When Meyerhoff Scholar Isaac Matthews was a senior mechanical engineering major and a four-year track and field letterman, he was named the 2007 Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Sports Scholar of the Year.

The award is given annually by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine to the U.S. female and male athletes who best combine athletic and academic excellence with community activism.

Matthews was well known on campus as a dedicated mentor and tutor to young African American middle and high school students and as an accomplished cello player. He served as treasurer for UMBC's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and gave motivational talks to NASA Sharp students.

In the Diverse cover story, Matthews discussed his lifelong quest to shatter stereotypes about black students and the challenges of mentoring the younger generation. "There are more black doctors than there are basketball players, but you don't see the image…As the numbers increase, as you have more black engineers, professors, that image can be defeated by the numbers."