Meet Sean McWilliams, M.S. ‘16, applied mathematics. Sean is a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price and an active member of the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving as one of the co-chairs of the Alumni Awards committee. Sean was a non-traditional student who found his way to UMBC as a part-time graduate student while working full-time at T. Rowe Price. Take it away, Sean!
Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC?
A: After working for a few years I deeply missed the academic rigor of studying mathematics. I wanted to study more math at the graduate level, mostly out of personal interest, while I continued to work. I also wanted to take the same classes that the full-time graduate students would be taking. UMBC’s applied mathematics program was the only one that offered classes with the level of rigor I was seeking that would work with my schedule.
Q: What’s your favorite part of Retriever Nation?
A: I love meeting new alumni and learning about how UMBC helped launch their personal and professional successes after graduation.
Members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors with UMBC’s Director of Alumni Engagement, Stanyell Odom. Pictured left to right: Sean McWilliams, M.S. ’16, Zozscha Bomhardt ’93, Brian Frazee ’11, M.P.P. ’12., Kevin Yang ’07, Bobby Lubaszewski ’10, M.P.S. ’23, and Stanyell Odom.
Q. What is your HOW? Where did you find support?
A: I enjoyed all of my classes at UMBC and found the professors to be almost universally excellent and passionate teachers. I had especially memorable experiences taking partial differential equations with Kathleen Hoffman, stochastic processes with Muruhan Rathinam, and applied analysis with Animikh Biswas.
Q: What drives you to support UMBC?
A: I specifically donate to support the Alumni Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarships this fund supports often have a direct and immediate impact on the recipients’ ability to complete their degrees. It’s gratifying to know my donations help support the fund’s ability to continue to deliver that impact.
About the Alumni Association Board of Directors
UMBC’s Alumni Association is a non-dues-paying organization and is led by a volunteerBoard of Directors—volunteer graduates, like Sean, who support advancing the mission and vision of the association and, by extension, UMBC, through their visibility as alumni leaders and active participants in the ongoing work of the board and its committees.
(Pictured left: Sean McWilliams, Alumni Awards co-chair, at the podium during Alumni Awards 2022.)
About the Alumni Awards
Extraordinary UMBC alumni, faculty, and staff are making a difference in the world, and the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors holds an annual celebration of their accomplishments. Past winners have included a U.S. Surgeon General, a Lucasfilm sound editor, the New Yorker‘s social media director, chief judges, teachers, and scientists advancing fields such as medicine, chemical engineering, physics, and biology. We also honor outstanding UMBC faculty and staff members for their role in guiding and nurturing students.
Alumni Awards 2022 group photo. Alumni Awards committee members with UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby and Alumni Association President Brian Frazee ’11, M.P.P. ’12.
Five types of awards are given: Outstanding Graduate, Distinguished Service, Rising Star, Outstanding Faculty, and Outstanding Staff.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
