Every so often, we’ll chat with an alum about what they do and how they got there. Today we’re talking with program auditor Mark DeNome ’07, emergency health services, ’10, master’s of public policy, about the path he took to UMBC and — ultimately — a career he truly loves.

Name: Mark DeNome
Job Title: Program Auditor
Employer:  BNL Incorporated
Scholarships Received at UMBC: President’s Fellow Scholarship; Bill Hathaway Award

Q:  Tell us a little about how you wound up at UMBC. What’s your background?

A:  I was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, by a single mother on a teacher’s salary. I was already well-acquainted with the primary in-state university most of my classmates selected; however, I knew for a true personal advancement, I would need to find an out-of-state school where I might get significant financial aid. I had a great experience on my campus tour, where I heard the inspiring Freeman Hrabowski speak and came across an exciting major in EHS that was new to me. The prospect of joining UMBC’s fine lacrosse team appealed to me, but what most influenced my decision was the nature of UMBC and the surrounding community to be both immersed yet intimate, a logical step between my rural upbringing and the hustle of the city. UMBC was an university, up-and-coming like I wanted to be.

Q:  How important was it to you to receive scholarships?

A:  Maybe I still would have come to UMBC, but I would have been in too much debt after undergrad to attend graduate school, at least right away. Or, maybe I would have stayed in my hometown and not have been exposed to such diverse demographics and ideas, nor have been able to re-invent myself with a new population which I think is very important for post-high school graduates. Also, I would have been working during semesters. Something so many people just do not understand is that focusing on coursework without having to work is a luxury, so I was fortunate UMBC tries to uphold that one does not have to be rich to be smart.

Q:  What drove your decision to study EHS as an undergraduate, and then Public Policy as a graduate student?

A:  I decided at age fourteen that I wanted to be a doctor, and recognized EHS as a program that would best prepare me and also set me apart from other applicants, which it succeeded in doing. However, once I was exposed to health care as a medical professional and started to understand some of the inefficiencies in the industry, I wanted to get involved in that right away. The Public Policy Department accepted me, and I maintained close ties with the EHS Department as I pursued my concentration in Health Politics.

Q:  Tell us about your career. Were there any lessons you learned, in particular, at UMBC that you carried with you into your work?

A: After more than fifty applications and several jobs below my abilities (not requiring any degree), I was encouraged by a fellow classmate to take an entry level job as a government consultant in emergency management, where I collected the nickname Cupcake from my nature to do the less desirable tasks willingly. As I executed assignments with excellence for my colleagues, I was given more and more responsibility; what had carried over from UMBC was the sense of we “take care of each other.” Today, I lead a team of government auditors. I am glad to be in a position where I can hire and empower driven individuals of all demographics who demonstrate their character in overcoming challenges, and I take pride in the look of pleasant surprise I get from colleagues when they learn I attended UMBC, and they see me for the first time as not what they expected of a white male manager in Northern Virginia.

Q:  Is there a particular class or professor who really inspired you?

A:  No question, my undergraduate adviser and Paramedic Instructor, Dwight Polk, instilled professionalism and showed compassion to all EHS students and alumnis, as did all the EHS staff, from whom I still receive job announcements via email. I have to acknowledge Mark Perks, who would take attendance in organic chemistry by stating the name of every student so so he knew each one, and those were 200 tough names to remember. At the graduate level, my government budgeting course, taught by Roy Meyers, advanced my analytical abilities and introduced me to several tools I consider very useful to the government contractors in the region.

Q:  What advice would you give to students considering UMBC?

A:  Realize that the world wants you to succeed, and that each moment is an opportunity to demonstrate your character to someone who wants to help a person who shares passion for the same things. And there is a lot we share.

Access Lens, a research project from Shaun Kane in the Department of Information Systems, was recently covered by Discovery News. This research was presented at the 2013 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing (CHI 2013).

Out of Mind, an exhibition curated by 2013 Visual Arts senior, Carlyn Thomas, opened last week in Baltimore’s Gallery 788. Coverage of the exhibition and video of a curatorial talk by Thomas, appeared Sunday in the Baltimore Post-Examiner.

The curatorial project is part of Thomas’ senior thesis as an art history & museum studies student, and continues through the 11th.

Learn more about the project here.

This week, UMBC’s Erickson School is spearheading the Executive Director Leadership Institute (EDLI) at the annual conference of the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) in Charlotte, North Carolina. The program has expanded from 40 to 200 participants in just one year. It offers a rigorous curriculum designed for rising community leaders in the senior living industry.

Chris Hollister, Southern Assisted Living co-founder and senior fellow at the Leadership Institute at the Erickson School, serves as EDLI 2013 co-leader; Erickson School Dean Judah Ronch serves on the EDLI faculty. Their curriculum will address topics from senior community culture to best practices for memory-impaired residents.

On Wednesday, May 1, John Jeffries, dean of the college of arts, humanities, and social sciences, gave the annual history department Low Lecture in celebration of his retirement.  The lecture can be seen below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdMAMJBEERw]

The lecture was followed by a celebratory reception in the Black Box Theatre.

The 2013 Baker Artist Award winners were announced this week, and Jenny O’Grady, Director of Alumni and Development Communications, is one of nine b-grant recipients.

The b-grant Prize is awarded annually to up to nine artists, and recognizes emerging artists and established artists exploring new directions in their work. Read more about the prize and view O’Grady’s work at the Baker Artist Awards website, or view the coverage of the awards’ announcement in the Baltimore Sun.

Congratulations to Julie Rosenthal, Program Management Specialist for the Asian Studies Program, who has been named the Association of Community Services Volunteer of the Year for her role in creating and directing the not-for-profit Food on the 15th Program. Hers is one of the 38th Annual Audrey Robbins Humanitarian Award given by the association. The award ceremony will be held on Friday, May 3, in Clarksville, MD.  Food on the 15th delivers groceries and toiletries to disadvantaged senior citizens in Jessup and Ellicott City.

The Association of Community Services (ACS) is a network of organizations and individuals serving Howard County residents across the spectrum of health, human services, the arts and the environment.  For more information, please go to: http://www.acshoco.org/.

News on the award was also reported in the Columbia Patch.

Starting this year, Food on the 15th also has a presence at UMBC, in cooperation with the Asian Studies Program.

“The worst kept secret in Maryland is that Martin O’Malley is running for president,” says Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, in a Washington Jewish Week article on O’Malley’s recent visit to Israel and Jordan. He suggests, “One of the important bases that has to be touched is showing you have foreign policy experience. Another is going to Israel. He’s doing a twofer.”

Formally, the 8-day visit was a trade mission; the O’Malley administration notes that in 2012 Israel was Maryland’s 43rd largest trading partner. Twenty Israeli companies already have offices in Maryland and three additional tech will open offices in the state soon.

Norris also this week commented in a Gazette story on a change to Maryland’s GOP leadership with the election of Dels. Nicholaus Kipke (R-Dist. 31) of Pasadena and Kathy Szeliga (R-Dist. 7) of Perry Hall to the positions of minority leader and minority whip. Norris suggests the selection of Kipke, a member of the House Tea Party Caucus, might indicate the Maryland GOP is moving further to the right. This could make GOP candidates less electable in the Democratic-leaning state and, Norris argues, “guarantees the party’s total irrelevance in Maryland.”

Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Michael Abrams was co-author on a presentation made recently at an international meeting focused on schizophrenia research (see citation below). The work demonstrates that among women with serious mental illness who are engaged in Maryland Medicaid, those with substance use disorders are at elevated risk for missing breast cancer screening. By somewhat surprising contrast, women with other mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia and depression), were not at elevated risk for missing such screening. For more information contact: mabrams@hilltop.umbc.edu.

Reference: Sullivan K,  Abrams M, Feldman S,  Myers S, McMahon R, Kelly D: “Analysis of Maryland Medicaid Data to Estimate Effects of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders on Breast Cancer Screening Utilization and Breast Cancer Prevalence,” 14th International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, April 14, 2013, Orlando, Florida (Poster Presentation).

Thomas F. Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun column responds head-on to arguments that the Department of Defense (DoD) should be exempt from sequestration.

Schaller describes several concerns regarding financial waste, fraud and abuse in the DoD, but notes, “The good news is that the sequester, coupled with America’s downsized presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, has actually reduced military spending significantly.”

He writes, “We can have a strong defense, support our troops and veterans, and do so without holding the Pentagon to different standards just because it has the unique and essential duty of defending the nation.”