UMBC Honors and ACHIEVEMENTS

ALUMNI Achievements
UMBC alumni hold major positions in business, government, education and non-profit organizations. From prestigious award winners to Presidential advisors, UMBC alumni are helping to shape the future.

Diane Auer Jones ’88, M.S. applied molecular biology, is assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education. She was previously deputy associate director in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Adrienne Jones ’76, psychology, is the Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Pro Tem, the second highest ranking member of the House.

Three UMBC graduates have received one of the world's most selective academic awards, the Gates Cambridge Fellowship. Ian M. Ralby '02, modern languages and linguistics, M.A. intercultural communication, has received his second Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Ralby received his first award to study in Cambridge's M.Phil. in International Relations program; he will now pursue a Ph.D. in International Relations. In addition, Philip Graff '08, physics, will enter the Ph.D. program in Astrophysics, while Simon Gray '08, chemical engineering, will enter the M. Phil program in Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Deborah Lin '08, chemical engineering, received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides generous funding for Ph.D. study for top science, math and engineering students. In fall 2008, Lin will enter Stanfordís Ph.D. program in chemical engineering. Devin Burns '08, mechanical engineering, and Abraham Beyene '08, chemical engineering, and Mustapha Jamal '07, bioengineering and biomedical engineering, received Honorable Mention recognition. Jamal is currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University.

Christianna Stavroudis '08, modern languages and linguistics, was accepted into the Erasmus Mundus European Master's Program. She will pursue graduate study and research at universities in the Netherlands, Finland and Germany. Stavroudis also received a full scholarship from the program for non-European Union nationals with exceptional academic records.

Jack Mullee '08, American studies and sociology, received a Fulbright Research award to study the economy in Buenos Aires.

Jonathan Grabe '08, biological sciences, is one of just 40 students nationwide to receive a Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence for 2008-2009 to aid in his pursuit of an M.D. degree. Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and most distinguished national honor society dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all fields of higher education. Award selection is based on academic performance, citizenship and character.

David Chapman '08, M.S. computer science and electrical engineering, is the recipient of the distinguished NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship '08 award for his proposal entitled "Climate Studies Using the EOS Aqua Satellite Radiance Data Records."

Katerina Rohonyan, computer science and electrical engineering, placed third at the 2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. Rohanyan hopes to make the U.S. woman's Olympiad team. She will begin working at Microsoft in fall 2008.

UMBC theatre alumni were nominated for 2008 Helen Hayes awards. James Brown-Orleans '05 was nominated in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actor-Resident Play" for My Children! My Africa! at Studio Theatre. Mandy Moore '07 and Eric Messner '01 were both in productions nominated for the Canadian Embassy Award for Outstanding Ensemble: Moore was in Alone It Stands at The Keegan Theatre, and Messner was in Scenes from the Big Picture at Solas Nu.

Deborah Troutman ’04, Ph.D., Public Policy, has received a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship for 2007-2008. Fellows are selected based on their wide range of academic and community-based experience. Troutman is interim vice president of patient care services for Howard County General Hospital; director of nursing for emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital; and faculty associate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

Jason Reid ’07, mechanical engineering, was awarded the 2007 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, which will fund tuition, fees and living expenses for his pursuit of a Ph.D. at M.I.T.

Matthew Loftus ’07, chemistry, and Hadi Gharabaghi, ’06, visual arts, have received the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship. Only 34 students in the nation received this year’s scholarship, which honors high achieving students with financial need. Considered one of the most generous U.S. academic awards, it provides up to $50,000 per year for up to six years of graduate or professional study in any field.

Three members of the Class of 2007  – Joseph Maher, political science and environmental studies; Allen McFarland, political science and economics; and Bridget Wessel, modern languages and linguistics – and Kevin J. Mulroe ’98, M.A., Instructional Systems Design, won Fulbright Awards for international graduate study, research or teaching. This is the second year in a row that three UMBC students received the award. Vikas Behl ’04, English, a student in the M.A. in Instructional Systems Design program, also received a 2007 Fulbright Award.

Kevin M. Maxwell ’02 Ph.D., Language, Literacy & Culture, is the superintendent of schools for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. An educator for over 20 years, Maxwell previously served as a chief educational administrator, community superintendent, principal and teacher in Maryland public schools. Under his leadership as principal, Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County was named one of the 100 best high schools in the U.S.  Maxwell was recently named Public School Superintendent of the Year by the Fullwood Foundation.

Two UMBC alumni received the 2007 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Both are from the Class of 2005:  Oni Mapp, biochemistry and molecular biology, and Chad McCormick, biochemistry and molecular biology, philosophy. 

Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Eric Dyer '95, visual arts, was a finalist for the 2007 Sondheim Award, designed to assist Baltimore and D.C. artists by allowing them to pursue work that may not otherwise be possible. Seven finalists were chosen from a field of 320 applicants. Dyer received international recognition for his film "Copenhagen Cycles": the 2007 Director's Choice Award at the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film and Video Festival in New Jersey and the 2007 Best of Show award at the Rosebud Film Festival. The film was also screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and festivals in Turkey, Portugal, the Netherlands, England and Germany.

Three members of the Class of 2006 – Leonard Salter, Asynith Palmer and Pamela Greenlee, and Jessica Lewis ‘05 – won Fulbright Awards for international graduate study and research. This is the largest number of students receiving Fulbright awards since the University’s first Fulbright Scholar was selected in 2002.

Five UMBC alumni received the 2006 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship: Alex C. Szatmary '04, mechanical engineering; Gilbert G. Jose '05, biochemistry; Kenneth D. Gibbs '05, M13, biochemistry; Yvonne V. Edmonds '04, M11, physics; and Marie E. Cox '05, M13, mechanical engineering. In addition, six alumni won “honorable mention” for this award:  Chad McCormick ’05, biochemistry; Oni Mapp ’05 biochemistry; Kristi Harris ’01 physics; Jennifer Greene ’05 bioinformatics; and Michelle Figgs ’05 chemistry. This fellowship provides full support for up to three years of graduate study in the U.S. or abroad. Winners attend the top universities in the U.S. and the world. There were 907 winners announced nationwide.

Three alumni received 2006 GEM fellowships (National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Sciences Fellows): Kyla McMullen ’05, computer science, Nwokedi Ikida ’04, computer science and Charita Collins ’03, mechanical engineering.

Pascal Charbonneau ’06, financial economics, and Eugene Perelshteyn ’04, computer science, have been named International Grandmasters in chess.

Post-doctoral Fellow Victoria D’Souza ‘02, Ph.D. biochemistry and molecular biology, is on the faculty at Harvard University. She received a $2-million start-up package from Harvard’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. While at UMBC, D’Souza worked in Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Mike Summers’ laboratory.

Richard Byrne ’86, English, received the inaugural Prague Post Playwriting Festival Award. In addition to a cash award, Byrne’s play received a full production at Prague’s Divadlo Minor Theater in 2006.

Todd Eberly ’06, Ph.D. policy sciences, received the 2006 Annual Dissertation Award from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

Harry S. Johnson ’76, political science, a partner in the Baltimore law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, was the first African-American president of the Maryland Bar Association.

Kevin Maxwell, ’02, Ph.D. language, literacy and culture, is superintendent of Anne Arundel County (Md.) Public Schools.

*Last updated 7/16/2008