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.

Ian M. Ralby ’02, modern languages and linguistics, M.A. intercultural communication, has received the 2007 Gates Cambridge Scholarship, one of the most selective academic awards in the world. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Cambridge recipients are chosen based on “intellectual ability, leadership capacity and desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by providing service to their communities and applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others.” Ralby will begin a M.Phil. in International Relations at Cambridge in fall 2007.

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 3/14/2008