Two exceptional CNMS faculty members from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have received 2025 – 2026 University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents Faculty Awards. These prestigious awards recognize distinguished performance that consistently exceeds ordinary expectations.
Tara Carpenter, teaching professor, has been awarded the Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. This honor highlights faculty who demonstrate outstanding pedagogy, promote measurable gains in student learning, and innovate to support broad student success.
(Tara Carpenter, courtesy of Carpenter)
Carpenter teaches UMBC’s largest introductory chemistry courses, reaching more than 1,000 students per year—mostly first-year students and non-majors—in sections exceeding 250 students. Beyond delivering rigorous content, she focuses on teaching students how to learn, helping them build a growth mindset—the idea that abilities can be developed, rather than being innate—and succeed in college and beyond.
Over time, Carpenter’s efforts have significantly lowered drop-fail-withdraw (DFW) rates in General Chemistry I and II and strengthened students’ preparation for later courses such as Organic Chemistry. Carpenter consistently receives glowing student evaluations, and her work has influenced department- and campus-wide practices for over 15 years. She regularly shares her methods and results with national audiences of teaching professionals through scholarly publications and conference presentations.
“This award is deeply meaningful to me, because it reflects years of work focused on implementing evidence-based teaching practices at scale,” Carpenter says. “I firmly believe that every student can succeed in chemistry, which is why I integrate principles from the learning sciences into my teaching. Seeing students adopt a growth mindset and master concepts they once thought were out of reach is, and always will be, my driving passion.”
Professor Michael F. Summers has received the Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring. This award recognizes sustained excellence in mentoring that fosters student development, retention, and post-baccalaureate success, with a strong emphasis on inclusive excellence.
(Michael Summers, courtesy of Summers)
A longtime leader in UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars and G-RISE programs, Summers helped build nationally recognized models for increasing underrepresented minority (URM) success in STEM. Under his direction, Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows achieved a 90 percent retention rate—far above national averages of 55 – 64 percent for all Ph.D. students in STEM—and has produced 229 URM Ph.D. graduates since 2001.
In his own laboratory, 313 undergraduates and 74 graduate students/postdocs have received mentorship, either from Summers directly or from more advanced students he coached, creating a rich and resilient community of mentorship in his group. Many alumni from Summers’ laboratory have become faculty at institutions such as Harvard and Oxford, leaders in industry, and champions of the Meyerhoff philosophy elsewhere. His approach creates a strong sense of belonging, enabling students—often the first in their families to attend college—to conduct and publish high-impact research in top journals and reach their career goals.
“Mentoring is at the center of all we do in our lab,” Summers shares. “I often wake up in the morning excited and motivated by our latest lab experiments, but I go to bed at night thinking about the students—their own dreams, where they are now and where they are going. And my former mentees are so inspiring! It is my work with students that has brought me the greatest sense of satisfaction.”
Please join CNMS in congratulating Tara Carpenter and Michael Summers on these well-deserved honors. Their dedication to student success and inclusive excellence reflects the very best of UMBC.