UMBC History

Even in its earliest days, UMBC had a bookstore. At the university’s founding, the bookstore was the “go-to” place for the textbooks and course materials students needed to succeed. A university bookstore is also a hub of university life – selling everything from batteries to swag – and strategically placed to be where the students are. For many years, UMBC’s bookstore was located in the Academic Services Building and in the University Center before moving to its current two-level home in The Commons. The appeal of a career in the university bookstore biz was something that Robert Somers – the… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Taking Stock

UMBC is lauded for its strength in undergraduate teaching and its ability to involve undergraduates in academic research across disciplines. But how was this culture created? Some of it was there from the beginning in the hiring of young, ambitious professors who were eager to innovate. That pioneering spirit was crucial to the creation of UMBC’s interdisciplinary studies program (first known as “Option II”) in 1969. But much of the infrastructure has been developed by staff members dedicated to student success. UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars Program, created in 1988, is one of the landmark contributions to student success at the university… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Striving for the Best

The UMBC journey of Clolita Vitale ’75, theatre, eventually took her to a top leadership position at the university. But one of her first steps was moving into one of UMBC’s then-new residence halls as a student. Vitale vividly recalls the thrill of those first days of dorm life at UMBC. When she arrived at the university, the first dormitory building had not even opened. But as soon as Dorm I (now “Susquehanna Hall”) was ready in autumn 1970, Vitale was one of the first to move in. As a student and then as a resident assistant (RA), Vitale lived… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Resident Experts

Ernie Kent ’77, M.P.P. public policy, recently returned to campus to talk about her time as one the first group of 12 students enrolled in UMBC’s public policy master’s program – a group dubbed “the Dirty Dozen.” Many of those students – including Kent and other members of the program’s first graduating class of seven students in 1977 – went on to have distinguished careers in public service in Maryland and elsewhere. Indeed, Kent was among the most knowledgeable and effective figures in Maryland politics from the 1960s through her retirement from state government in 2000. Her career was spent… Continue Reading Power Player

UMBC boasts no ivy, and no classical columns. But as a university designed as a primarily-commuter campus in the turbulent 60s, it was also born free of any traditional restraints on how a campus should look. The low-slung Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery was the only one of the first wave of campus buildings that did not incorporate brick. Designers of the initial UMBC campus created buildings that were contemporary, accessible to all, and, as Joe Rexing, director of facilities management puts it, “forward-looking.” Rexing, who came to the university in 2004, adds that “[UMBC] is not as bound… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Green & Growing

UMBC boasts no ivy, and no classical columns. But as a university designed as a primarily-commuter campus in the turbulent 60s, it was also born free of any traditional restraints on how a campus should look. The low-slung Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery was the only one of the first wave of campus buildings that did not incorporate brick. Designers of the initial UMBC campus created buildings that were contemporary, accessible to all, and, as Joe Rexing, director of facilities management puts it, “forward-looking.” Rexing, who came to the university in 2004, adds that “[UMBC] is not as bound… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Green & Growing

UMBC’s reputation as a place where companies find terrific employees didn’t come out of thin air. The quality of its students and the reputation of its faculty for innovative teaching and attention to student success played a foundational role in building that pedigree. Yet it was UMBC staff members who built on that foundation to help students succeed in an increasingly competitive job market and forge UMBC’s widely acknowledged reputation as a magnet for employers looking to make the right hire. Betty Glascoe was there at the beginning, hired by UMBC in July 1970 to start a program (“The Placement… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Finding Paths

The ways that universities physically store knowledge – and allow the community to access it –are at the heart of the enterprise of learning and research. What is a university without its library – and its mainframes? The UMBC story usually begins with its doors opening for classes in September 1966. But, that’s skipping ahead a chapter. Or 25,000 chapters, to be precise. On February 1, 1965, UMBC’s very first employee arrived on campus. Fresh out of graduate school and six months of active duty in the Army Reserves, 24-year-old John Haskell was hired to build what we know today… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Books & Bytes

The ways that universities physically store knowledge – and allow the community to access it –are at the heart of the enterprise of learning and research. What is a university without its library – and its mainframes? The UMBC story usually begins with its doors opening for classes in September 1966. But, that’s skipping ahead a chapter. Or 25,000 chapters, to be precise. On February 1, 1965, UMBC’s very first employee arrived on campus. Fresh out of graduate school and six months of active duty in the Army Reserves, 24-year-old John Haskell was hired to build what we know today… Continue Reading Firm Foundations – Books & Bytes