BALTIMORE -- He was a "fat and nerdy" kid with a funny name who got picked on in school for being smart. Undeterred, he skipped several grades, completed college at age 19 and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics by age 24.
 
That's how UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski describes his passion for learning to Maryland Public Television's (MPT) Rhea Faiken in the latest edition of her one-on-one interview series "Impressions of", airing Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. on MPT.
 
The series, which features Maryland's best-known personalities interviewed by ArtWorks host Rhea Reikin, features a candid conversation with Hrabowski, covering his childhood growing up in segregated Birmingham, Ala., to his rise as president of UMBC.
 
In 2008, Hrabowski was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, which in 2009 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation and fourth among all colleges and universities in the nation for commitment to undergraduate teaching.  In 2009, Time magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents.