Turns out UMBC alumnus-turned-celebrity-chef Jeffrey “Duff” Goldman ’97, history, is not just a stellar cake baker, but also an auto enthusiast. In an interview with MotorTrend.com, the “Ace of Cakes” star talks about his lifelong love for all things car.

As he tells Motor Trend reporters:

“I am a freakish gearhead,” he says, sitting at a table in Cakemix, which allows people to decorate their own cakes and cupcakes. “I will take your car apart and put it back together. I can totally do that.”

Read the full story in Motor Trend here.

Goldman, who most recently created a six-tier cake for President Obama’s inauguration, was named an Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by UMBC in 2009.

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed your winter break and are ready for another semester here at UMBC.

NEW MEETING PLACE: Meetings will start on the February 20^th during free hour (12-1pm) in Sondheim 107! We are not having the first meeting on the 6th due to UMBC's career fair that will be going on in the university ball room from 12-4. 

CLUB ELECTIONS: We will be holding elections for officer positions on March 6th!!!! Information about every position available will be given out durning our first meeting on the February 20th!

Guest Speakers: Professor David Mitch has asked me to pass along the information on two renowned guest speaker that will be coming to UMBC. Information on this event is located at the bottom of this page in attachments.

OPPORTUNITIES: I will be attending Beya career fair and awards gala and would like to invite anyone else interested to attend this event which will be honoring our very own Dr. Hrabowski to join me. This event is a great way to make new contacts as well as apply for internships and jobs.

• STEM Career Fair and Conference

Saturday, February 9, 2013 Career Fair: 10 am-4 pm Washington Marriott Wardman Park

The BEYA STEM Global Competitiveness Conference sponsored by Career Communications Group will be held February 7-9. As part of this large annual conference, representatives from several major corporations and universities will be on hand to meet with students pursuing careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields as well as Business, Finance, and Marketing. The pre-registration deadline is Wed, Feb. 6(see instructions below). All students are welcome to attend. Contact Diane Crump-Fogle of the UMBC Career Services Center for additional information. For details follow this link: http://careers.umbc.edu/news_events/fairs/beya.php

 

• UMBC Summer & Part-Time Job/Internship Fair

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

12 - 4 pm

UMBC University Center Ballroom

From time to time, we’ll interview donors who are making a difference at UMBC. Today, we’re talking with Ira Steven Allen ’81, biological sciences, and Elizabeth Ward Allen ’82, political science, who fell in love with track and field — and each other! — during their time together as students. The couple established the C. James Pfrogner Endowment April 1998 (and amended in March 2002) to honor their former coach and support both the men’s and women’s track and field programs at UMBC. 

* * * *

Ira and Liz Allen enjoying time on the water.

Q:  What made you decide to make your planned gift to UMBC, and how does that decision relate to your experiences here as students?

A:  At UMBC, we received a terrific education and had great fun at the same time. We also had the good fortune to be members of the track and field team under coach Jim Pfrogner, who taught us alot about always giving your best and achieving your goals through hard work and perseverance. The lessons we learned, both in the classroom and on the track, prepared us extremely well to be successful in life. A number of years ago, we started an endowment fund for the benefit of the track and field program because we wanted to give something back to UMBC, something significant and something perpetual, as a way to show our appreciation for how much our college experience meant to us.

Q:  Could you share a favorite memory or two from your time here?

A:  Besides our track and field experiences, we have many “favorite” memories of our time at UMBC, the most important being when we met each other and began a relationship that has been going strong for 34 years. Other special memories are Thursday night parties in the basement of “Dorm III”, studying for the MCATs in the same basement room until the wee hours of the morning, decorating Ira’s dorm room on the “Yippee Dog” floor while Styx and Boston play at full volume, and meeting many people we still call friends today.

Q:  How do you hope your support will make UMBC a better place?

“Ira doing his Dracula imitation”

A:  UMBC has grown in many ways since we graduated in the early 80′s. Freeman’s vision and accomplishments have raised the University to a lofty level. UMBC is now on the national radar as one of the best Universities in the country. Of course, track and field was never the “glamour” sport that received the attention and major funding of, say, lacrosse or basketball. We wanted to help the track and field program grow and advance to a level that matched the prestige of the rest of the University, so we decided to add the endowment fund as a beneficiary in our will. Our hope is that, one day, the track and field program will be so independently well-funded that it will be the envy of college sports programs throughout the region, joining other stellar UMBC programs and academic achievements that shine in the national spotlight.

Thank you to the Allens for all they do!  Want to share your own giving story? Contact Jenny O’Grady at jogrady@umbc.edu.

Planned Giving at UMBC

If you would like to learn about how you can be a part of this movement, please consider attending our information session:

Monday, 2/04 in PUP107 from 2-3pm.

You can also watch this video to get a better sense of the work done by Health Leads Advocates:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDg0tijTiAM&feature=player_embedded


Here is the link to the application: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HLumbc-spring2013 . If you have any questions about the application process, please email HLrecruit.umbc@gmail.com.  APPLY by February 5th before 5pm!!!

We look forward to receiving your application!