Matthew Landen
B.S., Computer Science and Mathematics
Summa Cum Laude
Hometown: Ellicott City, Maryland
Plans: Ph.D., Georgia Tech

UMBC has taught me the value of and need for collaboration. The world is currently faced with complex problems which cannot be solved by one individual.

In his time at UMBC, Meyerhoff Scholar Matthew Landen has excelled in the classroom, the lab, the theatre, and the boardroom.

Landen has pursued several research opportunities, presenting at Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day and, most recently, working in the Multi-Agent Planning & Learning (MAPLE) lab led by Marie desJardins, associate dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology and professor of computer science and electrical engineering. There he was particularly known for helping his peers understand complex concepts.

Landen also worked with students as a teaching fellow for Computing 101, and regularly volunteered to hold extra study sessions for students to support their success. In fall 2016, he became the head teaching fellow for the course, and worked closely with Stacy Branham, lecturer of information systems, to lead class activities, grade assignments, and answer students’ questions.

Landen’s exceptional work led to his induction into the Phi Kappa Phi honors society, and he recently received a highly prestigious and competitive graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

Beyond excelling as a student, peer mentor, and researcher, Landen has been actively involved in UMBC’s Musical Theatre Club for each fall showcase performance and each spring musical during his four years on campus. He has also served as webmaster for UMBC’s Student Government Association, collaborating with fellow computing students to design websites to help SGA stay organized, transparent, and effective as the primary governance body for UMBC undergraduates.

Landen will pursue his Ph.D. in computer science at Georgia Tech, with a focus on intelligent security systems.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.

Erin Callahan
B.A., Social Work
Magna Cum Laude
Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland
Plans: M.S.W., University of Maryland, Baltimore

My experience at UMBC has been life changing. The social work faculty and staff are so supportive and encouraging, and this has motivated me to work hard and try things that are out of my comfort zone.

Coming to UMBC, Erin Callahan not only found a “sisterhood” of like-minded adult students, but also a pathway to help victims of trauma.

Callahan is both a Returning Women Scholar and recipient of the Susan Bernstein-Charlotte W. Newcombe Memorial Scholarship. Through her involvement with UMBC’s Women’s Center and the social work program, she participated in events and discussions that helped shape her understanding of areas of need within the community. Having witnessed the effects of intergenerational trauma within her own circles, she hopes to study the root causes of trauma in order to help people early on.

As a member of UMBC’s returning student population, Callahan found “a sisterhood of other adults experiencing similar struggles balancing the demands of life as adult students,” which helped her feel connected and offered her support when she needed it. She shares that her two children have continually served as her biggest inspiration to succeed in her time at UMBC.

Callahan has been accepted to University of Maryland School of Social Work’s Advanced Standing Program, and will next complete her master’s degree in social work.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Kaitlin Smith
B.A., Media and Communication Studies
Cum Laude
Hometown: Perryville, Maryland
Plans: M.A., Morgan State University

Finding my place in college is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me… My involvement in student life, admissions and orientation, and student affairs connected me to people who believed in my abilities, gave me the support and strength to pursue many different avenues…and gave me the opportunity to help others find their passions and place at UMBC.

As a freshman, Kaitlin Smith was performing well in her classes and making friends, but she had a nagging feeling that she wasn’t making the most of her college experience. That changed when a staff member encouraged her to get involved in the Orientation Peer Advisor program, which opened the door to her involvement and leadership in campus life.

Smith completed an internship focused on campus safety with the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs, joined the service-focused Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, became a coach for STRiVE (an intensive student leadership development program), served as a Woolie (a UMBC Welcome Week leader), and became a trainer with the Green Dot bystander intervention program.

In her senior year she has served as undergraduate fellow in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation, and as president of UMBC’s highly active Student Events Board (seb). On the academic side, she also served as president of the Media and Communications Studies Council of Majors.

Smith’s experiences have inspired her to pursue a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs administration at Morgan State University, to ensure future students have access to the same kinds of college experiences that brought so much meaning to her time at UMBC.

William Klotz
M.A.T., Foreign Language Education
Magna Cum Laude
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Plans: Teaching in Mexico, Fulbright Program

My “weaknesses” of coming from poverty, having a single mother, having a disability, and being a member of the LGBTQIA community have and always will be my strengths. UMBC helped me realize that.

Coming from a single parent family living under the poverty line, William Klotz often felt like he “wasn’t meant to be in college and…couldn’t succeed,” but at UMBC Klotz came to see his personal experiences and identity as strengths, drawing from them a sense of resilience and drive, and recognizing the value of his unique perspective. Now, Klotz—who earned his bachelor’s degree from UMBC in 2014—is not only graduating with an advanced degree, but also planning to teach abroad through the prestigious Fulbright program.

In his years at UMBC, Klotz has excelled as a student leader as well as in his studies. He has taught Introduction to an Honors University seminars for freshmen, received research grants, choreographed a major dance piece, and served as a STRiVE student leadership coach.

In addition to being a Fulbright-Garcia Robles finalist, he is a Homer and Martha Gudelsky Scholar, completed a summer research fellowship in comparative literature at UC-Irvine, and received an Alliance for Language Learning and Exchange grant in Chinese at Washington University in St. Louis.

After graduation, Klotz plans to move to Mexico to teach for the Secretaría de Educación Pública for the 2017-18 academic year.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.