All posts by: Magazine Editor

Alum Matthew Van Dyke '02 Still Missing in Libya

Freelance journalist Matthew Van Dyke ’02, political science, is still missing in Libya.

A recent story in The Atlantic magazine about another missing journalist mentions Van Dyke, who was originally reported missing March 13. Read the Atlantic story here.

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued an alert about Van Dyke’s disappearance earlier this month. He is one of 15 journalists currently missing or in government custody in Libya. Read the full story here and please share;  keeping Matthew in the public eye is important!

Alumni Chef Rev. Leo Patalinghug '92 Debuts Cookbook

The Rev. Leo Patalinghug ’92, political science, has taken his passion for cooking to the next level, with the publication of a cookbook inspired by his family and his faith. His book, “Grace Before Meals, Recipes and Inspiration for Family Meals and Family Life,” outlines philosophies he teaches both in church and on his online cooking show, “Grace Before Meals.”

Read more about the cookbook here.

UMBC Magazine featured Patalinghug in its Winter 2010 edition. Read the full article here.

In addition to running his cooking show, Patalinghug teaches future priests at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Last year, he appeared on the Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” on which the reverend bested the celebrity host with a fajita recipe inspired by Asian flavors.

Policing the Pastime

Kevin Cepelak ’05, political science, has a job that comes with a pass that gets him into any Major League Baseball (MLB) park. And when he gets to his office near New York City’s Grand Central Station each day, he rubs elbows with former greats of the game and a chance to work with former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and former New York City Police Department investigators. And he spends his days compiling reports that help MLB officials tackle problem issues in professional sports ranging from steroids to gambling.

Cepelak’s work as an analyst for MLB’s Department of Investigations – professional baseball’s internal watchdog on a variety of issues involving the sport’s integrity – is heady and somewhat surprising stuff for a recent UMBC graduate. After all, the sport that Cepelak played as a Retriever from 2002 through 2005 involved sticks, not bats.

“I never thought in a million years that I’d go from lacrosse to working in baseball,” says Cepelak over lunch at an Italian restaurant near MLB’s Park Avenue headquarters.

Read the full story in the Summer 2011 issue of UMBC Magazine.

“Gravity Goddess” Marla Streb M.S. '91, in City Paper

Former professional mountain biker Marla Streb, who earned her M.S. in Marine Estuary Environmental Science from UMBC in 1991, is featured in the Baltimore City Paper’s “bike issue” this week.
To quote the article:

She became a world-class contender in single-track downhill—in which, just as in downhill ski-racing, “you start at the top of a mountain and they time you as you go down, one at a time, a very treacherous course with jumps, and you get to the bottom in about five minutes,” she says. In her 16-year career, she won three national and two world championships, broke 24 bones, and wrote two books about it—a training guide and a memoir, Downhill: The Life Story of a Gravity Goddess.

Since returning recently to Baltimore with her family, Streb says she plans on working with city planners to make biking more accessible to all.
Read the full story in the Baltimore City Paper.

“Gravity Goddess” Marla Streb M.S. '91, in City Paper

Former professional mountain biker Marla Streb, who earned her M.S. in Marine Estuary Environmental Science from UMBC in 1991, is featured in the Baltimore City Paper’s “bike issue” this week.

To quote the article:

She became a world-class contender in single-track downhill—in which, just as in downhill ski-racing, “you start at the top of a mountain and they time you as you go down, one at a time, a very treacherous course with jumps, and you get to the bottom in about five minutes,” she says. In her 16-year career, she won three national and two world championships, broke 24 bones, and wrote two books about it—a training guide and a memoir, Downhill: The Life Story of a Gravity Goddess.

Since returning recently to Baltimore with her family, Streb says she plans on working with city planners to make biking more accessible to all.

Read the full story in the Baltimore City Paper.

Three PoliSci Alumni named “Twenty in Their 20s” by Daily Record

Eduardo Gonzalez ’06, Aaron Merki ’05, and Alicia Wilson ’04, all political science graduates, were named to The Daily Record’s 2011 list of “Twenty in Their 20s” award honorees. Merki was also the recipient of the 2010 UMBC Rising Star Award for young alumni service and is an associate at Venable, LLP. Wilson was the (inaugural) 2009 UMBC Rising Star Award winner and is an associate at Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC. Gonzalez writes for the Daily Record’s “Generation J.D.” blog.

Read more about Merki and Wilson on our UMBC Alumni Awards page:

GE Innovator: Brian Wayman '99, MechEng

Mechanical engineering major Brian Wayman ’99 is using the skills he learned at UMBC and at Georgia Tech (MS, Ph.D.) to improve the lives of premature babies.

A mechanical engineer at GE Healthcare, Wayman was profiled recently on the College of Engineering and IT’s website. Prior to joining GE in July 2010, Wayman was the R&D Team Lead, New Product Development at Becton Dickinson.

Brian has several patents and patent applications for his work at Becton Dickinson on disposable syringes designed to prevent re-use of the syringe following injection.  In addition, he has several publications in peer-reviewed bioengineering journals.

Read the full story here.

Alumna Publishes Novel: Loris Nebbia '95, English, MA '99

English alumna Loris Nebbia ’95 has published her first novel, Solomon’s Puzzle. A modern-day take of an age-old Bible tale, an excerpt of the 700-page book won the Maryland Writers’ Association’s 2010 prize for short fiction. (Nebbia also earned a master’s degree from UMBC in 1999.)

In an interview with the Annapolis Capital newspaper, Nebbia said writing a novel was a “dream come true.”

Learn more about Nebbia and Solomon’s Puzzle here.

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