Dawn Bennett, Mechanical Engineering, Awarded Henry C. Welcome Fellowship
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dawn Bennett is one of ten faculty members from universities in Maryland awarded a 2004 Henry C. Welcome Fellowship Grant by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The Welcome Fellowship program is an incentive grant program designed to help institutions attract and maintain a diverse faculty. Awards are made to new, tenure-track or tenured, full-time minority faculty members nominated by their college president. The grants provide each fellow with $20,000 over a three-year period for research and education expenses.

The fellowship honors the late Dr. Henry C. Welcome, a prominent Baltimore physician who served on the State Board of Higher Education, the predecessor of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Welcome was also active in politics and the civil rights movement with his wife, the late Senator Verda F. Welcome, the first black woman in the United States to be elected a state senator.

UMBC Student-Athletes Named America East Conference Scholar-Athletes
UMBC's Lana Khvalina and Adam Grossman were named America East Conference Scholar-Athletes for their respective sports.

For Khvalina, the award was another in her celebrated career as one of UMBC's best-ever student-athletes. The tennis standout recently became UMBC's first-ever two-time First Team Academic All American after completing her undergraduate program with a 4.0 grade-point average in three years. The native of Rochester, New York also received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, which she will use to attend law school at the College of William & Mary in the fall. A political science major, Khvalina posted a 62-20 record on the court and participated in a pair of NCAA Tournaments for the Retrievers.

Grossman earned the award for both indoor and outdoor men's track and field. The sophomore won the 55 meters and finished second in the 200 meters at the America East Indoor Track & Field Championships, and was having an excellent outdoor season until suffering an injury at the outdoor championships. The Pikesville (MD) High School graduate is majoring in environmental sciences.

The America East Conference awards the honor in each of its 22 championship sports.

UMBC to Host 2005 America East Swimming & Diving Championships
UMBC has been selected as host to the 2005 America East Swimming & Diving Championships. With the opportunity comes UMBC's first chance to host an America East Championship in any sport since joining the league in 2003.

The championships, which are scheduled for February 18-20, will be held in the UMBC Natatorium, an indoor facility that houses an eight-lane, 25-yard pool, separate diving well, and balcony seating for spectators. In past years, it has served host to numerous competitions, including the Northeast Conference Championships.

At the three-day event, the UMBC men's swimming & diving team will look to defend their crown as America East champions, while winning their eighth straight league title overall. The Retriever women, who finished second to conference rival Northeastern in 2004, will vie for their first America East crown.

Corris Davis and David Sanders, UMBC Classic Upward Bound, Participate in Workshop Panel
Corris Davis, assistant director, and David Sanders, academic advisor/counselor of the UMBC Classic Upward Bound Program, participated as panelists at the Counselors of Color Workshop of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) on July 16.

The panel, entitled, "Establishing Partnerships that Work: the Value of Non-Profit Organizations in Counseling and Recruitment of Diverse Populations," was designed to give counselors responsible for recruiting underserved populations insight into programs that help these populations with the college admissions process. Other members of the panel were Jessica Arkin, National Director of the Ventures Scholars Program, Alexandra Quinn of College Summit and Jimmy Tadlock of The College Bound Foundation.

The UMBC Upward Bound Programs, a federally funded TRiO program hosted by UMBC, is designed to help low-income, first generation high school students gain the skills necessary to successfully matriculate to and graduate from post-secondary education. The program currently serves 70 students from the Baltimore metropolitan area. If you would like more information about the Upward Bound Program, please visit the office in Mathematics/Psychology Building, room 007, or call ext. 5-2700.