Welcome to the spring semester at UMBC. Faculty, staff, and students return to campus after holidays that I hope have rejuvenated all members of the academic community for the work ahead.

As many of you know, I have announced my plans to step down as Provost effective June 30, 2008. I have enjoyed my tenure as Provost, and I also look forward to returning to teach in the Political Science department. A campus committee conducted a national search for a new Provost, resulting in the selection of Dr. Elliot Hirshman, currently Chief Research Officer at George Washington University. I will be working closely with Dr. Hirshman throughout the spring semester to enable a smooth transition to the start of his appointment on July 1, 2008.

Since my arrival at UMBC in 1980, I have seen dramatic changes in the physical plant, enrollment, programs offered, leadership, and much more. I have also observed a spirit of dedication to a common mission that has persisted and carried the university through periods of budgetary strain and other challenges. We have a "can do" ethos as well as a focus on students that have been constants throughout 40 years of growth and change. These qualities make UMBC a special academic community, in which alumni, students, faculty, staff and administrators all take pride.

Exciting opportunities abound this semester for the UMBC community. Here is just a small sample.

• On February 5, award-winning novelist and UMBC Professor of Mathematics Manil Suri will read from and sign copies of his second book, The Age of Shiva at a reception on campus. Professor Suri is known for his dedication to students and teaching, including at the K-12 levels.

• Ebony magazine's February 2008 issue publishes its list of "30 on the Rise," a collection Young Leaders of the Future, which includes Kafui Dzirasa, a 2001 chemical engineering graduate, Meyerhoff Scholar, and former SGA president. Dzirasa went on to earn his Ph.D. in neurobiology from Duke, where he is currently a fourth-year medical student and postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Neurobiology at the Duke Medical Center.

• From the opening reception on January 31 through March 22, student, faculty, staff and the community can see the exhibit Andrea Robbins and Max Becher: Portraits at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC). This renowned husband-and-wife team of photographers spends weeks living within each of the communities they photograph, in an effort to create portraits that reveal the complex humanity of the subjects. The show is curated by Maurice Berger, Senior Research Scholar at the CADVC. To see the complete UMBC Arts Calendar for winter and spring, click http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/calendar/

• On April 4-5, the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program will celebrate its 20th Anniversary on campus and at Baltimore's Inner Harbor by hosting a Research Symposium and Celebration.

• On April 23, UMBC's 11th annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) will take place, highlighting accomplishments of more than 130 talented undergraduate students. Students currently conducting research or other creative work may apply during February to present at URCAD. Also during February, students may apply for up to $1,500 in funding to pursue their projects in the upcoming academic year. For more information, click http://www.umbc.edu/undergrad_ed/research/index.html

• Dr. Erle Ellis, ecologist and Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems, has collaborated with a colleague from McGill University to develop a new map of the world that shows earth's biosystems embedded within the human systems that also affect them. Students, faculty, and staff who would like to view a map of the earth showing these human biomes, click http://www.eoearth.org/article/Anthropogenic_biome_maps

• If you would like to hear a progress report from the design team for the new Performing Arts and Humanities Building, watch for announcements of the Town Hall meeting to take place at UMBC in April.

• Retriever athletic events make a great winter or spring activity. The men's basketball team has done very well in their first 20 games this season. Men's and women's spring lacrosse practices are underway. Other spring sports include baseball, softball, and men's and women's tennis and track & field. For Retriever information and schedules, click http://www.umbcretrievers.com/

I am proud of UMBC and of the many accomplishments of our outstanding students, faculty, and staff. Whether you arrived here as a UMBC pioneer in the late 1960's or just last week, you are now part of UMBC's proud history.

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