Alumni, Families Invited to “Pack the RAC” Sunday

The American East Conference-leading UMBC men’s basketball team needs the support of alumni, faculty, staff and students this weekend during the crucial home stretch of one of the best seasons in UMBC history. An alumni reception featuring food and family activities highlights the opportunity to cheer on the Retrievers on Sunday (Feb. 17).

The first-place Retrievers (17-7, 9-2 America East) will meet pre-season favorite Boston University at 4 p.m. this Sunday at the RAC Arena. The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) will televise the game, the last regular season home contest of the 2007-2008 season.

The UMBC Alumni Association is hosting an alumni reception in the Retriever Activities Center Club Room at 3:00 p.m. There will be BBQ-type fare and special giveaways for kids. If you are already a season-ticket holder, you’ll still need to register for the alumni reception. For more information, call 410/455-ALUM or email alum@umbc.edu. To register, go to retrievernet.umbc.edu/packtherac. WNST-AM is also sponsoring a “Family Day” at the game and a special coupon is available at www.wnst.net

(2/12/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Hooters night was a great time again this year, and we had many of the brothers and the potentials out in which time 500+ hooters wings were consumed!  Byaah!

Despite the cold weather outside, we had 4square on main street in the commons.  Lots of guys came out and everyone seemed to have a great time.  Once the weather warms up, we will be resuming 4 square fridays, and an announcement will be made at that time.Check out Dressing’s mad skillz here.

Game night at the gameroom was ballin’, playing some pool and ping pong.  Thanks to all that came out!

For the first rush event, Pi Kapp had an open-mic in the Sports Zone at the commons.  Music was jammin’, guys were hanging out, and we even had some great guest performers!

Faculty Recognized for Research

UMBC’s science, technology and engineering community ended 2007 on a prestigious note as five faculty members were named as fellows or board members of international societies for excellence in their fields.

The honors are just the latest in distinguished careers for the professors, but carry special meaning because they indicate the respect of peers.

Julia Ross, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, and Tulay Adali, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, were both elected fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. It’s not the first time the two have been honored by the same organization, as both Ross and Adali received National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Awards in 1997.

“It means a lot to be considered a peer in a group that represents the academy of biological and medical engineers,” Ross said. “I’m honored that others value the quality and impact of our research.”

Ross studies how drug-resistant forms of staph and other infections adhere and spread inside the body. In 2007, she received the American Society for Engineering Education’s Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education.

Adali is currently working on several projects funded by the NSF, National Institutes of Health and other agencies to develop new signal processing techniques to better understand how the brain functions. “Recognition is always rewarding, especially when it is least expected and when in such great company,” she said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a bright group of graduate students on a fascinating array of projects, in a forward-looking academic environment fostered by UMBC.”

Shlomo Carmi, professor of mechanical engineering and former dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology, was recently elected to serve on the Board of Governors of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME). Carmi, who was named an ASME Life Fellow in 1992, has been a tireless advocate for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education over his exemplary career.

“Having a positive impact on society has always been my desire, so getting elected to the ASME Board of Governors provides me with a golden opportunity to serve the engineering profession and put UMBC on an important global stage,” said Carmi.

Ray Hoff, professor of physics and director of the collaborative NASA-UMBC research centers JCET and GEST, was recently named a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Hoff’s expertise on air pollution, climate and the atmosphere has been reflected in a prestigious track record of collaborations with and honors from NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Canada, the European Economic Community and other earth science organizations. 

“I’m pleased and honored to have received a society fellowship at the same time as my colleagues,” said Hoff. “UMBC has clearly reached a point where awards and honors are becoming a larger part of the life of the campus. The story of UMBC as a prestigious place to do cutting-edge research is becoming more obvious to our peers and I hope that recognition spreads statewide.”

Govind Rao, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Rao develops new technologies for biotechnology manufacturing. He has licensed several of his patents to Fluorometrix, a company he co-founded. His many other career honors include the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation and the 2001 Gaden Award from John Wiley for the most influential paper published in biotechnology and bioengineering.

“This level of recognition indicates that UMBC is finally coming of age,” said Rao. “We are a young institution and it simply takes time to mature and be recognized. It also shows the importance of picking a niche and excelling in it. We are too small to compete in every field, but in the ones that we do, we are stellar.”

(1/7/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Each year, the UMBC Alumni Association presents awards to honor alumni for their professional and personal achievements and service to the University.   Learn more about our past award winners.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Eric Conn ’85, Computer Science, is an accomplished entrepreneur, executive, technologist, and software engineer and a member of the board of UMBC’s Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. He is the president and co-founder of Gloto Corporation, which specializes in the design, development, and deployment of innovative products that integrate mobile devices and computers. In 2006 Gloto launched Cellblock.com, which allows users to instantly publish photos and videos from their computers or camera phones to a shared, online photo album. This technology was used to highlight participation at UMBC’s 40th Anniversary. As guests watched from in front of the Library and other locations, real-time photos from events happening all over campus were instantly posted and shared, creating a unique, campus-wide experience for thousands of visitors that night – a new twist that took the concept of a traditional photo album and turned it into a social event.

OUTSTANDING ALUMNA
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS

Kara Lee Corthron ’99, Theatre, is an award-winning playwright whose works depict the challenges brought by economic circumstances and the power of the human spirit. “Wild Black-Eyed Susans,” which was performed during UMBC’s Homecoming in 2007, earned Corthron the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights in 2007.  Another work, “Like a Cow or an Elephant,” received the 2007 Theodore Ward Prize for African-American Playwrights and was produced at the DePaul Theatre School in Chicago. Her work “End-Zone Zephyr” earned Corthron the 2006 New Professional Theatre Writer’s Award. Corthron is a graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in New York, where she has been playwright-in-residence, and is also a three-time recipient of the Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Foundation Award

OUTSTANDING ALUMNA
SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

The Honorable Marcella A. Holland ’80, Political Science, is Chief Administrative Judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. She was first sworn in as an Associate Judge in 1997, having served as an assistant state’s attorney for 13 years. Judge Holland oversees a $15 million budget and the work of 31 other active judges, several retired judges and several masters. Among her honors are Maryland’s “Top 100 Women” and induction in the “Circle of Excellence” in 2004; and the Ben Cardin Pro Bono Service Award from the University of Maryland School of Law, her alma mater. She has an extensive record of community service with organizations including Associated Black Charities and the Druid Hill YMCA. She is also active in bar associations, having served as President, Monumental City Bar Association; Member, Board of Governors, Maryland State Bar Association; and President, MD Chapter of National Association of Women Judges

OUTSTANDING ALUMNUS
HUMANITIES

Kevin M. Maxwell ’02 Ph.D., Language, Literacy & Culture, is the superintendent of schools for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, a position he has held since 2006. An educator for more than 20 years, he also has served as chief educational administrator in Prince George’s County Public Schools, where he also taught, and as one of six community superintendents within the Montgomery County Public Schools system, as well as a principal in both counties. Under his leadership as principal, Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County was named one of the 100 best high schools in the United States. In 2000 he received the Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award and he was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2004

OUTSTANDING ALUMNA
ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Stephanie Reel ’85, Information Systems, is vice provost for information technology and chief information officer for the Johns Hopkins University. Since 1994, she has also been vice president for information services for the Johns Hopkins Hospital. As the CIO for all divisions of the university and health system, Reel leads operational redesign for information services, networking, telecommunications, as well as clinical research and instructional technologies. Her work to develop electronic patient records management has been honored by Computerworld magazine and the Smithsonian Institution, and she has been named CIO of the Year by the College of Healthcare Information Management executives. She is a member of EDUCAUSE, the Healthcare Information Systems Executive Association, and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology and she serves on the client advisory boards of IBM, GE Medical Systems, Verizon, the editorial advisory board of Healthcare Informatics magazine and the Information Systems Advisory Council for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

OUTSTANDING ALUMNUS
NATURAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Reid C. Thompson ’85, Biological Sciences, is vice chairman of neurological surgery, director of the Vanderbilt Brain Tumor Center, and associate professor of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Thompson received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he completed his internship and residency, followed by a fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery at Stanford. A diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, he also is the author or more than 30 published research papers and abstracts. Thompson’s expertise is in the surgical treatment of patients with complex brain and spinal cord tumors, particularly those involving the most critical parts of the brain such as the brain stem and skull base.

A Formula for Success

He’s a celebrated novelist whose second novel, The Age of Shiva (W.W. Norton & Company), will be released in February. But he’s also a mathematics professor who specializes in partial differential equations and is dedicated to fostering interest in mathematics among K-12 students and the general public.

Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Manil Suri – who will read from his new novel at UMBC on February 5 – compares his passions for both fiction writing and mathematics to a game of chess. “You need to track each piece along several future moves to see which option is the best,” he explained. “In mathematics, the chess pieces are variables or unknowns, and you’re trying to find a rule that describes how they can behave, while in fiction, the pieces are characters, and you’re trying to figure out which path they should take to yield the most dramatic outcome.”

Suri’s debut novel, The Death of Vishnu (W.W.Norton & Company, 2001), was published to critical acclaim, garnering rave reviews from The New York Times Book Review, the Boston Sunday Globe and Minneapolis Star-Tribune, among others. Suri was named a Time magazine “Person to Watch,” and the book received multiple awards, including the 2002 Barnes and Noble Discover Prize, the 2001 Ralph Heyne Corrine Buchpreis (Germany), the 2002 McKittrick Prize (UK) and a Pen-Bingham Fellowship for 2002-04. In 2004, Suri was one of 184 distinguished scientists, scholars and artists selected from a field more than 3,200 applicants to be named a Guggenheim Fellow.

The Death of Vishnu was also a finalist for the Pen-Faulkner award, Kiriyama prize, Pen-Hemingway award, L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum Award, Torgi Literary Award (Canada) and W.H. Smith First Novel award (U.K.). In addition, it was long-listed for the Booker Prize (2001) and the IMPAC Prize (2003) and was a New York Times Notable Book for 2001. 

Last year, Suri was awarded a University System of Maryland (USM) Elkins Professorship. First established in 1978, the Elkins professorships support professors “who demonstrate exemplary ability to inspire students and whose professional work and scholarly endeavors make a positive impact beyond the USM.”

“Mathematical writing (involving proofs, for instance) is hard enough to understand when the readers are mathematicians – the non-expert has almost no chance,” said Suri. “Making the beauty, elegance and job of mathematics accessible to non-mathematicians is therefore a very challenging endeavor – one that I have tried to pursue through outreach activities, like my presentation on infinity.”

Most recently, Suri has worked with middle and high school students in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area, and brought UMBC students from his First-Year Seminar class in Computation as an Experimental Tool  to help teach computer-aided mathematics sessions to Baltimore high school students.

“In our complex society, we need more people to have the reasoning skills that come with mathematical and scientific study,” Suri added. “Get ‘em while they’re young!”

Suri will read from and sign copies of The Age of Shiva at UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery on Tuesday, February 5 at 7 p.m. RSVP at eventrsvp@umbc.edu.

(1/22/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �