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Leading the Maryland Bar Association Harry S. Johnson, Political Science ’76, a partner in the Baltimore law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, became president of the Maryland Bar Association in July 2003. He is the first African-American president of the 20,000-member organization. As president, he hopes to encourage lawyers to be leaders in the community and enhance the involvement of minorities in the legal profession. After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law, Johnson joined Whiteford, Taylor & Preston and in 1986 became the firm’s first African-American partner. His legal work focuses on product liability, mass tort,… Continue Reading Leading the Maryland Bar Assocation

Telling the Story of Afghan Women In the two years since the horrific attacks of September 11 and the ensuing American invasion of Afghanistan, the world’s attention has shifted away from the plight of the Afghan people, who have been ravaged by decades of war. But even before 9-11, Anne Brodsky, an associate professor of psychology and affiliate professor of women’s studies at UMBC, was already risking her life to tell the story of Afghan women under the oppression of the Taliban and other fundamentalist Islamic factions and she continues that fight today. Brodsky’s research background studying the resilience of… Continue Reading Telling the Story of Afghan Women

Discovering Her Direction Reflecting on her life’s work, Karen Osborne, a senior statistical consultant for Fortune 500 executives for the past six years, made an important discovery. “I realized that, in my career, what I enjoyed most was teaching and training customers and internal staff how to use statistics to enhance their marketing,” she says. Now, Osborne is a Ph.D. student and graduate assistant in UMBC’s mathematics and statistics department, in order to pursue her goal of becoming a statistics professor. With a B.S. in mathematics and statistics and an M.S. in statistics, Osborne has had a keen interest in… Continue Reading Discovering Her Direction

UMBC’s Impressive Incoming Classes UMBC’s reputation just got hotter with the arrival of our incoming undergraduate and graduate classes. This year’s freshman class of 1550 is our largest since 1986. Graduate School enrollment is on the rise, and 500 new graduate students will attend UMBC this year. We also welcome 1100 talented transfer students.   Our incoming freshman class boasts an impressive and diverse list of achievements. *Their average SAT is 1220. The average SAT for incoming UMBC Honors College students is 1400. *They are extremely accomplished, and include: National Merit Scholars, Eagle Scouts, Model U.N. participants, community activists, chess… Continue Reading UMBC’s Impressive Incoming Classes

UMBC IS A HOT SCHOOL! In August 2002, UMBC was named one of a dozen Hot Schools” by Kaplan/Newsweek 2003 How to Get Into College” guide. UMBC joined some prestigious company on the list of Hot Schools, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Boston College, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Washington at Seattle, and Macalester College. Hot schools were selected based on academic prowess, affordability, location, and, of course, surging popularity. The guide noted, “With a tough economy, the hottest schools may well be the best bargains – those offering excellent academics… Continue Reading Outstanding Results by Any Measure

A Scholar and an Athlete   Karl Strauss epitomizes the phrase “student-athlete.” As a swimmer, he was part of four straight ECAC Championship teams and 2003 men’s co-captain, but he worked equally hard academically, and was the men’s winner of the Matt Skalsky Outstanding Scholar Athlete award. A member of Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa, Strauss compiled a 3.85 GPA and served as the treasurer of the Student Athlete Advisory Council. He was one of two students awarded the Outstanding Scholarly Leader Award by the Political Science department. Strauss placed first in the 200 meter breaststroke… Continue Reading A Scholar and an Athlete

Turning Dreams into Plans   Having grown up near the campus of Tuskegee University, Jasmine McDonald was taught the importance of higher education at an early age. “My late grandparents were very college and academics-oriented, so a question that has driven me throughout my education has been ‘How will I make them proud of me?’” she says. McDonald, who graduated in May with a B.S. in Chemistry, has done a lot to be proud of during her UMBC years. As a Meyerhoff scholar working in Dr. Michael Summers’ Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) lab, she was part of a research… Continue Reading Turning Dreams into Plans

Leaping to New Heights In June, senior jumper Huguens Jean became the third Retriever to earn Division I All-American honors. The powerfully built Jean, on course to earn a degree in computer engineering next spring, literally leaped to new heights during his spectacular athletic career at UMBC. Jean is the second Retriever track and field athlete to earn All-American honors in two years (the other is Cleopatra Borel), after placing fourth in the nation at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump this past June. Standing just 6’, his effort of 7’ 3¼” broke his own school record by… Continue Reading Leaping to New Heights

Service and Scholarship OrLando Yarborough, who graduated in May with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, is on his way to Yale University’s biomedical research doctoral program, but it’s not the first time, nor likely the last, that he will be counted among the elite of scholarship and research. In addition to being a Meyerhoff Scholar at UMBC, Yarborough was part of the Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the world’s top biomedical research institutions. For the past two summers, through the NIH UGSP’s Summer Biomedical Research Training Internship, Yarborough worked under the mentorship… Continue Reading Service and Scholarship

A Future Light on Broadway Doug Yetter, who has directed, written and/or conducted over 200 musicals, was one of seven finalists for UMBC’s 2003 valedictorian and graduated in May with a 4.0 GPA. This fall, he begins the world’s only graduate program in musical theatre writing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he has received a full scholarship and housing allowance. Yetter originally came to UMBC’s music department as an accompanist in 1998 and enrolled in the undergraduate program the following year. He began his career in musical theatre in Denver and has been involved in… Continue Reading A Future Light on Broadway

Caring for Communities Sipi Gupta’s summer plans begin at the Office of Homeless Services in Baltimore and then take her to a community health organization in West India. At the Office of Homeless Services, Gupta will help evaluate the 2002-03 Code Blue Policy, which includes a first-time program to find shelter for the homeless when temperatures fall to a minimum number of degrees. Her internship is sponsored by the Abell Foundation. In India, Gupta will survey community needs, including access to water for the elderly, and vision care. Gupta, who has been a volunteer coordinator at UMBC’s Shriver Center, received both… Continue Reading Caring for Communities