All posts by: Magazine Editor

Q. We’ve named this feature “Up on the Roof” because taking visitors up to the very top of the Administration Building is one of your trademarks as UMBC’s president. How did it begin? – Richard Byrne ’86, English Editor, UMBC Magazine A. Actually, I’ll tell you the first person to take me there – and it’s a special memory. (Former president of UMBC) Michael Hooker took me there. He talked about the fact that the campus – prior to his coming – had been far more oriented towards Washington than Baltimore. The real question was: What should be our focus?… Continue Reading Up On The Roof – Winter 2009

Welcome to UMBC Magazine! The university has created this magazine to make connections. And, more specifically, reconnections. I can modestly put myself forward as one of those reconnections. I graduated from UMBC in December 1986 with a degree in English. I spent a lot of time away from the university’s orbit – in St. Louis, Prague, Sarajevo, Belgrade – pursuing a career in journalism and creative writing. And while I valued the education that UMBC gave me, I had essentially disconnected. A few years ago, I moved back to this area and went to work at The Chronicle of Higher… Continue Reading To You – Winter 2009

Q&A: Provost Elliot Hirschman On July 1, Elliot Hirshman became the new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at UMBC. Hirshman has a strong cross-disciplinary background (undergraduate degrees in economics and mathematics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from UCLA) and brings with him notable successes as a research and administrator – including a position as Chief Research Officer at George Washington University. UMBC Magazine asked Hirshman a few questions about his first few months on the job and how he traveled a path from a career as a researcher to the position of chief… Continue Reading The News – Winter 2009

Talk to Paula Whittington ’01, biological sciences, and you might not guess she’s a researcher who’s getting potentially life-saving results. Modest and soft-spoken, the former Meyerhoff Scholar recently published the findings from experiments that could help thousands of women with breast cancer. In her research, Whittington has shown that a form of vaccination using DNA can treat breast cancers that are resistant to other drugs. Her research was done on mice, but if the vaccine works similarly in people, it could give hope to women whose cancers either did not shrink when treated, or whose cancers have come back despite… Continue Reading The Joy in Discovery – Paula Whittington ’01, biological sciences

What is science telling us about autism? By Joel N. Shurkin Few medical disorders engender as much controversy as autism, or as it is now known, autism spectrum disorder or ASD. The term describes a range of behaviors. But what all people with ASD share is difficulty in social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow obsessive interests. The “hallmark,” according to the National Institutes of Health, is impaired social interaction. About 75 percent of autistics are mentally retarded (“low functioning”). But the spectrum is broad, and includes people like Ari Ne’eman; the scientist Temple… Continue Reading Spectrum Storms

Last year, Michael Graham ’84, M.P.S., was thinking about retirement as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves. After more than two decades in the reserves, Graham had risen to the rank of commander. And he did so as he built a successful career as a senior lobbyist for the American Dental Association. The Navy, however, had other ideas. “Last spring,” recalls Graham, “when I announced that I was about to retire, they said. “No, not quite. We’ve got one last trip for you. You’re going to Iraq.” Graham was deployed to Iraq in May of 2008 as an… Continue Reading Soldiering On – Michael Graham ’84, M.P.S.

For two decades, the Honors College at UMBC has offered select students an intensive and interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate education. As the college celebrated its 20th anniversary last fall, UMBC Magazine asked Mark Tyler ’99, history – an Honors College alumnus who is now an assistant state’s attorney in Anne Arundel County – and a current Honors College student, Allison Seyler ’11, to reflect on their experiences in the program. Q: What attracted you to the Honors College? Mark: It represented an opportunity to have a more up-close and in-depth interaction with peers and professors. I didn’t join the Honors… Continue Reading Over Coffee – Winter 2009

A UMBC Public Policy grad talks about his view of the 2008 campaign from the nerve center of Republican nominee John McCain’s headquarters. By Richard Byrne ’86 Benjamin Lloyd ’05 M.P.P. public policy, did better than get in on the ground floor of Arizona Sen. John McCain’s rollercoaster ride to the Republican nomination. He got involved at the very nadir of the campaign, when a nearly-toxic combination of financial profligacy and low poll numbers had nearly buried McCain’s presidential hopes. In August 2007, Lloyd climbed aboard McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” when the press had already written off the candidate as… Continue Reading Night Shift in the War Room – Benjamin Lloyd ’05, M.P.P.

With Randy Monroe, Head Coach, UMBC Men’s Basketball Randy Monroe describes being a head basketball coach as “being a Tootsie Roll pop: he’s all good things rolled up into one. He’s the mentor; he’s the father figure; he’s the coach; he’s the advisor.” Now in the midst of his fifth full season as UMBC’s coach, Monroe offered his blueprint for building the 2007-08 team that won an America East championship and took UMBC to the NCAA Men’s Division I Championship Tournament for the first time. As a man who takes all of his roles seriously, it’s no surprise that Monroe… Continue Reading How to Build a Championship Basketball Team