Hey everyone, the elections are over, and the results are in!!! Congrats to everyone!

The board for next year will be:

Executive Director: Maxine Elovitz

Social and Membership Director: Bailey Brownlow

Education and Advocacy Director: Aspen Thompson

Financial Director: Lee Ruckdeschel

Advisors: Bri Gumbs and Carlos Turcios

Micah Thorpe

Degree: B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Germantown, MD
Post-grad plans: Ph.D., mechanical engineering, University of Michigan

“My mom is a teacher at a Title I school. She’s a huge inspiration for me. She’s always working to expose her kids to STEM, which encouraged me to do the same—and I realized I could do it here at UMBC.”

Micah Thorpe ’22, mechanical engineering, is a Meyerhoff Scholar and member of the Honors College at UMBC. He started working with local students in his first year at UMBC through a program called College Gardens, helping them with homework and other activities. His commitment to the work grew, and by the next year he was a student coordinator for the Walden Circle Community Center, which provides similar programming for students in grades K-8.

Micah Thorpe ’22 works with students at the Walden Circle Community Center. (Photo courtesy of Thorpe)

Thorpe has also served on the executive board of UMBC’s National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter. In his role as pre-college initiative chair, Thorpe organized tutoring and other activities for students in Baltimore County, Howard County, and Baltimore City.

Moving through his career, “I definitely want to continue doing the same type of work, and spreading knowledge of STEM,” Thorpe says, “giving kids hands-on experiences and showing them what the possibilities are within STEM.”

Thorpe has grown his own passion for STEM at UMBC through conducting battery research in the laboratory of Deepa Madan, mechanical engineering. He is also grateful to Eloise Grose, assistant director of applied learning and community engagementat the Shriver Center, for her mentorship during his outreach work.

Job Description

Administrative Assistant for Maryland Mosaic Project

Sponsoring organization: Maryland’s Four Centuries Project

Burt Kummerow, Founding Director, Mary Blair, Strategic Director

Starting September 2022, 20-25 hours a week for 40 weeks. $20 per hour

This is a one-year appointment on a contract basis with opportunity to continue after 2023.

Rejoice! The days of fighting with headshots is over! 

Kaitlynn Lilly 

Degree: B.S., Mathematics and Physics
Hometown: Severna Park, MD
Post-grad plans: Ph.D. in applied mathematics, University of Washington

“As a first-generation college student … I didn’t know if going to graduate school would be possible for me, but people believed in me, saw my potential, and gave me the ability to succeed. Being able to give that back to other people has been really powerful for me and has made my UMBC experience very fulfilling.”

Kaitlynn Lilly (left) supports students at Arbutus Middle School. (Image courtesy of Lilly)

Kaitlynn Lilly ’22, mathematics and physics, is a Meyerhoff Scholar, member of the Honors College, and 2021-2022 Goldwater Scholar. She conducted research with Justin Webster, assistant professor of mathematics, and participated in summer research experiences with faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and University of Hawai’i. But more than thinking about those achievements, she often reflects on the support that helped her get there and how she can pay it forward.

When she started working with Webster in her first year, Lilly did not have substantial high-level math experience. But Webster “took me under his wing and made sure that I was learning the important background material that I needed,” she says. “And eventually, I was able to start my own independent project.”

As her skills and experience grew, she got involved in more and more difficult projects. “I think that’s one of the unique things that UMBC has to offer,” she says. “I feel like I’ve definitely made the most of my education here, and it’s been a really great experience being involved in so many different kinds of research.”

UMBC’s 2021-2022 Goldwater Scholars Karan Luthria (l), Kaitlynn Lilly (c), and Joshua Slaughter (r). (Marlayna Demond ’11/UMBC)

Lilly is a dedicated mentor to middle school, high school, and UMBC students through several different programs, for which she received the Ronald M. Shapiro Excellence in Mentoring Award.

While studying partial differential equations for her Ph.D. at University of Washington, she plans to create a group for women in applied math and contribute to an existing program that supports high school students.