Alumni

Normally, a spring soccer match would not garner a tremendous amount of attention, even in a soccer-crazed area like the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. corridor. But UMBC’s contest vs. Georgetown, a.k.a., “Kicks for Chase,” on the evening of Saturday, April 13, at Retriever Soccer Park should be an exception. First off, the game pits a pair of great programs coming off magical 2012 fall campaigns. The Retrievers won their second America East title in three years, advanced past Old Dominion and played defending national champion North Carolina to a scoreless draw in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. (The Tar Heels… Continue Reading Soccer Team to Raise Money to Honor Alum’s Late Son

Annapolis-area blues duo Swampcandy — one half of which is comprised of bassist Joseph Mitchell ’09, music — launched a new CD and documentary film this month, according to a feature in the Capital newspaper. The article states: “Fresh in the footsteps of the last month’s successful Annapolis Film Festival, the combination of the 17-song CD, the vinyl release and the film premiere of “Midnight Creep” melds an already deep music scene to the emerging focus on film, underscoring Annapolis’s art-for-art’s-sake scene. The crowd-funded film, like the duo’s music, is a mix of genres — part documentary, part music video,… Continue Reading Mitchell ’09, Music, Launches CD and Film with Band Swampcandy

The team of UMBC computer science professor Yelena Yesha and alumnae Karuna Joshi M.S. ’99, Ph.D. ’12, computer science, and Lily Bengfort ’93, English, has been selected for the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program for April. The NSF I-Corps is a set of activities and programs that prepare scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and broadens the impact of select, NSF-funded, basic-research projects. Combining experience and guidance from established entrepreneurs with a targeted curriculum, I-Corps is a public-private partnership program that teaches grantees to identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from academic research, and offers… Continue Reading Alumnae Selected for NSF Innovation Corps

UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture opened its annual MFA thesis exhibition this week, featuring five new MFA graduates, including two previous UMBC alumnae. The show will be open to the public through Saturday, April 20. This year’s Imaging and Digital Arts graduates displaying work in the exhibition include Kristen Anchor ’02, visual arts, Mieke Gentis, Katie Heater ’09, visual arts, Gianfranco Mirizzi and Steve Yeager. The work selected represents the culmination of each student’s unique experience in UMBC’s dynamic and demanding MFA program. An opening reception at the CADVC was held on Thursday April 4.

In keeping with the zombie-fied theme of this year’s Career Week (April 1-4), dozens of alumni are coming back to their alma mater to help current students understand that finding a job doesn’t have to be scary at all. On Tuesday alumni panelists spoke about “How to get a job in any major:”  Tyrone Spady ’99, biological sciences (Legislative Affairs Officer and Lobbyist, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology);  Chris Magaha ’03, information systems management (Operational Programs Manager – National Security Systems, Department of Defense); Maggie Lebherz ’08, modern languages and linguistics (Owner, Lebherz Oil and Vinegar Emporium); Joshua… Continue Reading Career Week Highlights Alumni, Helps Students Succeed

Vivian Ekey ’11, political science and modern languages and linguistics, was recently chosen to be a Rangel Fellow. The Rangel Graduate Fellowship is a program that aims to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers in the Foreign Service in which they can help formulate, represent and implement U.S. foreign policy. Each year, the Rangel Program selects 20 outstanding Rangel Fellows in a highly competitive nationwide process and helps support them through two years of graduate study, internships and professional development activities, and entry into the Foreign Service. As a Humanities Scholar at UMBC, Ekey traveled to Argentina and… Continue Reading Ekey ’11, PoliSci and MLL, Named Rangel Fellow

A native of Iran, Sara Khaki ’10, visual arts, has seen the after-effects of war first-hand. Now she’s combining her passion for film making and the love of her home country into a documentary that examines how one doctor has “dedicated his life to offering hope and healing to those whose lives and bodies have been ravaged by war.” Khaki’s film, “Facing the Mirror,” recently won the Center for Asian American Media’s “Ready, Set, Pitch” award — along with $5,000 in research and development funding to help expand the documentary to full-length. She is also currently running an indiegogo campaign… Continue Reading Khaki ’10, Vis Arts, Explores Impact of War in Film

Students kicked off Career Week 2013 a bit more “dressed to impress” than normal this year thanks to alumni, staff and faculty donations to “Clothes The Deal,” a program through which students improved their career wardrobes (for free!) and better prepared themselves for future job searches. See the full Career Week schedule here. Several dozen students waited in line outside UMBC’s Women’s Center Thursday morning for the first crack at hundreds of pieces of donated business attire: skirts, blazers, ties, and suits. By the end of the event Friday afternoon, 362 students had taken at least one piece of clothing,… Continue Reading Alumni Help Student Job Searchers “Clothes The Deal”

Two alumni appear in a new promotional video launched by UMBC’s Department of Physics. The video, which talks about the types of study and research conducted within the department, featured physics alumni Antonia Gambacorta ’08, Ph.D., who is a staff physicist for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Paul Cunningham ’10, Ph.D., who is a staff physicist for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. “Being at UMBC opened a door that proved critical in launching my career,” said Gambacorta. “I had the opportunity to learn from the leading experts in the field of remote sensing and I had access… Continue Reading Ph.D. Alumni Help Promote Department of Physics

Timothy Lynch ’87, interdisciplinary studies, was recognized at the 2013 Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards, an annual celebration of the accomplishments faculty and staff campus- and system-wide. Lynch was honored with the Presidential Distinguished Staff Award-Professional Staff for his work as the assistant director of summer, winter, and special programs. This award recognizes exceptional performance, leadership and service by a full-time member of the associate staff. Lynch’s contributions were summarized in the awards program: “Since graduating from UMBC in 1987, Timothy Lynch’s commitment to student service, has been unwavering in dedication. [. . .] In his role as assistant director,… Continue Reading Lynch ’87, interdisciplinary studies, Honored with Presidential Distinguished Staff Award