University of Maryland Giving Newsletter: October 2016 | Curiosity

CURIOSITY A N E W S L E T T E R F OR S U PP ORT E R S OF T H E U N I V E R S I T Y OF M A RY L A N D / O CT O B E R 2 0 16

TO DISCOVER NEW KNOWLEDGE / PASSION TO INSPIRE MARYLAND PRIDE / INSPIRATION TO TRANSFORM THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE / BOLDNESS TO TURN IMAGINATION INTO INNOVATION

Alums Create Endowed Chair in Life Sciences / PG. 2 English Professors’ Gift Funds Archival Research / PG. 7

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THE POWER OF A PAIR Terps Team Up to Create UMD’s First Endowed Chair in Life Sciences

THE FOUNDATION OF OUR UNIVERSITY IS THE DISCOVERY AND ADVANCEMENT OF NEW KNOWLEDGE. Here at the University of Maryland, we are developing cutting-edge research programs on the brain and behavior, augmented and virtual reality, and quantum physics. In the arts and humanities, we are exploring the AfricanAmerican experience, language and democracy.

As a proud land-grant university, we are compelled by our mission of service to not merely discover new knowledge, but to apply it for the betterment of our citizens. That’s what the Do Good initiative is all about.

A campus-wide initiative headquartered in the School of Public Policy, our Do Good programs aim to leverage philanthropy and leadership to transform idealism to impact through rich learning experiences built on real-world applications.

I am particularly proud that this initiative is supported by a community of alumni, friends, corporations and foundations. It is a testament to the support that can come when there is a bold and compelling vision.

Your support of our faculty, students and programs will not only enable us to continue our rich tradition of discovery and exploration, but will also enable us to make a real impact—to “do good”—around the globe. In this issue, I am proud to share just a few UMD programs to Discover New Knowledge.

Sincerely,

Peter Weiler Vice President University Relations

two terps turned successful biotech entrepreneurs have teamed up to create the University of Maryland’s first endowed chair in the life sciences— without ever meeting each other.

Andrew Balo ’70 and his wife, Mary, had made a half-million-dollar gift to the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (cmns) when Nicholas Simon ’76 and his wife, Susan, offered to contribute the same amount.

The combined $1 million, they realized, would strengthen the college’s ability to hire an outstanding life sciences faculty member focused on human health and/ or disease.

In September, their gift received a $1 million match through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund. The program, launched last year, adds to private funds raised in support of endowed chairs in scientific and technical fields at Maryland’s higher education institutions.

“The future of identifying and treating diseases is going to take place at the cellular level and through the application of translational medicine, so I wanted to help Maryland bring in more expertise in this area,” says Balo.

He and Simon started out at Maryland with plans to become an engineer and a doctor, respectively, but both switched to microbiology after they began learning about virology, immunology and biochemistry.

“I hadn’t heard of microbiology, but when I took the ‘Introduction to Microbiology’ course, I fell in love with it and it became my lifelong career,” says Simon, who went on to earn an mba from Loyola University just in time for the start of the biotech boom. “All the companies that were raw startups had this great vision of applying newly

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“WE BOTH WANTED TO MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, PRIMARILY TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPACT THE UNIVERSITY HAD ON OUR LIVES. AND WE WANTED THE FUNDS TO GO TOWARD ENHANCING HUMAN HEALTH.” Nicholas Simon ’76

GIFTS EXPAND NUMBER OF E-NNOVATE ENDOWED CHAIRS, PROFESSORSHIPS THE STATE OF MARYLAND HAS AWARDED FUNDING FOR SEVERAL OTHER E-NNOVATE ENDOWED CHAIRS AND PROFESSORSHIPS:

NICHOLAS SIMON ’76 AND SUSAN SIMON

discovered techniques to all kinds of things, from medicine to industrial chemicals to agriculture.”

Simon has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including at Genentech, where he was vice president of business and corporate development. There, he played an integral role in the acquisition, development and approval of the company’s blockbuster cancer products Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin. Today, he is managing director of Clarus, a health care investment firm he co-founded in 2005.

Balo is executive vice president of clinical, regulatory and quality at Dexcom, a startup that developed a continuous glucose monitoring device for people with diabetes. He’s widely regarded as an industry expert in regulatory and clinical strategies and has participated on many Food and Drug Administration advisory panels.

"WE HOPE OUR GIFTS WILL ENABLE FUTURE LIFE SCIENCES STUDENTS AT MARYLAND TO HAVE EVEN MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN WE DID AND TO BECOME LEADERS IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES." Andrew Balo ’70

Balo also helped bring other new medical devices to the market, including a neurological cooling device, mechanical and tissue-based heart valves, pacemakers, pacing leads and a 3-D electrophysiology mapping device.

He had already agreed to fund a professorship in cmns when he got a call from the college’s dean, Jayanth Banavar, who was with Simon in San Francisco. Simon was willing to match Balo’s donation to give their gifts more clout and impact—if Balo was interested.

He was.

“We embraced the opportunity to give back to the university that enabled us to get to where we are today in our careers,” Balo says. “We hope our gifts will enable future life sciences students at Maryland to have even more opportunities than we did and to become leaders in the health sciences.”

ANDREW BALO ’70 AND MARY BALO

$1.05 MILLION Michael and Eugenia Brin Endowed E-Nnovate Chair : Funded by a gift of $1.05 million from the Brins with an equal amount from the state, it will support a chair in applied math.

Michael, a professor emeritus of mathematics, joined the UMD faculty in 1980 and retired in 2011. Eugenia is also retired following a career as a climate and weather forecasting scientist at NASA. They are the parents of Sergey Brin ’93, co-founder of Google.

$1.1 MILLION Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Endowed E-Nnovate Chair : Filled by Department of Computer Science chair Samir Khuller, the position was funded by $1.5 million from Iribe, mother of Terp and benefactor of the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation, and $1.1 million from the state.

$526,562 Paul Chrisman Iribe Endowed E-Nnovate Professorship: Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe provided $526,562 with an equal match from the state. It establishes a professorship in virtual reality in the Department of Computer Science, named after her brother to honor his leadership of the family.

$526,562 Reginald Allan Hahne Endowed E-Nnovate Professorship: Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe contributed $526,562 with an equal match from the state, to establish a professorship in the Department of Computer Science, to honor her son’s high school computer science teacher.

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“DO GOOD” GETS GREAT Transformative Initiative to Expand umd Commitment to Teaching Philanthropy

ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS PROJECTS in University of Maryland history promises to amplify the power of Terps as agents of social innovation and to support the university’s mission of service.

The initiative announced Sept. 22 creates the nation’s first “Do Good campus” and establishes the Do Good Institute to serve as a hub of activity for philanthropy, nonprofit management, public policy and leadership. This program builds on the success of the School of Public Policy’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership and its Do Good Challenge.

“Our family is proud to be among those who support the Do Good Institute and this ambitious endeavor,” says Karen Levenson ’76, a

member of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees and a longtime supporter of the university and center. “As a former Maryland public school teacher, I believe deeply in the power of teaching through meaningful hands-on experiences.”

Through an investment of at least $75 million from individual and family gifts, state funding, and corporate and foundation grants, the university will build a new home for the School of Public Policy, spark an expansion of student experiences and courses on campus and beyond, and increase research and opportunities to cement the university’s reputation as a leader in this field.

The Do Good Challenge, a campus competition encouraging social innovation, has produced remarkable results since its 2012 founding. Among them, 2014 winner Terps Against Hunger packaged and delivered more than a million meals to local food banks, and Food Recovery Network co-founder Ben Simon ’14 was named among Forbes magazine’s Top 30 Social Entrepreneurs.

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“The Do Good Initiative establishes the University of Maryland as a global leader in advancing social change, philanthropy and nonprofit leadership,” says President Wallace D. Loh. “We believe that our Do Good campus will lead to a ‘Do Good World,’ where we will have a positive impact on all of the world’s citizens.”

Here’s how:

CREATE THE DO GOOD INSTITUTE The institute will serve as the campus-wide hub of social innovation, programs, research and thought leadership in nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations and social change. This comes at a time when college freshmen’s belief that “helping others in difficulty” is a “very important” or “essential” personal goal is at a 50-year high, according to the Higher Education Research Institute.

The Do Good Institute will tap Terps’ specific passions and provide them with the knowledge, skills, mentoring and resources to turn their idealism into impact. “Through partnerships across campus and the surge in young people’s desire to make an impact now, we have all the ingredients to make today’s students the Do Good generation,” says Robert T. Grimm Jr., director of the center, and now the institute.

ACCELERATE IDEAS INTO ACTION The Do Good Challenge is the entry point for 1,000 students every year to create projects and ventures for social change; a new Do Good Accelerator on campus will help them grow.

UMD leaders envision the accelerator as a place to provide promising Do Good projects and business ventures with leadership coaching, creative community space, networking opportunities, financial support and educational training.

TERPS ALREADY LIVING"DO GOOD" IDEALS CULTIVATE AND ELEVATE RESEARCH AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP The School of Public Policy will hire three endowed, high-profile faculty to teach and stimulate new research in the overlooked field, including long-term signature projects that will bolster UMD’s reputation as a national authority.

The institute is already a leader in this research field by housing the world’s leading scholarly journal on philanthropy and nonprofits; sponsoring an international research prize; and co-hosting this fall the largest research conference in this area.

EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGE The institute seeks to give students opportunities to practice and reflect on giving back and social change. Undergraduates will be introduced to these issues during their first year, then can choose from a variety of related courses across campus, enter or contribute to the Do Good Challenge, and join a student group working for social change.

Some will go on to a proposed minor focused on these studies or pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree with a focus in this area. UMD’s School of Public Policy already boasts one of the world’s most robust curriculums in nonprofit management and leadership, including global programs in India and China.

To learn about supporting the Do Good Initiative, contact Tom Recker, executive director of university development, at trecker@umd.edu or 301.405.4568.

DO GOOD EFFORTS ALREADY ON CAMPUS HAVE HELPED TERPS SUCH AS THESE GET THEIR SOCIALLY MINDED VENTURES AND PROJECTS OFF THE GROUND:

Kirsten Craft MPP ’16, MBA ’17

helped launch Press Uncuffed through the Do Good Challenge to raise awareness that journalists suffer worldwide by developing and selling bracelets, then donating proceeds to the nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists.

After taking the “Innovation and Social Change: Do Good Now” course, Sagar Doshi ’15 and his Students Helping Honduras team won the 2014 Do Good Challenge; it has raised $100,000, and UMD student volunteers have built four schools in the past four years.

Evan Lutz ’14 was a social

innovation fellow in the Robert H. Smith School of Business’s Center for Social Value Creation when he started the Food Recovery CSA to redistribute surplus produce to students at a low price. He’s since founded Hungry Harvest, which also fights food waste by delivering “ugly” but tasty produce to homes and donates a healthy meal for every box of food a customer buys. Earlier this year, he won a $100,000 investment on the TV show “Shark Tank.”

Now a Maryland School of Dentistry student, Linda Powers ’15 and classmates in “Innovation and Social Change: Do Good Now” formed Mile for Smiles, a nonprofit that provides dental equipment in Honduras. It was named for a new campus race connected to the distance individuals must travel in the impoverished nation to obtain dental care.

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INFORMATION DOMINANCE Eminent Engineering Prof Gives to Strengthen UMD Research in His Specialty

By Chris Carroll

when anthony ephremides joined maryland’s department of electrical and chemical engineering in 1971, it wasn’t one of the campus’s leading academic units. But thanks to a series of strong leaders, not to mention dedicated researchers and ambitious students, it’s now a powerhouse.

Today he is a Distinguished University Professor and holds the Cynthia Kim Eminent Professorship Chair of Information Technology in the A. James Clark School of Engineering.

He also has a joint appointment in the Institute for Systems Research, of which he was a founding member.

Grateful for his rich and fulfilling career, Ephremides and his wife will support talented graduate students through estate gifts of at least $750,000.

The Jane Ephremides Distinguished Endowed Graduate Fellowship will be established with a bequest of at least $500,000, while the Anthony Ephremides Distinguished Endowed Graduate Fellowship will be established with a bequest of at least $250,000.

Ephremides also created the Anthony Ephremides Chair in Information Sciences and Systems in the Clark School in 2007. The previous and current gifts are tailored to strengthen research in information sciences and systems.

“I see it as a way of paying back,” he says. “The existence of funded chairs and fellowships is extremely important to attract high-quality faculty and students.”

FINDING A GOOD BEGINNING WITH FOUNDATIONS' FUNDING, UMD STUDIES EARLY LEARNING IN D.C.

By Liam Farrell

GROWING EVIDENCE SHOWS THE “ACHIEVEMENT GAP”

between low-income children and their wealthier peers starts long before BRENDA JONES-HARDEN they begin school.

University of Maryland researchers have joined a federal effort to prevent that divide at an earlier age, by monitoring the implementation of the new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership in Washington, D.C. The effort is designed to bolster training and technical assistance at early learning centers serving infants and toddlers from low-income families.

“We should not be so cavalier about children’s experiences in the first three years of life,” says Brenda Jones-Harden, an associate professor in the College of Education leading the university’s effort.

Supported by $500,000 from the Bainum Family Foundation, which recently doubled its funding, and $500,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, UMD will evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the new Quality Improvement Network (QIN), an

initiative of the District of Columbia’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). The goal is to improve the quality of the 3,300 infant and toddler seats that OSSE already supports and to add 1,000 Early Head Start slots for children in areas where the need for high-quality care is unmet.

“Let’s not just give kids custodial care,” Jones-Harden says. “Let’s promote child and family development.”

When the partnership began, UMD researchers interviewed center directors and staff and held parent focus groups.

Later, they will assess the kindergarten readiness of children in Early Head Start and compare them to those who applied but couldn’t enroll for space reasons.

Both the Kellogg and Bainum foundations are focused on supporting early child development and strengthening vulnerable communities.

“We have made a five-year, $10 million commitment to improve early childhood in the District of Columbia through policy and practice improvements as well as knowledge building,” says Barbara Bainum, chair of the board, CEO and president of the Bainum Family Foundation.

“The QIN is an important element of our practice strategy, as we strive to increase the supply of high-quality early learning seats and expand the use of early learning best practices. UMD’s evaluation work will be critical to the success of this initiative.”

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CYBER SYNERGIES Dean’s Gift Will Establish iSchool Cyber Chair

By Chris Carroll

americans tend to think of cybersecurity as a highly technical matter for law enforcement and military experts. But in reality, internet safety is also critical in everyday situations ranging from banking to visiting the doctor to driving the latest connected car.

Drawing attention to the broad range of cyberthreats is one of the goals of Keith Marzullo, new dean of the College of Information Studies. And it’s the motivation behind a $2 million estate gift from Marzullo and his wife, Susie Armstrong, to create an endowed chair in cybersecurity within the iSchool.

“Cybersecurity is a multifaceted problem involving people, information and technology—an important point that we think needs increased emphasis,” he says.

The careers of both spouses have been defined by the revolution in information and communications technology that some have labeled the “second machine age.” Susie Armstrong has been a pioneer in network communications, a leader in mobile

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING THERE TWO PROFESSORS' FELLOWSHIP SUPPORTS ARCHIVAL RESEARCH

By Liam Farrell

EMERITUS UMD ENGLISH PROFESSORS JACKSON BRYER AND VINCENT CARRETTA

have fond memories of hours spent sifting through libraries, discovering the overlooked document and bringing exciting new nuggets of information to light.

“You get to make discoveries and correct other people,” Carretta says. “I’m like a kid in a candy store.”

The pair is making sure today’s graduate students at UMD have the same opportunities by establishing the Endowed Summer Fellowship for Archival Work in English Studies. The fund will help pay for the travel, living and research expenses of doctoral English students so they can consult primary documents in archives.

Finding new facts and clarifying assumed

communications technology and a force in the development of the “internet of things.” Keith Marzullo has been a scientific and academic leader in networking and distributed systems, as well as in cybersecurity. He has also served in various policy roles in the United States and abroad, including a term in the White House Office of Science and Technology.

There are a variety of cybersecurity activities on campus, ranging from research in computer science, psychology, public policy and other departments to an Honors College living and learning program in cybersecurity. Marzullo says the iSchool is particularly well suited to forming multidisciplinary collaborations in the field.

The pervasive technology that improves our lives also increasingly puts us at risk from online predators, requiring holistic approaches to fend them off, Marzullo says.

“We are increasingly embedding information and communications technology into our lives, and that technology can be attacked,” Marzullo says. “Cybersecurity as an area of concern is not going away anytime soon.”

ones is painstaking but necessary work, Bryer says. He recalls discovering evidence in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s archive that “The Vegetable, or From President to Postman,” a failed Fitzgerald play long assumed to have been performed in a single city, had actually been put on elsewhere.

“No one had bothered to look,” Bryer says.

Despite the growing accessibility of archives online, Bryer and Carretta say wide gaps remain between what is available online versus in person. In addition, some important characteristics—watermarks, paper composition, handwriting and ink color— cannot be analyzed remotely.

“There’s no substitute for going to an actual library and viewing the materials there,” Bryer says.

The pair says the fellowship serves a pragmatic purpose as well, by helping to recruit graduate students looking for primary research opportunities and bolster their resumes for the job market. They also hope to encourage the support of more English department alumni and staff so that the fellowship can eventually be expanded to a full semester.

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WHY I GIVE

BY ROBERT R. SATTERFIELD ’95

supports our own and helps us see our path through life.

As a student at Maryland, I met someone who showed me how to be my best self.

Katherine Pedro Beardsley, former associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS), brought me in as a student worker in the dean’s office, engaged me in the early iteration of what became the BSOS Dean’s Student Advisory Council, and provided me with counsel, mentorship and even a place in her home.

My Maryland experience was so powerful and positive that it still echoes through my life on a daily basis. I largely attribute this to my time working for Kathy. She challenged me to expand my horizons. She taught me how to be an impactful member of the community. Most importantly, she inspired me to live my life unafraid of my own potential and that of the world around me.

As I’ve stayed connected to Maryland, I’ve met many others who were impacted—or who are the influencers themselves—in the Maryland family, from faculty to coaches to friends. This is a special place that

That is why I’ve made a commitment of more than $1,000,000 to Fearless Ideas, The Campaign for Maryland. It is my aspiration that these funds will provide opportunities for students to experience the University of Maryland community broadly and fully, and will allow for experiential learning unconstrained by the classroom.

I am proud to support student opportunity funds in economics, at the University Career Center @ BSOS, for individuals working to support LGBTQ+ individuals, and for many of our athletic teams. And finally, I am establishing a $200,000 matching gift fund to encourage other BSOS alumni to follow my lead.

This is the legacy that Dr. Beardsley instilled in me. Everybody deserves a Kathy in their lives. The relationship that was nurtured when I was an undergraduate is only surpassed by the connection I have enjoyed beyond graduation.

Robert R. Satterfield is senior vice president of investments with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and a trustee on the University of Maryland College Park Foundation.