Taka Yamashita

Brian Soller

Jada Iwuoha, of Woodstock, Maryland, was recently selected as one of the recipients of the 2025 Shirley C. Sorensen Undergraduate Academic Excellence Award from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 022BC-University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Jada was selected by the awards committee for their outstanding academic excellence and active participation within the university and the broader community. In particular, the committee was impressed by their perseverance to succeed and to serve others. Jada is currently pursing a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Entrepreneurship.

Each spring, the UMBC chapter invites applications from its undergraduate student members to apply for the $1,000 award. The Shirley C. Sorensen Undergraduate Academic Excellence Award is bestowed in recognition of the numerous contributions that Dr. Sorensen has made over many years to The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and especially to the former five-campus chapter, University of Maryland Chapter 22, which was chartered in 1920.

Chartered in 2010, Chapter 22BC invites the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors for membership in Phi Kappa Phi. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

More About Phi Kappa Phi
Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The Society's mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Since its founding, more than 1.5 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization's more notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi awards nearly $1 million to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.

The BMA is seeking a temporary Lead Family Programs Art Educator for the BMA’s Free Family Sundays workshop series. Lead Educators will plan and execute drop-in art workshops for families. This role will work in partnership with the Director of Public Programs and the Education and Interpretation division to develop the program’s curricula and art-making activities, as well as lead the artmaking workshops.

Watch out for fake emails with subjects like "Meeting/[your name]" asking to review your pension and UMBC benefits. These are NOT legitimate and are part of a phishing campaign DoIT is tracking.

Key things to remember:

• Check the Sender: Official UMBC HR emails about benefits come from umbc.edu addresses. State emails usually end in .gov. Be suspicious of other senders.
• Don't Click, Don't Reply: If an email about your benefits seems off, avoid clicking links or opening attachments, and do not reply.
• Report Suspicious Emails:
  • Forward the email to security@umbc.edu.
  • If you're unsure about an HR benefits email, you may also contact hrbenefits@umbc.edu directly.