Suzanne Schlenger poses with a few volumes from her collection.

If a university and its people are dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, there is perhaps nowhere on campus that more embodies that mission than the library. That is surely true here on UMBC’s campus. Much more than books on shelves, the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery is an engine for discovery, providing our students and faculty with the resources and support they need on their academic journey.

This year, those resources grew thanks to Suzanne Schlenger. A member of the Friends of the Library since 2001, she recently established the Suzanne Schlenger Endowment for a Collection of American Women in Literature and donated a substantial set of books that will form the basis for this new collection.

The volumes, which now reside in UMBC’s Special Collections, include many works by Willa Cather and Edith Wharton, as well as a limited edition of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. The collection was built over many years, as Mrs. Schlenger and her late husband, Jack Schlenger, a lawyer and friend of Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, travelled the world looking for works by their favorite authors.

“My husband was a book collector and a reader,” she says. “I read everything he collected, and I wanted to collect books, too.” Mrs. Schlenger and her husband thoroughly enjoyed their search, which took them as far away as Europe. “I have a collector’s mind,” says Mrs. Schlenger. “This satisfies my love of books, my love of reading, and my love of collecting.”

Although Mrs. Schlenger could have opted to sell her books, she says that donating them to the library and establishing the endowment just felt right to her.  She sees this as an opportunity to ensure that the books are well used, and she is eager to see what research and scholarship comes out of her collection. “I wanted to pass [the collection] on to scholars,” she says. “I hope people come and read it.”

Left to right: Tom Beck, chief curator of AOK Library; Suzanne Schlenger; and Larry Wilt, former director of the AOK Library.

Her love for books and reading is clear. When asked about her favorite book in the collection, Mrs. Schlenger answers without pause: it’s Willa Cather’s My Antonia. She cites Antonia’s resilience as a key factor in her appreciation for the book. “[Cather] is an outstanding stylist,” says Mrs. Schlenger. “She writes sparely with such style, and she digs at your heart.”

And while Mrs. Schlenger’s books provide a critical base for the new collection of American women writers, the library staff will also be able to use the endowment she’s created to enrich and expand that collection in consultation with faculty from the English and Theatre Departments. This, Mrs. Schlenger hopes, will fill a void in the library and ensure a rich collection in years to come.

“I’ve seen UMBC grow, and through my husband’s enthusiasm for UMBC, I joined him in that,” says Mrs. Schlenger of her choice to invest her time, treasure, and talent in the university.

Port Discovery Children's Museum provides experiences that ignite imagination, inspire learning, and nurture growth through play. We are currently looking for a talented, friendly, and experience Outreach Education Facilitator. This is a part time position offering approximately 24-29 hours per week. Work schedule for this position is four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, but may be adjusted according to department or Museum needs. Participation in special events, evenings, weekends, and holiday may be necessary.

Summary:

Nearly 100,000 people aged 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s disease in Maryland, and there are nearly three times as many caregivers according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Sixteen million Americans are expected to have the disease in 2050, and the cost of caring for those with Alzheimer’s is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by mid-century.

In the midst of the growing presence of the disease in Maryland and nationwide, on June 11, 2015 at UMBC, country musician Glen Campbell’s family, caregivers, health officials, and representatives from the Erickson School held an event to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and to share best practices for family members who are caring for a loved one with the disease. The event consisted of a panel discussion and screening of the film “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,” an inspiring documentary starring Glen Campbell and his unforgettable Goodbye Tour.

Community members filled the Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall to hear Glen Campbell’s wife Kim, his daughter Ashley, and other health officials discuss everything from becoming educated about the disease to coping with the stress and challenges of helping a family member with dementia.

Dr. Nicole Absar, clinical director at Copper Ridge Memory Clinic, shared her knowledge of early diagnosis of the disease and looking for consistent patterns of memory loss, sleep disorder, and personality change. “It’s so important for all of us to get educated about dementia presentation,” she said. “Early diagnosis is so crucial.”

Cass Naugle, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Maryland, discussed how technology has improved treatment of the disease and emphasized the importance of developing a network of support to better understand the challenges associated with Alzheimer’s. “We can’t change the course of the disease, but we can change how we deal with it,” she asserted.

Ashley Campbell shared her personal experience of providing support for her father as he navigates the disease. “I have a job to do to help him with his transitions,” she said. “I keep the focus on him. I don’t have Alzheimer’s. It’s not about me. It’s about him.”

Kim Campbell described her journey of a continual learning process that has gone through many different stages when caring for someone with Alzheimer’s and had advice for caregivers for monitoring their own health throughout the process. “You need to stay connected with friends, other people, and who you are. Often caregivers feel isolated,” she explained.

Judah Ronch, dean of the Erickson School, presented welcoming remarks for the event, and Jaclyn Harris, president and CEO of Integrace, moderated the panel discussion. The screening of “I’ll Be Me” followed the panel discussion, and Ashley Campbell closed the event with a moving acoustic performance. To view photos, click here.

Tough Competition

UMBC hosts national automotive engineering and design event, Baja SAE Maryland 2015.

One hundred teams, including 30 international teams from eight countries, gathered at Budds Creek Motocross Race Track for the action-packed Baja SAE Maryland 2015 competition, hosted May 7-10 by UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology and Department of Mechanical Engineering. The energy and excitement of the event were clear from the moment registration opened. Participant spots for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) competition were filled in just four minutes.

The UMBC Baja design, engineering, and racing team has become nationally recognized for exceptional performance over the past decade. This reputation led to SAE inviting UMBC to host this year’s Midwest event, one of three annual SAE competitions nationwide.

Most organizing universities have three years to prepare, but a last-minute location change to find the ideal track challenged UMBC’s organizing team to pull off the race with only six months to plan. The organizing committee, headed by Steven Storck ’08, ’09 M.S., ’14 Ph.D., mechanical engineering, brought together UMBC Baja alumni with representatives from University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins University to plan the event, with guidance from Neil Rothman, mechanical engineering graduate program director.

With their past competition experiences in mind, the organizing committee focused on what mattered most to participants: the race track and spectators. “Being a former Baja competitor, our main goal was to provide an exciting event that was focused around the engineering efforts of the student,” Storck shared.

The committee took an engineer’s approach to designing the race course to avoid potential scoring anomalies from tight turns and difficult obstacles. They also thought carefully about the race order, spending hours rearranging events and schedules to maximize the time competitors could display their hard work.

The committee also recognized that student participants want to share this experience, and the products of their work, with family and friends. They designed the race course so spectators could easily view the competing teams from one central location. Organizers also set up a high quality live webcast of the event to broaden the race’s audience. The livestream reached over 27,000 viewers in 124 countries. Videos of the entire first day and the Endurance Race are still available to view online.

During the competition, student teams presented their off-road race cars to engineering and business professionals, underwent strict technical inspections, and competed solo and wheel-to-wheel to prove their engineering skills. The organizers’ efforts paid off as events moved forward seamlessly. The wildly successful race garnered an unheard of 98% approval rating in a satisfaction survey following the event.

Sam Barill, head manager of SAE’s collegiate design series, praised the event, saying, “The Baja SAE competition recently held in Maryland and hosted by UMBC [demonstrated] top-notch organizing by Steven Storck and his group…and emphasized just how important these events are to the education and hands-on learning of future engineers.”

Neil Rothman, UMBC Baja team advisor, is enthusiastic about the skills students learn through participating in competitions like Baja SAE Maryland. “It is clear that engineering students benefit from experiential learning…hands-on activities where they can put engineering principles into practice,” he says.

“Baja is experiential learning on steroids,” Rothman explains. “This is ‘real engineering’ at its finest and the students who participate in Baja will stand out as those who understand how things should be designed and built. These are the skills companies are looking for.”

Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback from SAE, race participants, and families, UMBC has already started to explore hosting a future Baja race.

(6/17/2015)

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It’s that time of year again…the fiscal year, that is! And we’d like your help in meeting our giving goals for the end of it. For just $10 each month, you can help us maintain UMBC’s status as a hub for research, innovation, and undergraduate teaching:

• For the cost of a movie ticket, you could help send a student to an out-of-state research conference.
• For the cost of two soy lattes, you could contribute to one of our many need- and merit-based scholarship funds for undergraduates.
• For the cost of half a tank of gas, you could help update our classrooms with state-of-the-art equipment.
• For the cost of a dozen donuts, you could help fund undergraduate research grants and student initiatives.

Please consider donating by June 30, because even the smallest gift can be so powerful. Here’s how you can give today:

• ONLINE: You can either visit our crowd funding site to give to individual departments and initiatives, or our traditional giving site. Setting up a recurring gift is convenient, customizable, and environmentally friendly.

• BY CHECK: Please make checks payable to the UMBC Foundation and mail to UMBC Foundation, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250

Thank you in advance for your contribution!

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is seeking warm, empathetic, and enthusiastic communicators with teaching, touring, or facilitation experience to join the Docent Program and lead engaging experiences with art for primarily Pre-K-12 students and, on occasion, adults in the Museum.