The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) released their 2015 global rankings this week- placing UMBC among the top 500 universities worldwide.

CWUR takes eight indicators into account when compiling their rankings, including quality of education (alumni who have won major international awards); alumni employment (as CEOs in companies worldwide); quality of faculty (faculty who have won major international awards); research publications, influence and citations; broad impact; and international patent filings.

UMBC is one of only three University System of Maryland institutions featured in the rankings, along with the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. American universities with CWUR rankings similar to UMBC include Clemson University and Syracuse University.

Explore the full CWUR rankings here.

On July 21, Joseph Tatarewicz, an associate professor of history, published an article in The Conversation analyzing the history of space exploration in light of the recent NASA New Horizons Pluto mission. Professor Tatarewicz teaches the history of science and technology, policy, and public history. He has done extensive work in public history, including eight years as a Smithsonian museum curator and ten years in private practice. He is author of Space Technology and Planetary Astronomy. 

“The boomers are the first generation to witness the initial exploration of our solar system and the last to be taught that standard phrase, ‘the nine planets.’ During the last half-century, scientific research and Cold War politics brought to a head changes in scientific disciplines and organization that had been maturing for centuries,” Tatarewicz wrote in the article.

Tatarewicz stated that the New Horizons voyage marked the end of the Copernican revolution, but there is still plenty to discover: “The entire New Horizons mission over 15 years cost about US$700 million, or $47 million per year – less than Americans spend on soft drinks. All of space exploration is but spare change, and this mission’s tariff almost invisible on anybody’s ledger. Like the Romans, we demanded bread and circuses during the space program’s heyday in its first decade or so. This circus is already quite a bargain. Throw some spare change into the next model of an orphan mission of exploration. You will need to have patience, but you will be rewarded.”

Read “New Horizons brought our last ‘first look’ at one of the original nine solar system planets” in The Conversation.

During Pride Week, Kate Drabinski, a lecturer of gender and women’s studies, wrote a column in City Paper about the work being done to document and preserve Baltimore’s LGBTQ history.

In her article, Drabinski described the work of several local activists who are conducting research and publishing articles and books related to LGBTQ history in Baltimore, including Louis Hughes, Louise Kelley, Jodi Kelber, April Householder, and Betsy Nix. Drabinski wrote that as gay bars have been closing in Baltimore, the public history work being done should be reflected in contemporary conversations.

“Yes, we may be saying goodbye to the Hippo this year, but we are not saying goodbye to the histories that supported that bar, or the harder histories that come along with it as the LGBTQ movement has struggled with its own racism, sexism, and classism. It’s different now, but how it got to be that way is the result of a whole lot of work that must be remembered and taken forward in contemporary organizing. And that is work that should be celebrated this Pride season,” Drabinski shared.

Read “Recording the Rainbow Revolution: As gay bars in Baltimore shut their doors, activists work to document LGBTQ history” in City Paper.

Evan G. Cameron, Ph.D., a former graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences at UMBC, was recently awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) for postdoctoral research training at the University of California San Diego.  Dr. Cameron received his Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences from UMBC in 2014 under the direction of Dr. Phyllis R. Robinson. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California San Diego, where he studies survival and regeneration of the visual system with the goal of reversing the regenerative failure seen after injury and in neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma. The postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Health will allow Dr. Cameron to continue his research at Stanford University with his postdoctoral mentor and newly appointed chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg.

Dr. Cameron received his B.S. degree from Towson University and M.S. and Ph.D. from UMBC. While at UMBC, he was supported by the NIH Chemistry-Biology Interface Fellowship.