“I often say that it is an honor to be the president of UMBC.

Ten years ago, when I became president, UMBC already was a university ‘on the move,’ with a talented and dedicated faculty and staff, including many who were present in 1966 at the University’s founding. These pioneers wanted to build a new and special university where scholars and students could thrive. UMBC’s success in the past 10 years is built on the strong foundation created by those who were here during its first 25 years.

Today we are far stronger and much further along than we could have expected. We couldn’t have expected that we would multiply our research and training dollars tenfold. We couldn’t have imagined that we would be receiving large numbers of million-dollar gifts, or that we would be building a new residence hall every year, or that we would be attracting larger and larger numbers of highly talented students.

Ten years ago, we had no idea how far we would come in such a short period of time.

Our success is the result of the brainpower of people at UMBC and the commitment of people who believe in us—from leaders of the community and elected officials to alumni, parents, and friends.

Our success is possible because so many people here have dared to dream—and to dream big."