in computer science was not content to confine himself to one campus community. He puts it plainly: “I found communities where it seemed that everyone was having fun together, and I wanted to be a part of that,” he says. He had roles with the events staff in Athletics, at UMBC’s research and technology park, bwtech@UMBC, and working as a lead
office assistant for the vice president of student affairs. If that wasn’t enough, he also served as a lead resident assistant and a first-year ambassador for the Student Government Association.
“I started to see that I was able to learn so much here,” says Bearam. “I saw people who looked like me in different spaces, and I knew they would be able to understand me, so I wanted to get involved.”
Using the skills he gained in his computer science major, Shawn Bearam, Jr., computer science, will be working as a project analyst for the State of Maryland within the Division of Information and Technology.
Rileigh Mansfield, mathematics, also made it her goal to build connections across a variety of UMBC communities. As a Meyerhoff Scholar, she served as a peer advisor and conducted research with multiple math professors, “but honestly,” she shares, “some of my most meaningful involvement has been more informal. Last spring, I was having a tough semester when I got invited to join a group from the math lounge to play the board game Catan on Tuesdays. It became a little community and something to look forward to every week—a much-needed step back from school and work. I actually play in competitive Catan tournaments now, and I’m even hosting an official tournament this spring through the math honors society.”
Looking toward sunny California skies, Rileigh Mansfield, mathematics, will start her Ph.D.at Stanford University in geophysics this fall.
“Just see it through”
Often, the defining moment in a student’s successful academic trajectory is a challenge that they can point back to. When Chinonso Ezeobi decided to pack up his life in Nigeria and come to the United States to pursue his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at UMBC, he was thrilled at the prospect of finding a program that would bring him fulfillment. However, financial struggles and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly threatened Ezeobi’s plans for the future.
“Once I navigated through one challenge, another one came in,” he says. “But at the end of the day, it was worth it. I was able to pull through all of those challenges. I was also able to transition from being an international student to having a green card through self-petition and self-advocacy, so I’m able to graduate without the additional pressure of thinking about my visa status while looking for jobs. My faith and the community at UMBC were essential in navigating through all challenges. The motivation was that I had a community of people who wanted my success, people who I felt would advocate for me even when I’m not in the room.”
Whenever Chinonso Ezeobi, Ph.D., electrical engineering, helps students solve their problems, he says, “I feel that the struggles I have experienced throughout my UMBC journey have given me this capacity to help others.”
Never one to be derailed, Ezeobi found mentors across campus who made it their mission to keep him on the path to his Ph.D. Ezeobi recognized how invaluable their support was and found his own ways to give back to the place and people who gave him so much, including keeping his door open to any students who may need an advocate on their side.
At one point, Maia Turman Cooke, English and political science, was thinking about backing out of her scholar’s program opportunity. In the end, though, she was surprised by how the McNair Scholars Program changed her life. “At the beginning of the application process, it seemed like a lot, and I wanted to quit—I didn’t want to join. The director of the McNair Scholars Program, Dr. Michael Hunt [’06, Ph.D. ’25], called me and said, ‘Just see it through, see it out. If you don’t like it when you get more involved, then you can leave.’”
Maia Turman Cooke, English and political science, will continue to pursue her passions this fall as she embarks on her journey toward a Ph.D. in English at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Turman Cooke processed the expectations of the programs—like pursuing graduate school—while recognizing she had so much to learn about how research worked. “I was so overwhelmed because I thought I had to solve every world problem. But my peers convinced me to stay. Soon, that work became a normal part of my schedule. I had no idea what research was, and now it’s something I’m super passionate about,” says Turman Cooke, who starts her Ph.D. in English at the University of Maryland, College Park this fall.
“A person who needs a path”
Sometimes the way forward is clearly marked, and other times Retrievers forge their own way. Kayla Nemirovsky, mathematics and financial economics, had a love for international travel and a scholarship with the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program but wasn’t sure how those interests combined with her majors.
For once, Kayla Nemirovsky, mathematics and financial economics, won’t be traveling far after graduation. She’ll be staying at UMBC to pursue her master’s in teaching.
Nemirovsky, who is staying at UMBC to pursue her master’s degree in teaching, charted her own route at UMBC as an Education Abroad ambassador, sharing widely with her peers the importance (and accessibility) of studying abroad for any major. Her Sondheim mentors connected her with an internship at the Maryland State Department of Education, and this experience helped her solidify her interest in math education curriculum and policy.
“I’m a person who needs a path,” says Nemirovsky, who has traveled to more than 30 countries and counting. “I realized once I got to college that there’s kind of no more path—I have to make my own. At was really scary to me, so having mentors who can help me make this path…give
me advice and offer suggestions, that was extremely helpful. I really believe you have to choose the people you look up to and kind of aspire to be them.”
Over his two years of graduate study at UMBC, Yash Bhatt, M.S., engineering management, saw his time at UMBC as much bigger than “just earning a degree.” He charted a path to contribute meaningfully to both the university and the greater Baltimore community. As a graduate student, Bhatt arrived at UMBC with an undergraduate degree and professional experience, but he says he was not yet the confident leader he is today.
Building on the experience and relationships he has poured into at UMBC, Yash Bhatt, M.S., engineering management, is exploring career options that will allow him to find impactful work in the United States.
Outside of the classroom, Bhatt dedicated himself to enhancing student life for his classmates. As a member of the Indian Graduate Student Association and the Black and Gold Student Advisory Board, he advocated for international students and contributed to university decision-making. Bhatt also joined two Alternative Spring Break experiences. Starting as a participant and returning as a program leader, Bhatt immersed himself in what he considers a genuine “American student experience,” building local friendships and making connections within local government and community organizations, in addition to the service the participants provided to the community.
“The best part of my UMBC experience has been the people and the sense of community,” says Bhatt. “UMBC has this unique balance—it’s diverse and full of opportunity like a larger university yet still close-knit enough that you truly feel seen and supported.”
Meet Natalie Blank ’08, acting, who started writing novels as a child and continued pursuing her passion for writing while studying dance and theatre at UMBC. To date, the author has published four novels, Rock Bottom Rise (2026), The Mass (2024), The Tangibles (2022), which received the In the Margins Book Award in 2023, and Walking Off Pluto (2014). Natalie primarily writes young adult and women’s fiction, exploring mental health and family relationships. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children. Take it away, Natalie!
Q: What brought you to UMBC?
A: I came to UMBC as a Linehan Artist Scholar. I remember auditioning for the theatre program with a fairly serious monologue. During the audition, the professors (Xerxes Mehta was my favorite professor) worked with me in a way I had never experienced before. They were able to push me to a level of vulnerability and emotional depth I didn’t know I was capable of as an actress. In that moment, I knew these were professors who understood how to challenge students and help them grow.
Q: How did you grow during your time at UMBC?
A: The Theatre Department had a huge impact on me, both creatively and personally. Through acting, I learned a lot about myself, not just as a performer, but also as a writer. I had the opportunity to portray many incredible characters, and through that process, I realized that storytelling in all its forms (acting in stories, creating stories, and writing stories) was at the core of who I am.
During my time at UMBC, I wrote several plays that were produced and performed. One of those plays eventually became my first novel, Walking Off Pluto, which I self-published in 2014. Since then, I have worked hard to build my writing career and transition into traditional publishing. My current goal is to secure literary representation and publish with a major publishing house.
Blank’s four novels: Walking Off Pluto (2014), The Tangibles (2022), The Mass (2024), and Rock Bottom Rise (2026)
While I only pursued theatre professionally for about two years after college, the lessons I learned have stayed with me and continue to shape my work as a writer. The program encouraged me to explore who I was, challenge my assumptions, and confront some of the fears and weaknesses that were holding me back from reaching my full potential. One of the biggest lessons was learning to take creative risks. In recent years, I’ve become much more willing to take chances and tell the stories I genuinely want to tell, and my readers love it!
Q: Can you tell us about your current job and your work as an author?
A: I’ve always been driven and largely self-taught, figuring out many aspects of my career on my own. After college, I pursued acting professionally, but the pay was inconsistent and often insufficient, so I also worked a day job to support myself. Eventually, I found my way into the school system, and after starting a family, I became a certified teacher. I work part-time as a special education teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools. I miss theatre and dance, but I can’t live without writing. It’s something I’ll pursue for the rest of my life.
Balancing work, writing, and family life is challenging, but I remain committed to my craft. I wake up before my children each morning to write and often return to my manuscript after they’ve gone to bed. I recently published my fourth novel, Rock Bottom Rise, in May 2026.
Blank at the book release party for “Rock Bottom Rise.”
* * * * *
UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Meet Carlos Carmona ’88, economics. After UMBC, Carlos built a long career in retail and commercial banking before retiring in 2020. Now, Carlos enjoys traveling the world with his wife, Maritza de Jesús, and exploring one of his early passions—storytelling. In 2025, Carlos realized a lifelong dream, becoming a published author with the launch of his debut novel, Unforgivable Sins: A Barrio Story. Take it away, Carlos!
Q: What initially brought you to UMBC?
A: Growing up in Baltimore City in the early ’80s was challenging. The closure of Bethlehem Steel had devastated the city and its economy, and for many young people, the path forward was unclear. The University System of Maryland offered something aspirational at a time when everything around us seemed uncertain.
At UMBC, I was exposed to people from different backgrounds, new ways of thinking, and possibilities beyond Baltimore City’s despair and anxiety. To this very day, I maintain close friendships from those years. In fact, I recently had dinner with Jim Zerr ’89 and his wife. My time at UMBC didn’t just educate me; it gave me lifelong relationships and a broader vision of what my life could eventually become.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?
Every journey is different, and I would never presume to define anyone else’s path. What I can share is that UMBC and its professors fostered an environment of openness and understanding. They recognized that academic success rarely follows a single route, and in that understanding, I found the confidence to keep moving forward. They reminded me that what matters most is not how you arrive, but that you keep going.
What has stayed with me most from my time at UMBC is the generosity of my fellow students. People shared their experiences, offered advice, exchanged resources, and opened doors for one another. Friendship and support seemed to appear wherever I turned. Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was to be part of a community that valued collaboration over competition. It is an experience for which I remain deeply grateful.
“
To those who welcomed me, encouraged me, and treated me as a friend, thank you.
Carlos Carmona ’88
economics
When I look back on my life, I do not see absence. I see family, friendship, opportunity, and countless people who helped shape the person I became. In the end, I was never without. If anything, I was blessed with more than I recognized at the time.
Q: Who in the UMBC community has inspired you or supported you?
A: As an undergraduate, Professor Sarah Voight was a guiding light. Though she taught in the Spanish Department and I majored in economics, our shared Puerto Rican heritage gave me something to hold on to, something familiar and relatable in a place that often wasn’t. Her advice and guidance were crucial in helping me continue my studies and ultimately graduate.
Q: Tell us about what you loved about your academic program or an organization you were involved in at UMBC.
A: I loved studying economics, finance, and accounting. I found the subjects as exciting as they were challenging. At the same time, I explored several liberal arts and language courses, which gave me a well-rounded foundation that has served me throughout my life. For many years, I was a financial advisor to Catholic parishes, a role I stepped back from due to serious health issues, though I aspire to return when I’m able.
Q: Can you tell us about your work as an author?
A: I never planned on becoming a writer. I was a banker, a man who lived by numbers, memos, and proposals, not by scenes or plotlines. Stories belonged to other people. At least that is what I believed until life forced me to reconsider what mattered. Cancer did that. Two rounds of chemo. A fight I barely survived. And somewhere in the middle of that darkness, when my world narrowed, something in me shifted. Ideas I had buried decades earlier began to surface. Words I never thought I could write spilled onto the page. It was as if the part of me I had ignored finally demanded to be heard.
That is how Unforgivable Sins was born, a book that split itself into two stories, A Barrio Story and The Rise of Charlie Green. I self‑published them because no one in the industry was waiting for stories like mine. I knew the audience would be small. I knew the road would be impossibly long. Editors have never shown interest in Latino urban crime fiction, not because the stories lack power, but because the gatekeepers have never known what to do with them. But I also knew these stories were missing from today’s literature. They were missing in 1986 when the idea first came to me at UMBC, and they are still missing in 2026. The absence never changed. I simply reached a point in my life where I refused to let that absence continue.
What I didn’t expect was what came next. The moment I finished those books; a third story consumed me. Legacy of Sins arrived like a storm, pulling both earlier stories forward. Instead of continued editing, marketing, polishing what I had just created, I found myself chasing the next chapter, the next revelation, the next plot twist. Some scenes took forever to finish in all three stories. Not because I lacked the words, but because the memories behind them were too painful. This is all fiction, yes, but parts of it were my life experience. Parts of it still are and will forever be.
Pictured right: The potential book cover for “Legacy of Sins: A Barrio Story” by author Carlos Carmona.
Now the story is almost complete. I’m editing, refining, shaping it the best someone with only their passion can. For no publishing company would. With the lessons learned from the first one, the never‑ending process of self‑publishing. I expect Legacy of Sins to be ready this summer or early fall.
I write because these stories once brought to life refused to let me go. I write because they were missing. I write because survival gave me a second chance, and I refuse to waste it.
* * * * *
UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Beryl Fuamazeh ’26, biology, and a minor in health, wellness, and aging, is on her way to Howard University College of Medicine. After connecting with Nancy Kusmaul, professor of social work, Beryl found her research interests piqued by learning more about healthcare and aging care. While at UMBC, Beryl worked as a nursing assistant at a retirement community and volunteered for an organization that supports people with disabilities and older adults. After presenting her research at UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day, she received the Erickson School of Aging Studies Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.
Beryl transferred to UMBC from the Community College of Baltimore County through the Degrees to Succeed program, and says that the support and funding she’s received from UMBC has made her education affordable and given her time to focus on her passion: healthcare and aging. Outside of school and work, she loves watching Korean dramas.
Q: Tell us about someone in the UMBC community who has inspired you.
A: Dr. Nancy Kusmaul is my research mentor, and she has been instrumental in my undergraduate research journey. The work she does to support the aging community has deeply inspired me. I have also been greatly influenced by Professor Mary Carter, an English professor here, who taught me how to better express myself through writing—a skill that was invaluable during my medical school application process. The support and guidance both faculty members have given me have truly shaped my experience at UMBC.
Q: Tell us about what you love about your academic program.
A: I’ve really enjoyed being part of the Erickson School of Aging Studies through my minor in health, wellness, and aging. Many of the classes I’ve taken have been meaningful because I can directly apply what I learn to my work as a nursing assistant in a retirement community. My biology major has also given me a strong foundation as I prepare to matriculate into medical school.
Q: What’s one thing you’d want someone to know about the support you find here?
A: Because it’s a smaller university, I’ve been able to build meaningful one-on-one relationships with professors, which has been incredibly valuable. I’ve also loved being surrounded by students who are passionate, driven, and genuinely supportive of one another, especially within the sciences. UMBC is a very supportive community.
Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place?
A: I wanted to further my education while building meaningful relationships along the way. As someone pursuing the pre-med path, I knew it was important to be surrounded by supportive, like-minded people, and UMBC provided that for me, especially as a transfer student from the Community College of Baltimore County.
I was also drawn to the smaller campus environment, which made it easier to adapt and connect with professors and peers. Through my community college’s Degrees to Succeed partnership program, I was introduced to UMBC and the opportunities it offered, including research experiences, mentorship, and a strong academic community.
Right: Fuamazeh next to her poster at URCAD 2025.
Q: Tell us about the people who are helping you grow at UMBC.
A: Dr. Nancy Kusmaul has been incredibly instrumental in helping me grow at UMBC. She helped me kickstart my undergraduate research journey, which initially felt very daunting. All it took was reaching out to her by email, and she was immediately supportive and responsive. She took time out of her busy schedule to help me develop an individualized research study focused on aging, a topic that has become deeply meaningful to me and the communities it impacts.
Q: How have you connected with the community?
A: I have been involved in community programs, like volunteering with the Trusted Ride Program at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital, which supports older adults and individuals with disabilities by helping them get to medical appointments safely. Experiences like this have allowed me to stay connected to the community while pursuing my interests in healthcare and aging.
Q: What would you tell others who are in your shoes about UMBC?
A: I transferred to UMBC from the Community College of Baltimore County, and through scholarships and financial support, including merit-based awards, UMBC helped ease the financial burden of pursuing higher education, which allowed me to focus more on my academics and future goals. I also felt well supported as a transfer student through the Degrees to Succeed program, even before officially transferring to UMBC. The transition felt smooth, and I always felt like there were people willing to help guide me along the way.
UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Meet Michael Cook ’20. While at UMBC, Michael majored in information systems with a minor in statistics. Outside of the classroom, he was a member of UMBC’s improv troupe, Dog-Collar Comedy, eventually serving as the group’s president. Today, Michael is a senior business intelligence analyst for Johns Hopkins University. But recently, Michael put his improv skills to good use once again when he turned a Dungeons & Dragons mistake into the idea behind his first book, He Who Speaks Out Of Turn, which the author published in May 2026. Take it away, Michael!
Q: What initially brought you to UMBC?
A: The big drivers for me were cost, convenience, and reputation. Of all the schools I applied to, UMBC gave me the best scholarship (in the sense that I had the least amount of tuition left over to pay myself), so it was the most affordable. In terms of convenience, UMBC was actually a shorter drive from my house than my high school was. This meant I could keep my part-time job and visit home whenever I wanted, which was most weekends, if nothing else than for the free laundry. Finally, I knew UMBC had a great reputation. I knew people, such as my own older brother, who had graduated from the school and gone on to successful jobs right out of college.
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UMBC is full of opportunities. Take them and try something new!
Michael Cook ’20
information systems
Q: Who in the UMBC community has inspired you or supported you?
A: While at UMBC, I worked in the Admissions Office as a tour guide (now called Grit Guides). One of the most valuable lessons I learned there was to communicate through stories rather than facts. Prospective students typically don’t care about statistics; they’re more interested in hearing things like, “In my second semester, I met my best friend at Salsarita’s.”
So, without realizing it, the Admissions Office trained me to think narratively and to look for the story in everyday events and present it in a way that would engage an audience. While I was never inspired to author a fantasy story specifically, my time in that position helped storytelling become second nature. That mindset probably helped me turn my D&D accident into a story in the first place. Which reminds me, I should shout out the Dungeon Master (DM) for that session: Thanks, Skip!
Q: Tell us about what you love about your academic program or an organization you were involved in at UMBC.
A: Other than the Admissions Office, I was also involved in UMBC’s improv team, Dog-Collar Comedy. We practiced once or twice a week and put on a show each semester, but it never felt like work. It felt like I was just hanging out with friends, which is really what it became over the years. One of the things I love most about the group is how we’ve maintained a strong community, even after graduation. We still keep in touch and get together as we can. In fact, many improv alumni were among the first people to order copies of my book!
Pictured above: Cook during an improv show when he was a student (left). Cook at a recent Dog-Collar Comedy alumni Christmas party (right).
Q: How did UMBC help prepare you for your next steps after graduation?
A: My coursework directly prepared me for the kind of technical work I do for Johns Hopkins now. The information systems program places a strong emphasis on SQL, which I use daily in my work. Even subjects that don’t directly apply to my current role, such as networking, gave me a broader understanding of how technology systems fit together. Just as important were the professional skills or “soft skills.” UMBC taught me how to manage my time, communicate effectively, and take ownership of my work. In my current position, I’m expected to work independently, balance multiple projects, and speak directly with customers. Because of the habits and skills I honed at UMBC, the transition from student to professional felt natural from the start.
Q: Can you tell us about your journey as an author?
A: He Who Speaks Out Of Turn began with a mistake. During Covid, I had participated in a D&D campaign virtually, where I accidentally created a typical medieval-era wizard character for a futuristic campaign. That sparked the idea of a time-traveling wizard who accidentally strands himself far in the future. Of course, the story morphed to be much more than that, but that is where it began.
In the intervening five years, I worked on the story with no intention to publish; I wrote 500 words here and there as I got spare time. I’ve always enjoyed stories, and when I was younger, I wanted to be an author, so it was a natural hobby for me. I moved multiple times and got married, and the story followed me through these different phases of life and grew as I did. One day last summer (2025), I typed the final word and finished the story. It was one of those moments where I paused and felt like, “Well, now what?” I had an entire story written, so I decided to look into publishing it. I worked with an editor to clean up the story and some friends to design the cover and map. By this spring, five years of writing, revising, and collaboration had transformed that hobby into a published novel.
People have asked me if the characters are based on people I know. The truth is, the core characters are just different aspects of my own personality; some of them are the best of me, some the worst, some who I aspire to be, and some who I never want to be. While I’ve never traveled through time or slain a dragon, I’ve felt the same loss they have, given into the same impulses, and made the same mistakes. I learned a lot about myself while I wrote this story, and I had a lot of fun with it. I hope people enjoy reading it as well.
Pictured right: Author Michael Cook holding a copy of his debut novel, He Who Speaks Out of Turn.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
For decades, the United States made steady progress in reducing surface ozone pollution, the main ingredient in smog. But that progress – achieved as vehicles, industries and power sources became cleaner – is increasingly being overshadowed by a different and growing source of ozone pollution: wildfires.
Our team of atmospheric and wildfirescientists analyzed wildfires’ contribution to surface ozone levels from 2003 to 2024 across the United States.
We found that the gases in wildfire smoke have reversed the national ozone trend, forcing a shift from declining ozone levels prior to 2015 to increasing ozone levels after 2015. We also found that the number of ozone-related premature deaths due to wildfires has been increasing by about 300 deaths per year since then.
Battling smog
Most people know ozone as the protective layer of the atmosphere high above the Earth that shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation. But ozone has two very different faces.
Los Angeles made ozone visible to the nation in the 1940s and 1950s, as thick, eye-stinging smog often blanketed the city. It turned an invisible chemistry problem into a public-health crisis people could see and feel. That crisis helped motivate decades of air pollution control efforts in California and, later, across the United States.
After the passage of the Clean Air Act and its amendments in the 1970s, the U.S. made steady progress in cleaning up surface ozone. Regulations on vehicles, power plants and industrial sources reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides and other ozone-forming chemicals.
To monitor the progress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has over 1,000 stations that measure ozone around the country. They cover many places, but mostly urban areas, and do not measure ground-level ozone everywhere at the neighborhood scale.
We were able to fill in the gaps by combining those monitoring station measurements with satellite-derived information about air pollution and human activity, along with weather and air quality model simulations. We then used artificial intelligence to estimate daily surface ozone levels everywhere in the contiguous U.S., with data every square kilometer, over the past 22 years.
The results show that national progress in reducing surface ozone reversed around 2015 as North America began to face more severe wildfires. In many regions, ozone levels are now increasing, especially in the western U.S. and the Midwest, where smoke and gases from wildfires are becoming more common as they are transported through the air.
Overall, surface ozone levels that had been falling by about 0.65 part per billion per year from 2003–2015 have since increased by about 0.13 parts per billion per year. If wildfires hadn’t been an influence, we found, the trend of falling surface ozone levels would have continued instead.
Ground-level ozone since 2015 has increased the most in areas where wildfire smoke increased. Minnesota, Wisconsin and other parts of the Midwest have experienced several summers of wildfire smoke from Canada. The map uses national ambient air quality standards. (Weizhi Deng et al., 2026)
People often think of wildfires as a problem for the western U.S., but smoke and gas pollutants from their emissions can travel thousands of miles, affecting communities far from the fires themselves.
The 2023 Canadian wildfires offered a vivid example. In much of the Midwest, ozone reached unhealthy levels for more than a week. The impact of wildfire smoke reached as far as Georgia and New York. That year, an additional 43 million Americans lived in areas with ozone exceeding healthy standards compared to previous years because of increased wildfire emissions.
Smoke reached far into the U.S. during Canada’s destructive 2023 wildfire season, as these measures of ground-level ozone over three weeks that summer show. (Weizhi Deng, CC BY-ND)
As the Earth and its atmosphere warm, wildfire seasons are becoming longer and more severe across many parts of North America, and the trend is predicted to continue. In line with projections, Canada experienced its most devastating wildfire seasons on record in 2023 and 2025. In January 2025, destructive fires burned more than 16,000 homes and businesses in and around Los Angeles during a time of year when such events have historically been uncommon.
The shift toward more fires suggests that the rising ozone problem could become even greater in the future. That’s a problem for human health.
Reducing exposure to ozone and its health risks
People can reduce their exposure to ozone pollution by checking air quality forecasts and limiting outdoor activities when wildfires are sending smoke into the air. But protecting public health in the long run will require broader actions to reduce ground-level ozone itself.
That includes efforts to mitigate fire risk by improving wildfire management, such as reducing brush and other dry undergrowth that can fuel fires, and also scaling back the causes of rising global temperatures, such as the burning of fossil fuels. As temperatures rise, the ground loses moisture, creating conditions for more extreme fires.
Protecting public health also means strengthening air quality forecasting systems to provide accurate early warnings, so people can take precautions, and maintaining air pollution monitoring networks and investing in satellite sensors to continue measuring progress, so problems can be identified and fixed.
Appropriately, chapter one of UMBC’s inaugural BookFest began at AOK Library Plaza. Hundreds of students gathered at the BookMarkIt to try letterpress printing, stitch pamphlets, create and swap zines, and browse a book arts display and used books.
Lindsay DiCuirci, associate professor of English, envisioned Bookfest ’26 after receiving professional development funds from the Breaking the M.O.L.D. leadership program in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences in spring 2025. Her proposal for the funds included hosting a book festival that explored both the creative, maker-based aspects of book history and the importance of advocacy and access. BookFest came to fruition this April when UMBC celebrated writers, readers, makers, and advocates during National Library Week.
A letterpress and zine swap were highlights for BookFest attendees.
“My own research is in early American book history, so I am drawn to all aspects of books across time and place,” DiCuirci says. “Given that we are also facing a major resurgence in book banning and censorship, I wanted to draw particular attention to attacks on libraries and the urgency around protecting our rights to read. Books by and about underrepresented people and experiences are being pulled from shelves across the country at the same time that funding for public schools and libraries is being slashed. I wanted BookFest to amplify this dynamic.”
A communal reading experience
One of the first conversations DiCuirci had about her idea was with Aditya Desai ’09, English, a program officer for Maryland Humanities who runs its Center for the Book and the One Maryland, One Book (OMOB) initiative. The pair decided that BookFest would celebrate OMOB—a communal reading experience for the state—by hosting Lawrence Burney, author of the 2026 OMOB selection, No Sense in Wishing. Burney attended BookFest and discussed his essay collection, growing up in Baltimore, and his deep relationship to music with Chris L. Terry, assistant professor of English.
Burney contended that everyone, no matter their age or life stage, can make valuable contributions to their community. “I think that’s one of the easiest ways any critic can kind of stunt their own growth, so I always make it a point to engage with people younger than me,” he said. As he leaned into writing and sharing his passions, he says he realized, “There is a way to amplify something while also having a challenging conversation about it.”
Desai also introduced DiCuirci to Maryland State Librarian Morgan Miller, who was instrumental in passing Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act. The pair collaborated on a BookFest panel called “Freedom to Read: Libraries and Our Democracy.”
Left: Students got to stitch together their own books at BookFest. Right: So many books, so little time!
Miller then brought John Owen into the mix. Owen is the librarian for the Maryland State Library of the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD), and throughout BookFest, UMBC raised funds for a nonprofit that supports the LBPD in its mission to make reading and all library services accessible to Marylanders. In partnership with Maryland Humanities, BookFest also served as a collection point for the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture’s annual book drive.
Stay tuned for the sequel
Craft and care were front and center throughout the festival. Graphic design senior Sonia Pivovarov brought the first iteration of BookFest to life with eye-catching print and digital advertising materials. The BookMarkIt purveyed BookFest-themed original creations and items from the Hilltop Print Shop, an instructional letterpress printing shop and mobile cart. Special Collections librarian Lindsey Loeper and DiCuirci built the shop with support from a Hrabowski Innovation Grant.
Hoping for a sequel to BookFest? The next iteration is already in the works, DiCuirci says, along with ideas for smaller pop-up events throughout the year to amplify the creative work of UMBC students.
By Kayla Logue ’27
Jenny O’Grady, assistant vice president for communications, (right), shares her love of bookmaking with students at BookFest.
When Chinonso Ezeobi decided to pack up his life and come to the United States to pursue his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at UMBC, he was thrilled at the prospect of finding a program that would bring him fulfillment. However, financial struggles and the impact of COVID pandemic quickly threatened Ezeobi’s plans for the future. Never one to be derailed, he found mentors across campus who made it their mission to keep him on the path to his Ph.D. Ezeobi recognized how invaluable their support was and found his own ways to give back to the place and people who gave him so much, including founding two organizations on campus and keeping his door open to any students who may be struggling.
Q: What brought you to the United States and to UMBC to earn your doctorate?
A: After earning my bachelor’s degree in Nigeria, I went into the telecommunications industry for about 15 years. Then I went to graduate school in Finland with the hope of completing my Ph.D. to qualify me to be a teacher, as I believed that I would impact people more by becoming a teacher. But, none of the Ph.D. programs I was interested in in Finland could give me full funding.
As part of my search for fully funded Ph.D. programs, my wife and I visited the United States in 2018 and had the opportunity to come to UMBC. I had a meeting with the chair of the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE). After that, my wife and I ate lunch in The Commons. There was a Nigerian flag hanging from the ceiling. When I saw it, I thought, “Oh, my people are represented here.” I applied for several Ph.D. programs and was offered admission to UMBC. Seeing the Nigerian flag that day played a big part in choosing UMBC for my doctoral study.
Q: What is your most meaningful memory from your time at UMBC?
A: When I came to UMBC, I actually didn’t have funding in my very first semester. So I struggled. I paid out of pocket from my savings. I discovered this wasn’t sustainable. At the end of my first semester, I had made up my mind to leave UMBC and transfer to a different university I had been admitted to because I still couldn’t get funding, and I couldn’t afford to pay anymore. I was stressed; I was anxious; I was depressed. I went to the inaugural meeting of the Black Graduate Student Organization. There were about 15 students in attendance as well as [President Emeritus] Freeman A. Hrabowski and [Dean Emerita of Graduate Studies] Janet Rutledge. Dr. Hrabowski and Dr. Rutledge went around the table and asked each student to share how we were faring and what our experiences at UMBC had been like. I told them it wasn’t easy. And the president directed me to work with Dr. Rutledge to sort my situation out. I and Dr. Rutledge had several one-on-one meetings afterwards where she helped me to navigate my challenges at UMBC. When I reached out to Dr. Rutledge the week I wanted to leave UMBC, she asked me to give her one more week to figure out how to fund me. That was what changed everything. I was able to get the support I needed, and the rest, they say, is history.
Ezeobi in Commencement regalia. (Courtesy of Ezeobi)
Q: How have you navigated and overcome the challenges you’ve faced during your time at UMBC?
A: I faced a lot of challenges in my time at UMBC. I was coming in from industry, and I had not been in school for a long time. I was trying to acclimatize. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in my second semester, and everybody was at home. It was so devastating for me as someone who loves to interact with other people in person. I had left a good job to come to graduate school, and I started to wonder, “Did I do the right thing?”
The kind of research I was doing in my previous lab was difficult to adjust, and I needed a little more help, but because everything was virtual it wasn’t easy to get the kind of help I needed. The lab was able to fund me for a semester, but unfortunately, the day my wife arrived in the United States they informed me that they couldn’t support me any longer. So now my wife had joined me but I had no source of income and funding for my Ph.D. program. The graduate program director of CSEE department offered me a grader position without tuition remission, which I accepted.
Then I got an email from Dr. Robin Cresiski asking if I was available to work with her in the Graduate School based on Dr. Rutledge’s recommendation. She was able to give me a position that could pay for my tuition and still allow me to work in the CSEE department. That was how my relationship with Dr. Cresiski started. She and the Graduate School have always been there for me.
The challenges with my research were similarly massive. Because my lab didn’t have funding, it was very self-driven research. My mentor, Dr. Anthony Johnson, was skeptical about the novelty of my research in the beginning since the ZBLAN sample [a fiber optics slab sample] I used had been around for a long time. Not only did I have to search for and obtain the samples and materials I needed, but I had to convince him that my research was worth it. I went the extra mile to go to the company where I got my samples (Thorlabs) and pulled them into a meeting with Dr. Johnson and I discussed my approach and possible outcome. The meeting highlighted the novelty of my approach to the ZBLAN material and that was how he came on board.
Ezeobi stands with an award for his work. (Courtesy of Ezeobi)
Once I navigated through one challenge, another one came in. But at the end of the day—it was worth it. I was able to pull through all of those challenges. I was also able to transition from being an international student to having a green card through self-petition and self-advocacy, so I’m able to graduate without the additional pressure of thinking about my visa status while looking for jobs. My faith and the community at UMBC were essential in navigating through all challenges. The motivation was that I had a community of people who wanted my success, people who I felt would advocate for me even when I’m not in the room.
I wouldn’t change my UMBC experience for anything. The struggles I’ve faced have been very, very challenging, but I’m glad I went through them. It has made me a better person. It has prepared me for the next phase of my life, which will be teaching. And when you’re teaching students, you teach with context of all of the challenges you have been through to try to make sure that the students have a good experience.
Q: How have your experiences engaging and organizing within UMBC’s graduate student community enhanced your journey here?
A: I know a lot of people on campus. When other graduate students have serious issues, they will come to me and share their challenges. I have ideas of who they can talk to and am able to connect them with people who can help. I follow through with whatever issues students are having and make sure they are solved. Some of the students will even request that I sit in meetings with them and help them navigate the conversation! Because of my advocacy and engagement work, I was also nominated to serve on a lot of committees, including a Student Emergency Fund disbursement committee that supports students when they experience financial hardships and need support with groceries. It’s been a good opportunity to get to know more people, and I’m glad that we’re able to make UMBC a better place.
I also have helped in organizing most of the Graduate School’s events through PROMISE. I make sure that I advertise the events in such a way that we bring graduate students together. After the COVID lockdowns ended, I helped improve turn-out at our in-person events. Many international graduate students like myself feel like when they come here, they want to be the best in everything: best in their class, best in their research. There’s nothing wrong with that, but what happens is that they end up not living. They don’t experience the school. Based on my experiences, I have seen that those who advance more in life are those who know people who can mention their names when they’re not in the room. One of the events we organize in the Graduate School is to help students understand how to access the resources on campus before they need it in order to enhance their experience at UMBC. We organize events as simple as a coffee hour with graduate students, where students can come and talk about their classes. It helps them to destress and creates an opportunity for them to see graduate students from other departments.
Doing all of this gives me fulfillment. It’s the same reason that I want to be a teacher: Whenever I help students solve their problems, I feel good about it. I feel that the struggles I have experienced throughout my UMBC journey have given me this capacity to help others.
Q: As an aspiring educator, what teaching practices from your time as a UMBC student do you want to carry forward?
A: Several of my UMBC professors, including Dr. Johnson, Dr. Fow-Sen Choa, and Dr. Gary Carter, have exemplified what it means to be a teacher. They make sure that every student is heard and seen. They assign amazing class projects. And they’re very responsive to email, even when I reach out to them late at night. I don’t think I’ve ever sent an email that they didn’t get back to almost immediately.
I also took some trainings with UMBC’s Center for Research, Teaching, and Learning on how to be a better teacher, on how to engage students and support active learning. I would highly recommend that UMBC graduate students who are aspiring faculty take this training in teaching, because earning a Ph.D. or being a good researcher does not automatically make one a good teacher.
In the course of my study here, I have also had the opportunity to participate in the UMBC Summer Enrichment Academy as an instructor and as a mentor to other instructors. I’ve been able to connect with high school students, teach them optics, try to help them be interested in engineering, and it has been fulfilling.
I’m hoping to get a faculty position and eventually a tenure track position around here after I graduate. I believe that having a bigger stage will present a bigger challenge, and will result to a bigger impact.
Kaleb Cave’s story is unique among almost all collegiate swimming and diving athletes: When he started college, he was not a strong swimmer.
He is, however, the youngest person ever to perform a standing double backflip. His athletic prowess had also earned him a spot on the USA Gymnastics national team in the Senior Elite Trampoline and Tumbling division.
So how did this mechanical engineering major and gymnast end up on the swimming and diving team? It started on Instagram: Cave’s account (@lub.lub), where he chronicles his athletic feats, has over 140,000 followers.
Junior computer science major Andy Vines, a member of the diving team, messaged Cave when he saw the tumbler was a fellow Retriever. “My mom always told me to find a way to get involved at UMBC, and I thought this might be it,” Cave says. “After reaching out to head dive coach Jeff Fisher, a few months later, I was on the team and in the water.”
From setback to success
While diving and tumbling have many similarities, the transition was anything but smooth water for Cave.
“Learning how to dive was more of a mental than a physical battle for me. With my gymnastics background, the flipping and twisting came naturally. However, I struggled —and still struggle—with my approach and entries into the water,” Cave says. “Landing on my head was definitely weird to get used to, especially when I’ve been landing on my feet all my life. My aerial awareness is pretty good, though. As a gymnast, I’m used to doubles and triples, so when I have to dial it down, my body doesn’t quite understand.”
Cave officially joined the UMBC swimming and diving team as a sophomore. He had a solid rookie campaign, qualifying for the finals in both the one- and three-meter board events at the America East Championships. However, less than a month later, his diving journey suffered a big setback.
Kaleb Cave competes in the qualifying round of the one-meter diving event at the America East Championships in February, 2026.
In March 2025, he ruptured his Achilles tendon at a tumbling national team camp. He had surgery five days later and started physical therapy eight weeks post-operation.
“My physical therapist did an amazing job getting me back to where I need to be, and he is still helping me become stronger,” Cave says. “In the beginning, physical therapy frustrated me—seeing how weak I was and how long it was taking to gain back little bits of strength was taxing on my mental health.”
However, he persisted with rehab and returned to competition in October 2025, just under seven months after the injury—much faster than anyone expected.
“It felt great,” said Cave. “My return didn’t feel rushed at all, just natural and smooth.”
Two for the team
In January 2026, Cave broke a 14-year-old school record en route to winning the three-meter competition at the Towson Diving Invitational. He qualified for NCAA Zones, the preliminary event for the NCAA Diving Championships, in the one- and three-meter events.
Two weeks later, Cave won bronze in both the one- and three-meter events at the America East Championships, helping lead the men’s swimming and diving team to its 15th title.
For Kaleb Cave (left), earning two individual medals was not as meaningful as contributing to the team championship.
Cave’s two medals “contributed to the team winning that title, which means more to me than if I had felt like I didn’t contribute to it. Those were also my first diving-related medals ever, which is special to me,” he adds.
With two full seasons of diving under his belt, Cave feels ready to level up. “Next year, I definitely think I can start pushing the difficulty, now that I’ve cleaned up my form a bit since my very first season.”
Being a student athlete is time-consuming, especially when learning a new sport and alongside a technical major like mechanical engineering, but Cave says UMBC has allowed him to succeed.
“UMBC provides so much support for student-athletes, whether it be a quiet place for us to study or one-on-one tutoring sessions. Teachers are always here to provide help when needed and guide you through the course content.” It seems that Cave has landed on his feet after all.
Meet Manpreet Suri ’14, M.S. ’15, information systems, an entrepreneur, digital solutions problem solver, McNair Scholar, and a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Suri found a community of support during his time at UMBC, and he credits his professors and UMBC Assistant Vice Provost and Assistant Dean Laila Shishineh for challenging him to meet his full potential. In his work, he finds fulfillment in building tools that make someone’s day easier and more efficient.
Q: What brought you to UMBC?
A: I wanted to be in a place where I wouldn’t get lost in the crowd—a place where I could learn, be challenged, and be supported. UMBC offered all of that, plus a community that genuinely cared about who I was becoming.
Q: What would you want another Retriever to know about you?
A: I recently joined Asurion as a group product manager on the Enterprise Client Experience team. At Asurion, I lead product strategy for tools that support the end-to-end experience of Fortune 500 partners and their customers, from digital onboarding to service delivery. I am a two-time master’s graduate, having earned my first degree at UMBC and my second at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business while working full time. My journey blends entrepreneurship, real estate, and digital innovation, always with a focus on solving real-world problems through community-driven solutions.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?
A: You’re never alone here. Whether it’s faculty, peers, or alumni—someone always shows up for you, challenges you to grow, and reminds you that your ideas and voice matter.
Left: Suri during his McNair Summer Research Fellowship designing a hardware-software prototype: a wearable Braille-based device for the visually impaired.
Q: Tell us about someone in the UMBC community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: Dr. Laila Shishineh encouraged me to merge my technical background with my passion for supporting others. Her mentorship helped me take risks, try new experiences, and believe that innovation can start in the classroom.
Dr. Shishineh was my Summer Bridge mentor and had an enormous influence on both my personal and professional trajectory. She encouraged me to take on extra credits early, accelerating my progress and building my confidence, and pushed me to get involved beyond the classroom—to form meaningful connections, volunteer, and embrace opportunities I otherwise might have overlooked.
With that encouragement, I joined the Refugee Youth Project through the Shriver Center, which eventually helped me connect with recruiters at General Electric. She supported my interest in becoming a resident assistant in the Discovery Scholars Living-Learning Community, and she constantly encouraged me to step into leadership roles, attend retreats like STRiVE, and explore other parts of campus life, including student government and community service.
Suri at the McNair Scholars induction ceremony in 2012.
Her mentorship came at a time when I was navigating unfamiliar territory as a first-generation student. My parents didn’t go to college, so having someone who believed in me, challenged me, and celebrated my wins made an enormous difference. She even supported me in applying to the McNair Scholars Program and helped me think about potential future paths in tech.
In so many ways, Laila was the single most influential person in my college journey—a steady source of humor, enthusiasm, and encouragement. I truly wouldn’t be where I am today without her.
Q: Tell us about what you loved about your academic program at UMBC.
A: The information systems program provided a powerful blend of technical skills and practical application. What I appreciated most was how interdisciplinary it felt—it taught me to think not just about technology itself, but about the people, systems, and structures that surround it. That balance shaped the way I approach product management and innovation today.
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My professors saw potential I didn’t see in myself. They helped me land my first internships, encouraged me to explore entrepreneurship, and taught me that curiosity and kindness are just as important as credentials.
Manpreet Suri '14, M.S. '15
Q: How did UMBC foster your interest in entrepreneurship?
A: My interest in entrepreneurship definitely sparked while at UMBC. While in Dr. Shaun Kane’s Prototyping and Design Lab I worked on a wearable Braille-based device for users with visual impairments. That was my first real experience with human-centered technology design. That project ultimately became the foundation of my McNair Scholars research and showed me how innovation and empathy can come together to solve real-world problems. It planted the seed for the entrepreneurial mindset I carry with me today.
Q: Since joining the UMBC community, in what ways have you felt supported and experienced personal growth?
A: My professors saw potential I didn’t see in myself. They helped me land my first internships, encouraged me to explore entrepreneurship, and taught me that curiosity and kindness are just as important as credentials.
Dr. Kimberly R. Moffitt remains one of the most memorable and impactful professors I’ve had in any academic setting. Her classes pushed me to consider identity, community, and social systems in ways I never had before. She introduced me to a world of nonfiction that I didn’t realize I’d been missing, and the discussions in her classroom helped balance the technical focus of my information systems coursework.
Her teaching style—thoughtful, engaging, and deeply human—broadened my perspective and made my overall academic experience richer and more holistic. I’m still grateful for the lasting impact her classes had on how I view people and the world.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about being a part of Retriever Nation?
A: Retriever Nation is about hustle, heart, and humility. I love how UMBC fosters change makers who don’t just talk about impact, they do the work and bring others with them.
Right: Suri as an undergraduate student at a skydiving experience during his summer internship with GE Aviation.
Q: What drives you to support UMBC?
A: UMBC changed the trajectory of my life. Giving back is my way of paying it forward—especially to programs that support first-generation students and innovators who just need a chance to be seen and supported. I’ll always be proud to support and be part of a community that shows up for people the way UMBC showed up for me.
UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
