ESSAYS BY
6
INSPIRING TERPS PLUS ONE
UNFORGETTABLE SPEECH COMMENCEMENT
SPRING 2013 / Connecting the University of Maryland Community
Jeff
Brenda
KINNEY
FRESE
Kevin
PLANK
Jim
GATES
featuring
Boomer
ESIASON
Rita
COLWELL
D.J.
PATIL
A CORCORAN PARTNERSHIP? 2 / GAY ATHLETES’ ALLY 6 / HIGH-TECH HOME PLATE 14
LETTER FROM THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT SPRING 2013 / VOL. 10, NO. 3
P U B L I S H E D BY DIVISION OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS A DV I S E R S
Peter Weiler
VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Brian Ullmann ’92
ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Margaret Hall EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CREATIVE STRATEGIES M AG A Z I N E S TA F F
Lauren Brown UNIVERSIT Y EDITOR
John T. Consoli ’86 CREATIVE DIREC TOR
Amy Shroads ART DIREC TOR
Monette A. Bailey ’89 Crystal Brown Beth Cavanaugh Sara Gavin ’01 Kimberly Marselas ’oo Karen Shih ’09 Jennifer Talhelm WRITERS
Catherine Nichols ’99 Ashley Stearns ’08 DESIGNERS
Kelsey Marotta ’14 Sabrena Sesay ’13 INTERNS
Gail Rupert M.L.S. ’10 PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT
Letters to the editor are welcomed. Send correspondence to Managing Editor, Terp magazine, 2101 Turner Building, College Park, MD 20742-1521. Or, send an email to terpfeedback@umd.edu. The University of Maryland, College Park is an equal opportunity institution with respect to both education and employment. University policies, programs and activities are in conformance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
NEWS
of Terp magazine, and we’re excited to share it with you. We asked several of our distinguished alumni and friends to write personal essays about what it means to be fearless. What came back blew us away! Kevin Plank ’96 recounts the building of Under Armour. Head women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese speaks of her decision to come to Maryland. “Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney ’93 reflects on his new effort to make a difference in his community. And distinguished university professor Rita Colwell addresses the importance of being fearless in the search for objective truth through research. We are sure you will find these essays thoughtful and inspiring. In July, I will step aside as president of the University of Maryland Alumni Association Board of Governors. President-elect Nicole Pollard will assume those duties. I have truly savored every moment of my term. In my two years, we have seen great transition including a new president, a new athletic director, a new provost and a new vice president for university relations. With strengthened leadership and a pending move to the Big Ten Conference, there is obvious excitement for our future. On a personal level, I would like to thank my fellow alumni and the alumni association staff for their advice and counsel. Know that I am more committed than ever to our exceptional university. One final plea before I exit this stage: Please consider joining your alumni association. From career services to special events at the wonderful Riggs Alumni Center to reunions to volunteer opportunities and much more, there is always something exciting going on in the alumni association. For more information, visit www.alumni.umd.edu/join. Remember, no matter when you graduated from our university or where life has taken you in the years since you left College Park, you are “Always a Terp.”
2 5 6 10 14 17 34 36
IN BRIEF ASK ANNE CLASS ACT CAMPUS LIFE INNOVATION FACULTY Q&A GIVING INTERPRETATIONS
2
8
Go Terps!
terpfeedback@umd.edu
ONLINE VIDEO
Departments
WE’VE DONE SOMETHING unique with this issue
terp.umd.edu
terpvision.umd.edu umdrightnow.umd.edu
Timmy F. Ruppersberger ’77 President, University of Maryland Alumni Association Board of Directors
FAC E B O O K .C O M /UnivofMaryland F L I C K R .C O M /photos/wwwumdedu T W I T T E R .C O M /UofMaryland V I M E O.C O M /umd YO U T U B E .C O M /UMD2101
COVER TYPOGRAPHY BY JOSHUA HARLESS
CORRECTION: The name of Steven D. Cohen, lecturer and managing director of the Oral Communication Program, was misspelled in the NewsDesk column in the Winter 2013 issue of Terp. We apologize for the error.
13 PHOTO CREDITS FROM TOP: CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART; NBC UNIVERSAL/MARY ELLEN MATTHEWS; JOHN T. CONSOLI
FIND A PLACE THAT EMBRACES FEARLESS IDEAS.
D0 SOMETHING WITH REAL PURPOSE.
OVERPROMISE AND DELIVER. LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK.
Jim
GATES
Jeff
KINNEY
PG. 22
PG. 26
Kevin
PLANK PG. 20
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. Brenda
STAND BEHIND YOUR WORK. Rita
COLWELL PG. 30
HELP THOSE IN NEED. Boomer
ESIASON
FRESE
PG. 28
PG. 24
Feature
18 HOW TO BE FEARLESS
We asked six notable Terps what that idea means to them, and they wrote essays that are candid, humble, sharp—and definitely inspiring. BONUS: AN ALUM'S MEMORABLE COMMENCEMENT SPEECH ADVISES GRADS TO “FAIL FAST.”
PHOTO CREDITS FROM LEFT: GREG FIUME; JOHN T. CONSOLI (2); DAVID YELLEN; JOHN PAUL FILO/CBS; MATT HOYLE; BROOKE NIPAR
➵
IN BRIEF
Designing a Partnership UMD STUDYING POTENTIAL COLLABORATIONS WITH CORCORAN The university is exploring a partnership with Washington, D.C.’s famed Corcoran Gallery of Art and Corcoran College of Art + Design that could lead to access to the gallery’s $2 billion, 17,000piece collection, enhanced art and design opportunities for Maryland students, and increased visibility and presence for the university in the nation’s capital. President Wallace Loh in April signed
a memorandum of understanding with the head of the Corcoran Board of Trustees and has appointed an 18-member task force to consider a formal collaboration. It is scheduled to report its findings to him by the end of the summer. “We are energized by the potential to enhance both institutions, to bring together diverse academic disciplines, students and faculty to create something
Philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran, founder of what is now PNC Bank and art collector who opened the gallery, attended the opening ceremonies for the Maryland Agricultural College in 1859.
2 TERP SPRING 2013
truly unique and compelling in higher education,” Loh says. “This is a moment of remarkable possibility.” The Corcoran was established in 1869 as D.C.’s first private art museum, dedicated, in the words of founder William Wilson Corcoran, to “encouraging American genius.” Its renowned collection, housed just a block from the White House, includes works by Degas, Monet, Picasso and Sargent. The college opened in 1878 and today has approximately 550 undergraduate and graduate students. In recent years, the museum has struggled to overcome severe financial troubles, including $7 million operating deficits for the last two years and a $130 million backlog in building repairs. The agreement signed by the Corcoran and UMD notes the advantages of UMD’s management expertise, financial strengths, economies of scale and capacity to help run the Corcoran’s administrative side, in such areas as student services, fundraising, facilities management and human resources. The UMD task force, led by Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin; Curlee Holton, interim executive director of the David C. Driskell Center; and School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Dean David Cronrath, is now investigating the possibilities for new courses, joint degrees and innovation studios, which would bring together students and faculty from disciplines like engineering and business with the arts. “All our students will have to be creative problem-solvers and designers as well as entrepreneurs in their jobs,” Cronrath says.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART
From left: Andy Warhol's "Mao," 1973, part of the Corcoran Museum of Art's collection; a Corcoran College of Art + Design student in the fine arts studio; the exterior of the building, located at 17th Street and F Street in D.C.; a senior thesis critique.
This recent rendering shows the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center, viewed from McKeldin Mall facing northeast.
RENDERING BY AYERS SAINT GROSS
This partnership would be unique but not unprecedented. The University of California, Los Angeles operates the Hammer Museum, and Johns Hopkins University has partnered with the Peabody
”
“All great universities have a wellbalanced set of disciplines,” he says. “This will complement nicely the partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore, which tends to focus on science and engineering.” If the task force recommends moving forward, the University of Maryland Board of Regents and the Corcoran Board of Trustees will vote on the decision.
Institute for more than three decades. “It’s a wonderful opportunity, and it takes great courage and leadership for President Loh to imagine it and make it possible,” Holton says.–KS
This is a moment of remarkable possibility. —president wallace loh
”
A NEW VIEW The Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center, named for the Baltimore developer, philanthropist and 1961 alumnus who donated $10 million to the project, received $3.4 million for design in the state budget approved in April. The first new building on McKeldin Mall in 50 years, it will feature technologically advanced instructional rooms that encourage interactive and blended learning. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2014.
SPRING 2013 TERP 3
Collaboration Gets More MPowered MPOWERING THE
Dorit Yaron, acting director of the Driskell Center, and Kenneth Ingels, art registrar, examine some of the nearly 270 pieces from the Baccus collection.
State, the university’s strategic initiative with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), celebrated its one-year anniversary with a welcome gift from the state: $6.7 million for the initiative in next year’s budget. Joining UMD’s scientific and engineering expertise with the biomedical and public health opportunities at UMB, the partnership has created a new Center for Health-related Informatics and Bioimaging; combined research efforts for new educational programs in health, law, human services and the sciences; worked to improve wellness across the state; and more. The new funding will support MPower’s focus on creating a collaborative school of public health and increasing bioinformatics research. UMD and UMB will continue to combine resources to better serve students, attract more exceptional faculty and researchers, and boost research, technology transfer and commercialization.–CB
David C. Driskell Center Bequeathed $2.2M in Art An African-American art collection valued at more than $2.2 million now belongs to the university’s David C. Driskell Center. The nearly 270 paintings, sculptures and other works bequeathed by Sandra Anderson Baccus, who died last year, and her late husband, Dr. Lloyd T. Baccus, make it the center’s largest gift. Mrs. Baccus served on the center’s board from 2004 to 2006. “She was impressed with what we were doing here,” says Dorit Yaron, acting director. “Usually 3 to 5 percent is shown on exhibitions while the rest of objects are stored. At a place like the center, she believed we would use the 4 TERP SPRING 2013
collection more often for study, classes and possibly an exhibition.” Familiar names such as Clementine Hunter, Romare Bearden and Palmer Hayden are represented, as are a range of formats and subjects. The collection includes abstract metal sculptures addressing lynching, fine drawings evoking nights at the famed Apollo Theater and even a pair of creatively decorated shoes. “There were a number of artists she was interested in, and her husband was interested in a different group,” says Curlee Holton, interim executive director of the center. He says it makes for a diverse and “exceptional” collection.–MAB
A RECORD
105,000 PEOPLE ATTENDED PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
ALL THE BEAUTIFUL COUPLES POSING FOR PHOTOS ON THE STEPS OF MEMORIAL CHAPEL GOT ME WONDERING: WHEN WAS THE FIRST WEDDING HELD AT THE CHAPEL, OR ANYWHERE ON CAMPUS?—Becky Steiner
We don’t know for certain when the first wedding was held on campus. Since there was a chapel in the Barracks, one of the buildings destroyed in the Great Fire of 1912, it’s likely that marriage ceremonies were held there, well before the first wedding in Memorial Chapel on Nov. 12, 1952. The couple with that honor is Albert E. Stott and Helen Ann Bump of Hyattsville, Md.
Q
ASK ANNE
I HEARD THERE WAS SOME BIG STREAKING EVENT ON CAMPUS BACK IN THE 1970S. IS THAT TRUE?—Wayne Tan ’09
Streaking was an American phenomenon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the term was coined in 1973 by a TV reporter who watched 533 naked students running across the University of Maryland. He exclaimed, “They are streaking past me right now. It’s an incredible sight!” Two photographs of mass streaks appeared in the 1974 Terrapin yearbook, accompanied by a quote from William Thomas, acting vice chancellor, condemning these “nude running incidents” that “have placed the University community into a defensive and embarrassed posture.”
Questions for Anne Turkos, the university archivist
WHY IS THERE A PLAQUE FOR “SARA BELLUM” ON TALIAFERRO HALL? WAS SHE A REAL PERSON?
—Shiehan Chou ’10
“Sara Bellum,” a play on the word “cerebellum,” was not a real person, but the creation of sociology Professor John Pease. As the story goes, she was a student who died from lack of studying, and “I’d Rather Be Studying” were her final words on her last midterm exam. The university adopted the phrase, which appears on a plaque at Taliaferro, as its informal motto in 1988. It’s been translated into more than 30 languages and plastered on bumper stickers, posters, T-shirts, hats, pencils and other campus gear.
➳ Questions may be sent to
terpmag@umd.edu or @UMDarchives on Twitter. ONLINE
lib.umd.edu/univarchives
BLOG lib.umd.edu/blogs/univarch_exhibits FAC E B O O K
University of Maryland University Archives
PHOTOS PHOTO BY JOHN COURTESY T. CONSOLI OF UNIVERSITY / PHOTO CREDITS ARCHIVES
SPRING 2013 TERP 5
CLASS ACT
As founder and director of Athlete Ally, Hudson Taylor '10 travels around the country—hitting Atlanta, Boston, St. Louis North Carolina and California in one recent week—to encourage athletes to respect all players on and off the field.
ALUMNI PROFILE / HUDSON TAYLOR ’10
Taking Tolerance to the Mat STRAIGHT WRESTLER TURNS NATIONAL ACTIVIST FOR GAY RIGHTS As a three-time All-American wrestler, Hudson Taylor ’10 didn’t wear his LGBT advocacy on his sleeve. He started with his headgear. Taylor had used social media and talked to friends and fellow athletes to challenge the casual use of derogatory language about the gay community. But the day he slapped a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his padded helmet (photo, top right), he drew attention that led him to become a national activist. He’s the founder and executive director of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit that encourages straight athletes to speak out against homophobia and transphobia. Taylor travels to campuses around the country, speaks to the media and writes for The Huffington Post, spreading the message of respect, inclusion and equality. “Sports is the last closet for gays, but 6 TERP SPRING 2013
I think the culture is shifting,” he says. The descendant and namesake of a 19th-century missionary who converted tens of thousands of Chinese to Protestantism, Taylor shares an evangelist’s earnestness, independence and sense of conviction. He grew up a wrestler in a New Jersey soccer town, honed his skills at boarding school and came to Maryland with an unorthodox style that relied on technique rather than strength or speed. “He was squirrely. He scrambled a lot,” says Coach Kerry McCoy. “Half the time, he’d look beat, then suddenly, he’d have you on your back.” Taylor went on to become one of the top five pinners in NCAA history and holds Maryland’s record for the most wins. All that time, he was troubled by the difference in cultures between the locker room and the theater department, where
he’d created his own major, interactive performance art. It wasn’t uncommon for his academic peers to come out as gay and be warmly received. His fellow athletes, however, tossed around homophobic language. “As a wrestler, the two most common questions we hear are: What are you wearing, and why are you grabbing each other?” he says. “There’s a real desire to assert straightness. They used homophobic language as a tool to lift themselves up or put others down.” Taylor thought about how that culture might keep athletes or coaches in the closet out of fear of damaging their careers. He started speaking up to teammates about being respectful of others, which led to the sticker. “I got to a place that I cared more about doing the right thing than what people
HUDSON PHOTO ON SUBWAY BY BRIAN HARKIN; HUDSON PHOTO WITH HEADGEAR BY DAKOTA FINE
ALUMNI TRAVEL OCT. 1–9, 2013
Italy
were going to think of The NCAA began me,” he says. distributing it in An LGBT website the spring. posted an interview with Karen Morrison, Taylor, who offered his NCAA director of email address. He received gender inclusion, more than 2,000 responses says it’s critical for from closeted gay students, straight allies to I got to a place that advance fair treatincluding wrestlers who I cared more about ment, equitable wrote how his gesture had given them hope that learning and competdoing the right they could enter a locker itive environments thing than what room openly. for LGBTQ student people were going athletes, and Taylor is “What if I could get a football player or basplaying a role in that. to think of me. ketball player to do the “Hudson is a man same?” he recalls thinking. of integrity and a Now, in between stops at home to see champion in every respect, including his his wife, Lia, and a near-obsession with commitment to LGBTQ inclusion in a full sleight-of-hand tricks (he practices about and fair sports experience,” she says. two hours a day), he’s all over the country, In the meantime, Taylor is a volunteer encouraging athletes to identify themselves assistant wrestling coach at Columbia as straight allies and sign the Ally Pledge to University. With hardly any time to train, respect all players on and off the field. he showed up in December at the Midlands In addition, the NCAA commissioned Championship, one of the nation’s toughest him and LGBT rights trailblazer Pat Griffin tournaments, and placed seventh. ’67, professor emeritus in the Social Justice “We always told him that he could have Education Program at the University been an Olympic champ if he had dediof Massachusetts Amherst, to write a cated himself to it,” McCoy says. “He’s 100 handbook outlining how coaches and percent committed to being Hudson Taylor, administrators should handle LGBT issues. and that’s going to take him a long way.”–LB
”
”
Delight in the age-old atmosphere and fresh flavors of one of the world's most enchanting locations, southern Italy's Apulia region.
For more about this and other trips, visit alumni.umd.edu or contact Angela Dimopoulos ’07 at 301.405.7938/800.336.8627 or adimop@umd.edu.
CLASS NOTES To submit notes, send an email to terpmag@umd.edu.
’00s HUDA MU’MIN ’05, owner of the D.C.-area culinary company Pretty and Want to see more Delicious, Class Notes?was Visit W W W.T E R P.U M D. EaDcontestant U/C L A S S N O T Eon S. the ABC winter reality series “The Taste.”
’70s Time magazine in April named DON
BOOKSHELF
YEOMANS M.S. '67,
KATHLENE MCDONALD PH.D. ’02
examines journal articles, essays, short stories and other literary works of women in the 1940s and ’50s to provide a historical overview of resistance to sexist ideology in Feminism, the Left, and Postwar Literary Culture.
In The Dog Walker, CORWYN ALVAREZ ’92 tells the story of the gently challenged Benny, whose compassion isn’t just for the canine friends he walks for neighbors in small-town Mayfield.
LARRY M. JACOBSON ’86, a former music industry executive turned motivational and inspirational speaker, wrote Ready, Aim, Captivate! Put Magic in Your Message and a Fortune in Your Future to help readers identify their calling and claim a fulfilling life of passion and purpose.
PH.D. '70, an asteroid hunter with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, one of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2013. His asteroid early-warning project “is one of the reasons we can all sleep a little better at night,” wrote Rusty Schweikart, founder of the BS12 Foundation and former astronaut. Want to see more Class Notes? Visit W W W.T E R P.U M D. E D U/ CLASSNOTES.
SPRING 2013 TERP 7
After having a son and “going without sleep for a year,” McCarthy-Miller left SNL at 42. She began freelancing specials and single episodes of popular shows. Then Fey asked her to direct “30 Rock.” By the time the show wrapped in January, McCarthy-Miller had done 24 episodes, including two live shows and the finale. She also may have brought a little of her Maryland roots to Liz Lemon, the snarky geek—and UMD alumna—portrayed by Fey. “Tina uses a little meld of all of us in her characters,” says McCarthy-Miller. “But the fact that ‘University of Maryland’ came out of Tina Fey’s mouth is a huge compliment.”–KM
A TASTE OF LEMON Beth McCarthy-Miller ’85 (center) directs Tina Fey and Matt Damon in an episode of “30 Rock.”
ALUMNI PROFILE / BETH McCARTHY-MILLER ’85
Solid as 30 Rock TV DIRECTOR GETS LAST LAUGHS ON SERIES, MOVES TO MOVIES From MTV to “Saturday Night Live,” on television hits like “30 Rock” and “Modern Family” and behind the scenes of award shows and concerts, director Beth McCarthy-Miller’s credits read like a 30-year-long list of must-see TV. Fresh out of UMD’s radio, television and film program, McCarthy-Miller ’85 landed an MTV internship. The network kept her on, and in her early 20s, she was directing VJs and running the three-camera game show “Remote Control.” It was, she recalls, “sink or swim.” “I’d known that I wanted to be in the business, but I didn’t know what part,” says the L.A.-based McCarthyMiller. “Going the director route really led me the right way for a long career.” The seven-time Emmy nominee also credits her success to good timing. She left MTV for “The Jon Stewart Show,” but found herself out of work when the show was axed nine months later. The following week, she had interviews with “Saturday Night Live” and David Letterman. McCarthy-Miller was SNL’s first female director, working on 218 episodes between 1995 and 2006. She was joined in 1999 by Tina Fey, who impressed McCarthyMiller with her first sketches and remains a close friend.
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30 Rock’s Liz Lemon was weirdly proud of her awkward years at the University of Maryland. She mentioned her alma mater several times during the series’ run:
“LEE MARVIN VS. DEREK JETER” Season Four Pete: Elizabeth... I don’t know how to pronounce your middle name ... Lemon. You attended the University of Maryland on a partial competitive jazz dance scholarship. Liz: So?
“COLLEGE” Season Five Liz: The fall of 1988. A young Liz Lemon enters the University of Maryland. Richard Marx haircut, pilonidal cyst under control. It was a magical time, Jack! Jack: Don’t worry about getting to your point. I’m going to live forever. Liz: The registrar accidentally gave me a handicapped room. It was HUGE. And for two weeks it was party central. I was popular. People gave me nicknames. A blonde girl high-fived me.
“GAME OVER” Season Seven Liz: I played Frederick Douglass in a one-woman show the University of Maryland Diamondback called ‘Too confusing to be offensive.’
“30 ROCK” BEHIND-THE-SCENES PHOTO COURTESY OF NBC UNIVERSAL/ALI GOLDSTEIN; LIZ LEMON PHOTO COURTESY NBC UNIVERSAL/MARY ELLEN MATHEWS
A Capital Idea THE UNIVERSITY is expanding its longtime
partnership with Capital One by offering three Visa credit cards that support the Maryland Alumni Association. The rewards card lets users earn 1.25 miles for every dollar spent on purchases and redeem miles for flights, hotel rooms, car rentals and more. A second card offers a low introductory interest rate, while the third helps build a credit history through responsible use. A portion of every dollar spent goes back to the alumni association, funding a range of programs for alumni, from career services to special events. Capital One also teams up with Maryland in other ways, sponsoring Terp Town tailgates at home football games, providing a bank branch
in the Stamp Student Union and ATMs across campus, and naming the field at Byrd Stadium. It also has a long history of helping students directly, most recently giving $2 million in the Great Expectations campaign for its leadership-internship program and to fund scholarships for students transferring from Montgomery College to the Universities at Shady Grove. Paria Khoshroo, an immigrant from Iran, says her $3,000 Capital One scholarship has helped her fulfill her late father’s dream that she get an education in the U.S. “I need to work to pay for my education myself,” says Khoshroo, an accounting major, “and this scholarship gave me the chance to not work so
much so I can study and keep up my grades.” The company is now working with Maryland to expand its internship and recruitment opportunities for students and alumni. For more information, visit alumni.umd.edu/ capitalone.
ALUMNI PROFILE / JOSEPH KUNKEL M. ARCH ’09
RE-ENVISIONING RESERVATIONS Architecture Alum Travels the World to Help Native Communities The dilapidated buildings on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana are a poor reflection of the strong community within. Constructed hastily with government funding nearly a half-century ago, they were never meant for the state’s long, dry summers and frigid winters. It’s just one of many problems in the community where Joseph Kunkel M. Arch ’09 spent his childhood summers. Like many other American Indian tribes, it is plagued by unemployment, poor health standards, substance abuse and suicide. Today, Kunkel, a member of the Northern Cheyenne, is committed to using his architecture and engineering education to help address those problems. Since January, Kunkel has been in Santa Fe, N.M., working with the Pueblo of
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOSEPH KUNKEL
Santo Domingo people and the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative as a Rose Architectural Fellow. This three-year national fellowship for young architects emphasizes community-based development and sustainable design. “All tribes have their own cultures. You have to approach them with sensitivity,” he says. “Instead of being that big-headed architect, it’s about being a facilitator for their ideas and interpreting what they believe their house could be, and incorporating those concepts into the planning process.” In the past four years, he’s worked with native peoples from Northern Canada to Bolivia. While at Maryland, he helped develop a graduate-level course at the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation to bring students to the
Northern Cheyenne Reservation. “The goal was to open the students’ eyes,” he says. “They’d never been on tribal lands and hadn’t seen these types of living conditions in the United States.” He and several colleagues have returned every summer since and developed a basketball clinic with support from Nike and NBA Cares. It encourages youths to be active, using sports as a catalyst for change. Kunkel is now considering moving into policy to have a greater impact. “Going to every one of these tribal communities is physically impossible,” he says. “On a broader scale, it’s about educating policymakers within the federal government and focusing on these unique needs of tribal communities to help build and set standards that would result in positive change.”—KS
In his work with American Indians, Joseph Kunkel M. Arch. '09 has studied architecture including tribal housing in Santo Domingo 9 SPRING 2013Pueblo, TERP N.M.
CAMPUS LIFE
PLAY BY PLAY
Sidelined but Still in the Game FORMER STAR QUARTERBACK CARVES OUT NEW ROLE, FULL LIFE Tim Strachan ’99 was one of the nation’s top five high school quarterbacks 20 years ago this summer, ranked among the likes of Peyton Manning, when he dived into a wave at Bethany Beach, Del., and hit a rock. The waves tossed him around. Something rubbery— his own arm—smacked him in the face. He floated in and out of consciousness. He’d broken his spine at the fifth vertebra, paralyzing him from the chest down, impairing the mobility in his arms and shattering his plans for college and NFL greatness. Since then, Strachan became a lawyer on Capitol Hill, married his elementary-school sweetheart and had two daughters, and still had a long career in football—just not the one he’d imagined. “Life’s evolved a lot,” says Strachan, who’s been broadcasting Terp games for 17 years. “If I had never gotten hurt, I wouldn’t have been around football for as long. I could have fizzled in college.” The youngest of four brothers, he started playing at age 5 and grew into a perfect quarterback specimen Strachan played in a summer at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds. At DeMatha league in Prince George’s Catholic High School, he attracted the County in 1993, just months before his accident. attention of college coaches, including Joe Paterno of Penn State and Mark Duffner of Maryland, who made verbal offers before his senior year—unprecedented at the time. Instead, his senior year was consumed with recovery. Strachan spent two months in intensive care, then three more in a rehabilitation hospital. Weakened by the surgeries and pneumonia, he lost 50 pounds, and had to work every day to regain his strength and relearn basic functions like brushing his teeth.
Tim Strachan ’99 says that after 15 seasons of reporting from the sidelines, being up in the broadcasting booth at Byrd Stadium means “I can talk anytime I want.”
Yet both colleges honored their offers to Strachan. Born and raised in Kensington, Md., he chose to stay close to home. With the Terps, he served as a student assistant coach, helping to do film breakdowns and facilitate practice. Then veteran Terp broadcaster Johnny Holliday gave him an opportunity to be in the game-day action as a sideline commentator. “People told me how bad I was that first year, but I loved it,” Strachan says. Still relearning how to use his arms, he nearly dropped the hand-held microphone the first time Holliday asked for his opinion on air. Holliday remembers things differently. “He was incredible from the first game. I never had to tell him anything at all,” he says. “He’s got that natural ability to communicate what he’s seeing and translating for the audience to paint the picture of what’s going on.” Strachan also honed those communications skills as an inspirational speaker. He tells his audiences, ranging from schoolchildren to Fortune 500 CEOs, that it’s important to set lofty goals and work hard, but at the same time, enjoy the journey. “Ten years ago, I didn’t know I’d be here today,” he says. “Wherever I am in 10 years, that’s where I’m supposed to be.”–KS
He’s got that natural ability to communicate what he’s seeing and . . . paint the picture of what’s going on.
”
—johnny holliday, veteran Terp broadcaster
10 TERP SPRING 2013
”
TOP PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT; BOTTOM COURTESY OF TIM STRACHAN
MASTERPIECE
CLASSICAL GOES UNCONVENTIONAL
UMD Pair Preps NY Philharmonic for Whimsical Performance A TEA PARTY. Stomping feet. Arm wres-
tling. Inspired by research at Maryland’s School of Music, June performances of Stravinsky’s ballet “Petrushka” by the New York Philharmonic won’t look like a typical night at Lincoln Center. James Ross, associate professor and director of orchestral activity at Maryland, and visual artist Doug Fitch, a former UMD artist in residence, are working with the famed orchestra to prepare their theatricalization of “Petrushka,” in which the ensemble itself will tell much of the story through staging and movement. “I think we have the chance with this project to attract new audiences,” says Ed
Yim, the philharmonic’s vice president of artistic planning. “It’s different and spectacular and whimsical.” The idea to merge puppets, costumes, props and video into the concert experience grew out of the school’s New Lights Initiative, which challenges students and faculty from various disciplines to redefine and de-ritualize the concert experience. Ross and Fitch collaborated on the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra on “Petrushka” in 2008 to critical acclaim, and news of the unconventional performance traveled to the New York Philharmonic. “Never would anybody dream of
asking an orchestra like the New York Philharmonic to get on their feet in the middle of the concert and start juggling handkerchiefs or having a tea party in the French horn section,” says Fitch. “But we did and they were excited about this new opportunity to be creative.” Ross says the Philharmonic’s embrace of this project is a bold leap forward for professional orchestras and confirms the value of the research in the arts at Maryland: “There seems to be a life for this kind of work in the highestlevel arts organizations of our country where Maryland’s creative research is viewed as vital.”–BC
Watch the new “TerpVision” segment on the New Lights Initiative at terpvision.umd.edu.
PHOTOS BY JOHNPHOTOS T. CONSOLI; BY EDOUARD PHOTO CREDITS GETAZ; ORCHESTRA PHOTO BY STAN BAROUH
SPRING 2013 TERP 11
Team "District Delivery" hands out pre-ordered meals from D.C. restaurants at Van Munching Hall as part of the seven-week Real660 class competition.
See the teams compete on their “reality show” at ter.ps/2dr.
Entrepreneurship 101 STUDENTS CREATE BUSINESSES, COMPETE IN MBA CLASS Want to learn Chinese? Get lunch delivered? Buy a cupcake? A revamped entrepreneurship course has M.B.A. students creating and running these businesses—and more—from inside Van Munching Hall. “It generates a much more meaningful experience,” says Associate Professor Brent Goldfarb (right), who wanted to get away from the usual casestudy-and-business-plan-based courses. “You apply skills and lessons from class right away.” Just like the business world, the “Real660” course is competitive 12 TERP SPRING 2013
from the start. All students propose ideas They’re constantly promoting their busifor companies, and immediately, half of nesses on social media. the ideas are eliminated through a vote. The student entrepreneur who earns Those students move into the “labor pool” the most money in the end gets an autoand become part of the approved teams, matic “A,” but each challenge also comes and they draft contracts to divide with “karma points,” to ensure that, unlike shares and duties. in a real business, students who are putting Over the seven weeks, teams get in the work can still succeed in the class. cut through a variety of challenges. This course is part of a larger push by For example, students have to the Robert H. Smith School of Business to make their first sale by a certain move into experiential learning. date. Another week, they’re “This class is so awesome and so new,” creating a promotional says Laila Rahim M.B.A. ’14, part of the video to put on YouTube or “Me T” team that created inexpensive, reaching out to influential customized T-shirts. “It really pushes strangers for advice. your boundaries.”–KS TONY RICHARDS (TOP); JOHN T. CONSOLI (BOTTOM, LEFT)
Fit Together STUDENT CREATES WELLNESS CURRICULUM FOR STUDENTS, TEACHERS MAGGIE CROUSHORE M.P.P. ’13 wrote her undergraduate
thesis on obesity, but she didn’t fully see the links between weight, health, self-esteem and classroom achievement until she joined Teach for America in D.C. She was “shocked” by the number of children who were struggling with their weight and had never learned about nutrition or physical activity. Croushore (left) thought her students deserved better, so she created a solution: KidFit, a physical and health education curriculum that gives students incentives to meet wellness goals. A marathoner and triathlete, Croushore first used the program with 11th graders at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School last fall. Students lost an average of one to two inches from their waists over the three-month program, completed a 5K race and were dramatically more engaged and successful in class. “They were so excited,” she says. “They went home and told their parents what they were learning. As a class, they became more confident and supportive. They became like a family.” Croushore is now tailoring KidFit for younger students at Greencastle Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md., and is expanding its services to include subscription access to an online portal, on-site consulting and professional development for teachers.–JT
COLTS OF PERSONALITY DALAI LAMA VISITS UMD His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet addressed—and charmed— a crowd of 15,000 at the Comcast Center on May 7 for the annual Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace. He wore a gift of a UMD visor for part of his speech, lightheartedly rubbed noses with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and spoke simply of the power of compassion and trust.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JOHN T. CONSOLI; JEANETTE J. NELSON; EDWIN REMSBERG (2); JOHN T. CONSOLI
And they’re off! Two thoroughbred foals were born last semester on the Campus Farm, the first live foaling at Maryland in nearly 30 years. A healthy, chestnut brown colt arrived March 8, and a dark bay filly followed on April 15. Animal science students and faculty stayed up all night in the horse barn to watch and aid in both births. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources held a contest inviting the public to name the future racehorses. From more than 1,000 submissions, the winners are: Diamondback Fire and Maryland Miss.
INNOVATION
Getting It Straight at the Plate ELECTRONIC HOME PLATE PRECISELY CALLS BALLS, STRIKES UMPIRE CALLS STRIKE THREE. Batter argues it was a ball. Spectators jeer or curse. The wrong team wins. Jerry Spessard saw this scenario over and over again as a kid playing Little League, as a parent cheering at son Gerry ’06’s baseball games and as a fan watching the Orioles on TV. Now the Terp parent and two researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have invented an electronic home plate that accurately calls balls and strikes, potentially revolutionizing the game. “I hate to see a batter not treated fairly at home plate. Same with a pitcher,” Spessard
Fig. 1 Remote control
says. “The only way to resolve that is with a precise system.” Spessard, a real estate developer, retired insurance agent and manager of the Hagerstown Town & Country Alamanack since 1984, is also a prolific entrepreneur who invented the Game Face about a decade ago. This safety mask protects athletes from facial injuries, and is particularly popular in competitive softball. He approached Professor Christopher Davis, an optics expert whose work includes developing surveillance systems for the Federal Highway Administration, with his idea for the plate. Davis admits he’s no baseball fan, but says, “I immediately had an idea how to do it.”
Fig. 2 Rubber-like body, to protect LEDs from bats and feet
The university’s Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program awarded the project more than $100,000 last year, and again this year. Davis and Research Associate John Rzasa ’05, M.S. ’07, Ph.D. ’13 embedded a series of LED bulbs into their device to project two curtains of light that detect and measure the lateral position, height and speed of the passing ball. Using pre-programmed information about players’ heights, the plate also measures their individual strike zones and instantly sends data and maps to a transmitter (held by the ump or coach) on a pitch’s speed and location. A colored light on the plate illuminates to indicate a strike. Spessard bought a Virginia plastics firm, which he is moving to Hancock, Md., to manufacture the plate starting this winter. He aims to market the electronic home plate to youth, high school and college leagues to supplement the much-abused umpires, and to the minor and major leagues to train umpires, pitchers and batters. “This is going to add civility back into the game,” he says.–LB
Fig. 3 LEDs that detect whether pitch passes over plate (horizontal and vertical strike zones) and its speed in any amount of daylight or artificial light
Fig. 4 Controller
14 TERP SPRING 2013
ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN G. PAYNE
NewsDesk
University of Maryland faculty are the source news media turn to for expertise.
“We ought to be doing that. But at the moment we are just waiting for something godawful to happen.”–JOHN D. STEINBRUNER, public policy, advocating
that nations unite to draw up anti-hacking regulations for the cybersphere, in The (U.K.) Guardian, Feb. 23, 2013.
GROWING SMARTER
TOP: JOHN T. CONSOLI; BOTTOM COURTESY OF EARTH STARTER
Mat Encourages Easy Gardening Anywhere Two Terps have created a garden blueprint that can turn thumbs green without getting hands dirty. John-Randall Gorby ’10 (above, left) and Philip-Michael Weiner ’11 were undergrads when they developed the Nourishmat, a 6-by-4-foot polypropylene mat with pre-cut holes, labels and a grid indicating exactly what and where to plant. It includes 98 seed balls of 19 varieties of herbs and vegetables such as onions, spinach, carrots, basil and dill, and the UV-treated polypropylene cuts down on weeds and is outfitted with a drip irrigation system that works by simply plugging in a hose. “It basically takes the guesswork out of gardening,” says Weiner, an economics major. The two met in a calculus class and bonded over their hyphenated first names,
PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI / PHOTO CREDITS
their families’ interest in gardening and their similar “invention notebook,” for jotting down business ideas. The pair’s company, Earth Starter, won $52,500 in April in the university’s Cupid’s Cup business competition, which went nationwide this year. Now the firm is developing a curriculum for the Nourishmat’s use in schools and teaming up with food banks in an effort to give everyone the ability to easily produce their own food. “Sometimes kids don’t even realize food is grown outdoors,” says Gorby, an environmental science and technology major. “Keeping things local, growing your own food, eating healthier, it all goes toward making your brain function better.”–SG
“You may not want people to know your sexual orientation or may not want people to know about your drug use. Even if you think you're keeping your information private, we can learn a lot about you.”–JENNIFER GOLBECK, information studies, on new research finding that Facebook “likes” reveal much about the user, in the Associated Press, March 11, 2013.
“The movie gave Tyrannosaurus a seriously high but justifiable level of awesome.” –THOMAS HOLTZ, geology, on “Jurassic Park”
and its 3D re-release, in NationalGeographic.com, April 5, 2013. HEAR MORE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EXPERTS IN THE MEDIA AT TWITTER.COM/UMDNEWS.
SPRING 2013 TERP 15
LAB PUTS STUDENTS IN HYBRID DRIVER’S SEAT An assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering is on his way to plugging students into the future of car-building. Alireza Khaligh is developing one of the nation’s first educational labs focused on hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles. Courses on the principles and technology powering these vehicles will prepare undergraduates for careers in design and research. The lab will open this fall, supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the university’s Sustainability Fund.–LB
Free Speeches CROWDSOURCED VIDEO-LIBRARY WEBSITE PUTS ACCENT ON AUTHENTIC DIALECTS NO ACTOR WANTS TO BE REMEMBERED for mangling an accent (à la Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins”) or refusing to attempt one (Tom Cruise in “Valkyrie”). A new crowdsourcing project launched by Leigh Smiley, director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and a dialect and accent researcher, seeks to help actors produce authentic-sounding dialects. The Visual Accent & Dialect Archive (VADA) is a video library of English-language accents and dialects from around the globe that serves performers and linguists studying language sound pronunciation. The hundreds of contributors to VADA include a 50-something native Farsi speaker telling a story, a South Philadelphia butcher discussing growing up in the Italian market, and a Mexican student reading Dr. Seuss.–LB
Visit the archive at visualaccentdialectarchive.com.
16 TERP SPRING 2013
LEFT ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY STEARNS; RIGHT ILLUSTRATION BY SABRENA SESAY
FACULTY Q & A
A Balanced Equation Alvin Mayes had an unlikely path to his position as director of undergraduate dance studies in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. He was an all-state fullback who went from guiding students through the mysteries of algebra to helping them channel their inner Judith Jamison. The longtime choreographer stretches beyond the campus’ boundaries, and is preparing a Jewish dance team to match its 2010 and 2012 gold medals in this summer’s regional Maccabi Games. Mayes talks about how these seemingly disparate pieces compute in his full life.–MAB
Q. YOU HAVE A DEGREE IN MATH AND WERE TEACHING IN A
Q. HOW WOULD SOMEONE KNOW AN ALVIN MAYES WORK WHEN THEY SEE IT?
SUBURBAN DETROIT HIGH SCHOOL WHEN YOU DRAMATICALLY
A.
SWITCHED CAREERS. WHAT HAPPENED?
I was taking dance instruction classes when a member of the Gloria Newman Dance Theater saw me. They asked me to join them in California. At first, I said no. My dance friends said, “Are you crazy?” but I loved teaching mathematics. When I got out there, I realized that I was not going to make a living just dancing, so I became a math substitute. Then a position opened up at Orange Coast College. It was my first position teaching dance and I was the first male dance teacher. A.
Q. WHILE THERE, YOU CONNECTED FOOTBALL, WHICH YOU PLAYED THROUGH YOUR FIRST YEAR OF COLLEGE, TO DANCE. HOW? A. The
athletes were starting to look at dance, noticing that there was some discipline going on. We worked on agility and flexibility to improve their range of motion. Athletics and mathematics, these things still inform me. In mathematics, if I teach triangles, we define what are the properties. In teaching dance, it’s what are the characteristics of this movement. For both, it’s a spoken and physical language you have to learn.
PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
I like my work to have a sense of folks. If there are seven dancers, you will see seven distinct people. And it’s all musical. Some choreographers use the music as background. In my work, there’s a weaving. Once you’ve seen a couple of my dances, you can tell. Q. SINCE 1982, YOU’VE ALSO TAUGHT DANCE AT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND TRAINED ITS DANCE TEAM. HOW DOES A CHOREOGRAPHER FIT INTO AN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS COMPETITION? A. Jewish community centers are strong places for contemporary
dance, really. I prepare a piece for the JCC team, and I’ve been a judge. I’m interested in giving dancers feedback to make them better dancers, the way we teach dance here. I don’t want to look at their art in the same framework as athletics. Q. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT TEACHING DANCE?
I sing! I do a cappella singing. I also sing in a church choir and in two vocal groups. One is called Not What You Think. We switch male and female roles, so a tenor may sing a higher part, and I sing in a men’s trio called Nuance. Friends joke that I have two extra hours in the day that no one else has. A.
SPRING 2013 TERP 17
HOW
featuring
Jeff
KINNEY
18 TERP SPRING 2013
Kevin
BE
to
Jim
Brenda
PLANK
GATES
FRESE
Boomer
Rita
D.J.
ESIASON
COLWELL
PATIL
SIX
ESSAYS AND ONE
UNFORGETTABLE SPEECH
BEING FEARLESS ISN’T LIVING WITHOUT FEAR. Everyone has fears, as mundane as losing your iPhone or gaining a few pounds and as serious as losing your job or dying. So maybe being fearless means acknowledging what scares you, then giving it a swift kick in the pants and marching past it. But fearlessness extends beyond courage, too. It can be in boldly defying convention or expectations—your boss’s, your mom’s, your friends’. IT CAN BE DARING AND ADVENTUROUS, STIRRING AND EVEN HEROIC. Amid the university’s new focus on “fearless ideas,” we asked notable Terps to write essays on how they are fearless. For Kevin Plank, it was ignoring the chorus of “can’t, can’t, can’t” when he was getting Under Armour off the ground. For “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author Jeff Kinney, being fearless isn’t his years-long push to get published, but stepping into public life in his community. For women’s basketball head coach Brenda Frese, it’s leaving behind safety and success for a new challenge. All the essayists share this in common: They ignored the odds and the naysayers. They trusted their gut. They worked their tails off. They failed, then tried again. And they succeeded. MAYBE THEY CAN ALSO INSPIRE YOU TO BE FEARLESS, TOO.
SPRING 2013 TERP 19
KEVIN
PLANK
class of ’96
A
s a member of the Maryland football team, I wasn’t allowed to have a job. But nobody said anything about starting your own business. So, as a freshman I started Cupid’s Valentines Rose Delivery. With no experience in the flower business, I bought 100 dozen roses from a wholesaler and sold out. The next year, we sold 250 dozen. As a junior, we sold out of 650 dozen. Finally, in my senior year, we sold 1,186 dozen, and would’ve sold more, but 314 dozen died on us. That taught me my first real-life business lessons: never deal in “live” inventory that can die, and make sure your team can count to 12. My education at the University of Maryland was as much about what I learned outside the classroom as in it, specifically on the practice fields outside Byrd Stadium. Under our football equipment, my teammates wore sweaty, heavy, sticky T-shirts that provided no relief from the summer heat. There had to be a better way, I thought. Using the credit and cash I’d earned from my flower business, I started Under Armour out of the basement of my grandmother’s Georgetown rowhouse. As I began to produce these first prototypes, I encouraged my teammates to wear my lightweight, cooling shirt. Word quickly spread to the baseball and lacrosse teams. I also had some of my teammates from Fork Union Military Academy, like Eddie George, test out my shirts. But outside of my sports connections, it was hard finding people to buy into our vision. Everywhere I went, smart people— successful businesspeople, potential investors—told me I was crazy to go up against the behemoths in sports apparel. The financial networks sang the same tune: can’t, can’t, can’t. That wasn’t our only challenge. I spent those first few years at Under Armour explaining that we didn’t sell things that clean tires—we weren’t Armour All. Nor did we sell deodorant—we weren’t Under Arm. We were Under Armour! I say this often about our early days: “I was always smart enough to be naïve enough to not know what we could not accomplish.” Naïve or fearless, I’m not sure there was much of a difference in those early days. That first year, 1996, we grossed $17,000 in revenue. It grew to $110,000 in year two. And last year, our revenue exceeded $1.8 billion. While I am gratified by this growth and by sharing this experience with an incredible group of people, I believe we 20 TERP SPRING 2013
are just now beginning to tell our story. That’s because Under Armour has not yet created our defining product as a brand. I think a lot about the great brands of our time. What makes them iconic? Most merchants spend a lot of time trying to predict what the market wants, what’s going to be trendy. The great ones, however, do not attempt to foretell the future. They are busy dictating what the future will be. They are creating markets, planting the flag and saying this is what life will be like. There’s an important lesson in this. Because technology has made today’s companies more efficient, they need fewer employees. So where does that leave universities and their graduates? The answer lies with entrepreneurship. It is the No. 1 ingredient that has made our country what it is today, and it is the key
DICTATE THE TEMPO. OVERPROMISE AND DELIVER. WALK WITH A PURPOSE. LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK. to leading us forward. That’s why I’m committed to Cupid’s Cup, the student entrepreneurship competition named in honor of my very first business. Managed by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at Maryland, Cupid’s Cup is a national showcase of the best ideas and businesses from the best students at the nation’s best universities. These students will go on to make life more efficient for all of us, invent the next game-changing technology or build the next great brand. My office is filled with large whiteboards, scrawled with raw ideas, thoughts and concepts. And in the center are things that we do not erase, phrases that drive our brand. I believe it’s sound advice for anyone. Dictate the tempo. Overpromise and deliver. Walk with a purpose. Listen more than you talk. No loser talk. Get out of the basement and do something about it. A football player from Maryland—a student just like you— found a way to build a billion-dollar company. Find a way. Never look back. And always be fearless! KEVIN PLANK is CEO and president of Under Armour and serves
on the board of directors for the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame and on the board of trustees of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation. PHOTO BY DAVID YELLEN
PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; PHOTO CREDITS
SPRING 2013 TERP 21
PROFESSOR
Sylvester James
“JIM”
GATES n 1954, my expectant African-American mother bundled up my two siblings and me against the cold of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and took us to a movie house. The British science fiction film “Spaceways” fired my imagination, and that evening, I tried to explain it all to my dad. I was 4 years old. Even though no one in my family had ever gone to college, I was committed by age 8 to becoming a scientist. That was when Dad brought home four books on space travel and a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. One day while paging through a volume, I came across Schrödinger’s equation, one of the great equations of physics, and recall being struck by this strange collection of symbols. I wondered if I would ever understand this exotic language. I had other questions as well. The tiny dots of light in the night sky made me wonder about the vastness of the universe: If those tiny dots are places, how far away must they be? I thought it might be fun to travel to such places, and I knew that only science could make such a trip possible. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I studied theoretical physics, a field that is a little like the Wild West of movies, except theorists are equipped with mathematical firepower. But how could an inexperienced youngster survive in this environment among many skilled old hands? I decided to forge my own path, through a subject known as supersymmetry (SUSY). The concept implies there might exist more forms of matter and energy, called “superpartners,” than anyone had ever considered. For a while, I ran about the Center for Theoretical Physics at MIT like someone with his head afire trying to interest others. But no other faculty or students found the ideas interesting. So in 1977, I ended up writing the first Ph.D. thesis on the subject at MIT.
22 TERP SPRING 2013
Some have described my efforts as a graduate student striking out in a totally new direction, without faculty direction, as fearless. This perhaps was the earliest indication that in order to pursue a career as an academician, I would need to find a place that embraced fearless ideas. In 1984, I found such a place in the University of Maryland, where since 1998 I have been the John S. Toll Professor of Physics. Today, the research that fascinates me continues to be on the frontier. In the last decade this has led me to an intellectual landscape where there have appeared signs that the laws of physics (at least if SUSY is an accurate description of nature) bear some relation to the sort of computer codes that allow browsers to work accurately. Computer browsers use error-correcting codes to ensure accurate data transmission. The relation between SUSY and computer codes was totally unexpected and found in a collaboration of mathematicians and physicists that I created with the support of the Toll endowment. This has allowed a never-before-realized possibility to relate the laws of physics to information theory, the part of science that describes how computers work. This result is so strange that some people have used it to claim that this is scientific evidence that the totality of our physical reality is a computer simulation! A debate among non-physicists along this line continues in cyberspace. One website where this is occurring is named Worldstar HipHop, and the first time my twins, who attend UMD, told me about it, I found my picture on the same webpage as the rapper Snoop Dog. It was a sign—at least to some of my children’s friends—that I had finally made it. In February, President Barack Obama awarded JIM GATES the National Medal of Science, the country’s highest recognition to scientists.
PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
IF IT'S TOO
EASY I DON'T WANT TO DO IT.
SOMEBODY ELSE WILL ALREADY BE WORKING ON IT.
I WANT TO DO THINGS THAT ARE BETWEEN
HARD &
IMPOSSIBLE. JOHN C. MATHER ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, SENIOR ASTROPHYSICIST, GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER WINNER, 2006 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
SPRING 2013 TERP 23
COACH
BRENDA
FRESE
F
earless. Break that word in half and think about it. We accomplish so much more when we fear less. Sure, we all have anxieties about things, but having the skills to manage those fears separates people. One of the things that I love about coaching at a great university is that energetic, bold, young people surround me. I try as much as I can to feed off of their passion. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you aren’t scared to try. When I was deciding whether to take my current job at Maryland, I was in a really good spot at Minnesota and had a future Final Four team on my hands. Maryland, on the other hand, was closer to the losing end of the competitive spectrum. Furthermore, having grown up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and spending my college years at the University of Arizona, I knew nothing about Maryland. I had no friends here, and the team needed years of work to have a chance to be nationally competitive again. There were so many reasons not to leave a perfectly good job. At 32 years old, I was already established as a successful coach in the Big Ten. It would’ve been easy to let fear dictate my decision, but I saw the possibilities at Maryland. It’s located in the middle of a massive population base on the East Coast and is a great university, and the Comcast Center was set to debut as one of the best basketball facilities in the nation. I took the job and believed that I could convince top recruits to choose Maryland. Right away, I had some of the most established people in our sport suggest to me that 1.) I was too young and hadn’t earned this job, and 2.) I could
24 TERP SPRING 2013
not recruit the same players as the top programs in the sport. I imagine it was probably similar to people who told Kevin Plank that Under Armour couldn’t go head to head with the goliaths of his industry. All that skepticism only fueled my fire to shake up the status quo. It also made me a bit unpopular with our sport’s “establishment.” We never let that negative energy slow us down. It didn’t happen overnight, though. In my first season here at Maryland, we lost at Duke by 51 points. I sat on the bus leaving that game and knew how much work was in front of us. Ultimately, though, our relentless hard work paid off. Not only were we “fearless,” but we were able to find some special young people who weren’t afraid to believe in themselves and in Maryland and blaze their own trails in our sport. We bonded in the challenge of taking our program to the top. Four years later, we beat Duke in the 2006 national championship game. In fact, that’s one of my favorite parts of my job: building the self-esteem of our student-athletes. I want them to believe they can take on the world. I want them to have the self-confidence to be risk takers and to push them beyond what they thought were their limits. I truly believe that for any of us, the greatest growth happens when we are out of our comfort zone. That only happens when we fear less—or are fearless. In her 11 seasons at Maryland, BRENDA FRESE has guided the women's basketball team to 10 winning seasons, including nine trips to the NCAA tournament and the 2006 national championship. She frequently tweets about life as a coach, wife and mother of twins @BrendaFrese. FRESE PHOTOS: GREG FIUME (TOP); MIKE MORGAN (BOTTOM)
A FEARLESS
TERPS AREN’T NEW TO CHALLENGING CONVENTION, ESPECIALLY IN THE FACE OF LONG ODDS. WE’VE BEEN GAME CHANGERS, EARTH SHAKERS AND STATUS QUO QUESTIONERS SINCE THE UNIVERSITY’S FOUNDING.
1858
1952
Charles Benedict Calvert is so committed to establishing the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC) that he sells the state 428 acres of his property at half its value and loans trustees half of the $20K purchase price.
The first Chesapeake Bay Bridge opens, designed and built in part by Herschel Heathcote Allen ’10.
1864
MAC hosts soldiers from both sides of the Civil War— 6,000 Union troops stay overnight in April, and Confederate Gen. Bradley T. Johnson and his men briefly occupy the campus three months later.
1912
Cadets race into the burning Barracks and Administration Building to put out a raging fire that ultimately destroys the two most important structures at MAC.
1957
Space-research pioneer S. Fred Singer designs and launches the Terrapin, a 15-foot, two-stage rocket that weighed approximately 225 pounds and could soar 80 miles into space at speeds of up to 3,800 mph.
1962 1923
Student Vivian Simpson is expelled after disobeying rules that applied only to women and taking complaints about sexual harassment to The Washington Post. She files suit against the university and wins, but loses on appeal. She goes on to graduate from law school and become the first female Maryland secretary of state.
1941–44
Capt. Walter Duke, who attended UMD in 1940–41, shoots down 14 enemy planes during World War II.
1947
Serving in an unpaid research position on campus, microbiologist Mary Shaw Shorb works with scientists at Merck & Co. to develop vitamin B12.
Darryl Hill ’65 integrates the ACC as its first African American football player. UMD also fielded the first African-American team members in swimming (James Williams, 1964–66); track (Elmore Hunter, 1965); and men’s basketball (Billy Jones, 1964).
1986
Astronaut Judith Resnick Ph.D. '77 perishes in the Challenger explosion. At least six other Terps have been astronauts, including ones who flew to space aboard Discovery and Columbia.
2005
Led by Professor Michael A’Hearn, the Deep Impact project launches a projectile into the nucleus of a passing comet to answer questions about the origin of the solar system.
2012
Engineering students design, build and fly a human-powered helicopter for a world record-smashing 65 seconds.
SPRING 2013 TERP 25
JEFF
KINNEY
class of ’93
W
hen I was asked to write an essay on “living fearlessly,” it caused me to reflect. Do I really live fearlessly? Sure, I’ve had success writing the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, but for me to claim that penning a few books about a middleschool weakling shows that I’m brave would be a bit of a stretch. In fact, if anything, I’ve gone about things about as cautiously as I could. While I was at the University of Maryland, I had a comic strip called “Igdoof ” that ran in The Diamondback for three years. After I graduated, I got a “real” job and developed my comic on the side, trying fruitlessly for three years to get syndicated. When that didn’t work out, I spent eight years working on the first draft of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” to try to find a way for my cartoons to see the light of day. But I had a full-time job all the while and never took any financial risks. In fact, to this day, I still have the same job I had before my books were published. The point is, I’m hardly a paragon of risk-taking. My brother Scott (a 1990 Maryland alum), on the other hand, knows what it’s like to put one’s self out there. When my books were first published, it spurred Scott to reflect on his own life. He realized that he was in a job he wasn’t happy with and that it was high time he chased after his dreams. So he held his breath and took the leap. He left his job as a salesman in Maryland and moved his family to Purcellville, Va., where he opened the Shamrock Music Shoppe. Now he’s surrounded by skilled musicians and young students eager to pick up an instrument. He’s made a difference in his new town and has surely changed the lives of the
26 TERP SPRING 2013
kids who live there. To me, that’s living fearlessly. As much as Scott was inspired by me, I’ve been inspired by him. After college, I settled in Massachusetts, and eventually landed in a small town called Plainville. In the center of downtown sat a dilapidated, vacant general store that dated back to the 1830s. My wife and I decided to take the plunge and buy the building. Development is under way for a new structure that captures the bygone charm of the original, and to open a bookstore that features a second-floor community space where kids can learn art, filmmaking and writing. We’ve faced a lot of obstacles along the way, and it’s been difficult convincing townspeople who hold onto memories of the old market that the new building will serve as a vibrant activity center for the next generation. It’s also financially risky, and by building a structure in the center of the town, we’ve gone from living in comfortable anonymity to living in the fishbowl of town life. But it feels great to be doing something with real purpose, and yes, for once, to live fearlessly. More than 85 million books in JEFF KINNEY’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series are in print; the movies based on the first three books have grossed more than $250 million worldwide. Kinney also created Poptropica. com, where he continues to work full-time as the creative and editorial director.
I SPENT EIGHT YEARS WORKING ON THE FIRST DRAFT OF DIARY OF A WIMPY KID TO TRY TO FIND A WAY FOR MY CARTOONS TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY.
PHOTO BY MATT HOYLE; ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFF KINNEY
SPRING 2013 TERP 27
BOOMER
ESIASON class of ’84
28 TERP SPRING 2013
A
t the age of 32, I had it all. After breaking all the passing records at Maryland, I had played nine successful years in the NFL, quarterbacking a team in the Super Bowl, being selected for three Pro Bowls and being named the league’s Most Valuable Player. I had a beautiful wife, Cheryl; a baby girl, Sydney; and a sweet 2-year-old son, Gunnar. But he was not healthy. He had trouble breathing and was always congested and sick. He just wasn’t as vibrant as a toddler should be. After two years of not knowing what was wrong with him, we received the diagnosis: cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease with no cure. For the first time, I truly felt vulnerable, no longer immune to the tragedies of the outside world. Here I suddenly stood on the front lines in a battle with a disease that would alter my family from this day forward. My first reaction was to stop playing football, to collect myself and figure
a nonprofit organization with the aim of promoting awareness of the disease and providing a support network for the cystic fibrosis community. I quickly became the main spokesperson and lead advocate for this community, with the goal of providing the proper care and medical attention to every CF patient. I felt revitalized by the prospect of helping my son and traveled across the country speaking at CF awareness events and pharmaceutical product roll-outs, and met with legislators to enact or change policies regarding CF health-care funding. I made commitments to help those in need and promised to carry the torch for the families afflicted with the disease. Twenty years later, our foundation has raised over $100 million, and the average life expectancy for a CF patient is 37 years. I can’t describe the passion I have for helping these families or measure the gratification I’ve received watching my son grow up and overcome every obstacle associated with this disease.
HERE I SUDDENLY STOOD ON THE FRONT LINES IN A BATTLE WITH A DISEASE THAT WOULD ALTER MY FAMILY FROM THIS DAY FORWARD.
TO ME,
LIVING FEARLESSLY MEANS EXPANDING THE ENVELOPE OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE. FELIX BAUMGARTNER
BROKE U
SOUND BARRIER IN FREE FALL WEARING A SUIT DEVELOPED BY OUR TEAM OF ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS. AS WE SEEK NEW AND PREVIOUSLY
UNIMAGINED HEIGHTS FOR NASA AND THE U.S. AIR FORCE AND COMMERCIAL VENTURES SUCH AS RED BULL STRATOS, WE CONTINUE TO
PUSH OUR OWN LIMITS TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE.
out the best way to approach Gunnar’s condition. In 1993, the average life expectancy for a person with CF was 17 years; I needed to change that. I consulted my family and closest friends and decided to continue playing football. I needed to use the media and my status as a professional athlete to shape an attack on cystic fibrosis. Off the field, I studied the disease and helped Gunnar with his new regimen of nebulizer treatments, physical therapy two or three times a day, and pancreatic enzymes taken before every meal. Within weeks of Gunnar’s diagnosis I started the Boomer Esiason Foundation,
Gunnar played backup quarterback on his high school football team, turned 22 on April 6 and graduated from Boston College in May. My work on behalf of CF and the foundation has been challenging, but I wouldn’t call it fearless. That label belongs to Gunnar.
SHANE JACOBS M.S. ’06, PH.D. ’09 SOFTGOODS DESIGN MANAGER/ DAVID CLARK CO.
BOOMER ESIASON is a studio analyst
on “The NFL Today” on CBS, broadcast color analyst on “Monday Night Football” on the Dial Global radio network and co-host of “Boomer & Carton” on New York’s WFAN Radio and MSG television networks.
PHOTOS BY CRAIG BLANKENHORN/CBS (LEFT); JAY NEMETH/RED BULL CONTENT POOL (RIGHT)
SPRING 2013 TERP 29
PROFESSOR
RITA
COLWELL
T
he earthquake struck Haiti at 4:53 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2010. More than three years later, the number of people sickened in its devastating aftermath is still unknown, with estimates as high as 500,000. What we do know is that in late October 2010, cholera broke out in Haiti. In its early weeks, it claimed lives at a rate of 50 a day. To determine what caused such an epidemic, I led a team of researchers that found a cholera strain in Haiti, one that very likely existed naturally and contributed to this outbreak. Our findings, published in the Proceed-
ings of the National Academy of Sciences, sparked controversy in some quarters because they challenged the prevailing theory that cholera was brought to Haiti by Nepalese soldiers on a peacekeeping mission. The idea that cholera may have been endemic to the island, where cholera had not been reported for many years, was contrary to that conclusion. In interviews with media from all over the world, I stated that we did not challenge those who have claimed the Nepal strain was the single cause of the cholera epidemic. We simply presented our scientific data. As scientists, we should stand fearlessly behind our work and let the
implications of the data play themselves out, however strong the opposition. This process has stood the test of time in all the research discoveries or new paradigms of history. The so-called miasma (“bad air”) theory was used to explain cholera outbreaks until scientists, including Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch, in the late 19th century developed the germ theory to explain infectious diseases. Though universally accepted (and proven) that a bacterium is the cause of cholera, it was a contentious idea at the time. When British naturalist Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution in 1859, his ideas were also roundly dismissed by the scientific establishment. Perhaps the most famous example of persecution of new ideas is Galileo Galilei, a 17th-century Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. He championed heliocentrism, the theory that states the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun (not the other way around). Galileo was ordered to Rome to stand trial and was found guilty of heresy. He was confined to house arrest for the rest of his life. These examples illustrate a basic point, perhaps the true essence of scientific research. A scientist, no matter the discipline, must fearlessly follow where the data lead. Fretting over the reception of that data or over the negative consequences risks the validity of that research. The late Fang Lizhi, an internationally respected Chinese astrophysicist, said, “Science begins with doubt. No one’s subjective view starts ahead of anyone else’s in the pursuit of objective truth.” History is replete with examples of scientists who challenged conventions, who questioned the scientific establishment, who were not afraid in their pursuit of truth. They share a very important trait: They were fearless. RITA COLWELL is president of CosmosID,
senior advisor and chairman emeritus of Canon U.S. Life Sciences, and distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. 30 TERP SPRING 2013
PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
A TERP’S
TERPS DON’T JUST SLOG THEIR WAY THROUGH LIFE. THEY LIVE FEARLESSLY. BOLDLY. A LITTLE ECCENTRICALLY. WE FOUND TERPS EVERYWHERE, OF EVERY AGE AND BACKGROUND, TAKING ON WILD YET REWARDING CHALLENGES THAT TOGETHER MAKE UP AN INSPIRING BUCKET LIST WORTHY OF ANY TERP.
Jeff Amoros ’09 won $32,801 over two days in 2011. Michael Braun ’10 took home $75,000 as “Teen Jeopardy!” champion in 2005. It serves 28 flavors at any one time. Most popular? Vanilla, with 15,000 gallons consumed every year.
WAVE TRY EVERY ICE CREAM COMPETE ON
CATCH A
“JEOPARDY!”
FLAVOR AT THE DAIRY (BUT NOT AT ONCE!)
MAKE A Cancer survivor Jenny Vasquez ’12 at the Universities at Shady Grove raised more than $1,000 in last year’s Make a Wish Foundation walkathon. Bill McLaughlin ’73, M.A. ’75, Ph.D. ’83 climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in January, just shy of turning 64. Elahe Izadi ’06 is a National Journal reporter by day, D.C. comic by night. Find out where she’s performing next at elaheizadi.com/ comedy With his adviser, Srinivasa Raghavan, Matt Dowling Ph.D. ’10 helped create a bloodclotting spray foam and sponge bandage, which he continues to develop today as CEO of Remedium Technologies. During the Feb. 13 Duke-UMD men’s b-ball game, the student section performed a flash mob and Harlem Shake. http://ter.ps/2em (7.7 million views!)
DRIVE THE
WIENERMOBILE COME TRUE
LEARN
QUANTUM
PHYSICS MOUNTAIN VISIT EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IN SEVEN WEEKS
TRY
STAND-UP COMEDY INVENT SOMETHING
AMAZING DANCE IN A FLASH MOB
SAVE A
LIFE OR A VILLAGE +
START YOUR OWN
BUSINESS JOIN THE
CIRCUS
Terps everywhere are showing off their fearlessness. If you have something to add to the list, send us a pic at emailum@umd.edu, and we’ll share it with alumni on the UMD Facebook page.
PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; PHOTO CREDITS
LaToya Morgan ’01 hit the road for Oscar Meyer on the 27-footlong vehicle for a year following graduation. NASCAR driver Donnie Neuenberger ’84 made his Busch Series debut with the Terps logo painted on his car. 28,058 did in Spring 2013! Find more options at coursera.org.
TAKE A LAP AROUND A NASCAR TRACK
CLIMB A
Dan Rosenberry ’14 went wakeboarding in the ODK Fountain in May 2011 for ESPN Sports Nation http://ter.ps/gx
Travel writer Lee Abbamonte ’00 is the youngest American to visit all 308 sovereign nations. www.leeabbamonte.com Washington Redskin Madieu Williams ’03 makes annual mission trips to his native Calabatown, Sierra Leone, to provide medical, dental and educational services. His foundation also built a primary school and is working to bring solar power there. Eric Rosenberg ’13 founded 512 Technology, whose Route Rider app gives real-time info on bus arrivals. National jumproping champ Edward Yacynych ’14 spent last summer performing with Cirque Dreams in Cancun, Mexico.
SPRING 2013 TERP 31
AN UNFORGETTABLE SPEECH
WHY
FAILURE WAS THE
SECRET TO MY
SUCCESS
D.J. PATIL M.A. ’99, PH.D. ’01, the data scientist-in-residence at venture capital firm Greylock Partners and a former Department of Defense fellow and team leader at LinkedIn, jokes below about forgettable commencement addresses. But his own speech to graduates of our College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences in May 2012 was so fabulous that Fast Company and Wired UK magazines posted abbreviated versions. We jumped at the first opportunity to do the same.
am truly honored to be here today, back at what I consider my home, this great university. As a Silicon Valley tech guy, I decided to use technology to help me prepare for this commencement address. So, I asked people on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Quora what wise words you should be imparted with. You know what most people remember from their graduation speakers? Nothing! Zilch! Nada! I realized, I can say anything I want! But seriously, as I got feedback from around the world, one theme emerged. I’d like to talk about something we rarely celebrate: failure.
PHOTO BY BROOKE NIPAR
And why we are counting on you to fail. We’re all products of failure. You don’t remember it, but your parents definitely do. From the first time you rolled over, to your first steps, these successes were a culmination of failures. You can read the bio on my LinkedIn profile, and you’ll see that I received my Ph.D. in applied math from here 11 years ago. I’ve worked for the Department of Defense and been to Kazakhstan. But you can’t see that what’s behind the most important moments of success is all the failures. While growing up in California, to say I was bad at math would have been an understatement. My freshman year of
of Maryland, I got my ass kicked again. I failed my first class and got the secondlowest score on my first Ph.D. qualifying exam. (The lowest score was by a guy who didn’t show up.) But I stayed in the game, failing, getting back up, continuing to push forward. The next time the qualifiers came around, I had the highest scores. The takeaway from this is that tenacity and failure go hand in hand. But what’s most important is how you fail. The best method is to fail fast. At LinkedIn, we didn’t know exactly where we were going. We would build products quickly, test them out, learn about went wrong, and then try again.
FIND WORK THAT YOU LOVE. ONCE YOU DO, YOU’LL NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER, OR HAVE PATIENCE FOR THOSE WHO STAND IN YOUR WAY. high school, I was kicked out of my algebra class and had to spend the summer retaking it. This (unfortunately) would become my regular paradigm. I didn’t get into any of the colleges I liked, so I opted to go to the local junior college, because my girlfriend was going there. And I had a winning strategy in choosing my courses: I enrolled in all the same classes she was taking. One problem: the first class was calculus. Wow, did I get my ass kicked that first day. But then, as I looked around at everyone else nodding along with the instructor, it dawned on me: I hadn’t failed because of the teachers or the material. I failed because I didn’t try. I was fundamentally afraid of being uncomfortable and having to address the failure that comes with it. It was like when you get to the top of the high dive, walk out the edge, look down that the clear blue water, and then run back down the steps. So what did I do about my calculus class? I went to the library and checked out a bunch of math books and spent the next week going through them. And it was awesome. Suddenly I was failing at a problem, figuring out what I did wrong, and then course-correcting.To my great surprise, I ended up becoming a math major. When I got here to the University PHOTO BY MIKE MORGAN
Don’t fail slow. Failing slow is painful for you and for your loved ones. It’s like watching your best friend in a relationship that is clearly doomed, but they just won’t listen. And how, practically, do you achieve success through failure? It starts with passion—finding work that you love. Once you do, you’ll never take no for an answer, or have patience for those who stand in your way. Second, surround yourself with people you value. Just as your body responds poorly to junk food, your mind and energy levels respond to the company you keep. Third, strive to put yourself in uncomfortable situations where you fail and acquire new skills as a result. While our society is moving forward faster than ever, we are also facing a world with massive challenges. The solutions won’t come from debates; they will come through trying, failing quickly and then trying again with increased resolve. We love to say things like, “Failure is not an option.” But believe me, failure is our only option. May you go forth and fail so that we can all succeed!
TRUTH. TELL THE
THERE IS
NOTHING to
FEAR IF YOU ARE
HONEST.
CONNIE CHUNG ’69 TELEVISION JOURNALIST
Read the full speech at greylockvc.com/ 2012/06/13/failure-is-our-only-option/. You can find more pithy insights from Patil on Twitter @dpatil. SPRING 2013 TERP 33
GIVING
A Campus Farm for the Future COUPLE HELPS FUND FIRST MAJOR FACELIFT IN 50 YEARS
(The farm) really makes a lot of students feel at home, at least the ones who love animals. —Judy Iager
”
and visitors to observe instructors working with animals. A new enclosed 18,000-square-foot teaching pavilion will provide classroom and viewing areas. Nestled among dormitories, sports arenas and classroom buildings, the property is unique among urban universities along the East Coast and serves as a nod to UMD’s roots as an agricultural college. Today, the farm is about 4.3 acres in size, a far cry from the 90-plus acres that included a working dairy operation
when the facility was launched in 1937. But it endures as a vital, hands-on teaching lab for students in the burgeoning animal science program. Enrollment has climbed from about 180 in 2002 to 288 today, with students studying everything from applied animal physiology to equine behavior to commercial poultry management. “(The farm) really makes a lot of students feel at home, at least the ones who love animals,” says Judy. “It’s important to have a nice, updated facility where they can feel comfortable and relate.” The Iagers hope that by helping the Campus Farm get a facelift, they’ll encourage the next crop of Terps to create their own memories there. “You go to college so you can learn for the rest of your life,” says Charlie. “The University of Maryland is where it all started for us.”–SG
To learn more about the Campus Farm revitalization, visit agnr.umd.edu/campusfarm.
EDWIN REMSBERG
”
When they were courting, Charlie ’65 and Judy ’66 Iager used to stroll handin-hand down the aisles of the cow barn on the Campus Farm. As a dairy science major, he spent much of his time on the Campus Farm. As a big fan of animals and, eventually, of Charlie, so did she. Nearly 50 years later, the farm is still the first place the couple visits when they travel to College Park from their dairy farm in Fulton, Md. “It’s like going home,” says Charlie. The Iagers are now helping to ensure the farm’s revitalization, making a six-figure gift to kick off a $3 million fund-raising effort for its first major renovation in 50 years. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ $6 million project calls for replacing an asphalt parking area in the center of the farm with a covered livestock pen that allows seated students
FOR THE RECORDS iSchool’s First Professorship to Focus on Archiving
Stewart was declared killed in action in 1978. He left behind a wife and three young children.
Fund Gives Wings to Student-Veterans GIFT HONORING VIETNAM-ERA AVIATOR TO SUPPORT VETS PILOTING AN F-105, Air Force Col. Robert Allan Stewart M.S. ’62 swooped in under the cover of night, evading intense enemy fire to destroy a North Vietnamese railroad target in May 1967. A member of an elite fighter wing known as Ryan’s Raiders, Stewart went missing during a similar mission just six days later. He was 36. Now an anonymous donor is counting on Stewart’s short but stellar life to inspire veterans studying at the University of Maryland. A $1 million planned gift will create a scholarship to honor the Silver Star recipient, who finished first in his class at West Point, completed a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Maryland, became a professor at the Air Force Academy and earned early military promotions. The Col. Robert A. Stewart USAF Veterans Scholarship is designed to help veterans make a difference, while aiding with their undergraduate or graduate tuition and other expenses. “Many of our veterans are adult learners,” says Marsha GuenzlerStevens, chair of the university’s Veterans Services Steering Committee. “They often have other expenses associated with families, and that can be child care or housing for multiple family members.” Though many of the university’s roughly 800 veterans are eligible for G.I. Bill benefits, Stevens says, those often run out before a student completes an advanced degree. The donor behind the Stewart scholarship brought the idea to Maryland after seeing a PBS special featuring veterans who are now university students and renowned military sociologist David Segal. Maryland is one of only 14 U.S. Department of Defensefunded Centers for Excellence for Veteran To learn more about veterans' Student Success recognized for supportprograms and scholaring service members, veterans and their ships, visit veterans.umd.edu. families.–KM
KURTZ PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
BIG DATA isn’t a just a buzzword. Using, storing, managing and preserving massive amounts of data is one of the foremost challenges facing government, business and academic research. Professor Michael Kurtz (below), former assistant archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is helping the College of Information Studies train a new generation for this challenge. He’s bequeathing $500,000 to establish the college’s first professorship, to support a distinguished faculty member specializing in archives and records management. The position will be named in his honor. “It’s really important that with more and more information going digital, that we have professionals who are able to manage it all,” he says. During his 37-year career at NARA, Kurtz was known for his advocacy of the timely and transparent release of government information, which included digitizing millions of documents. He has taught at Maryland since 1990 and became a full-time visiting professor in 2011. Kurtz also serves as assistant director of the archives, records and information management specialization in the Master of Library Science program. The professorship is expected to enhance the college’s leadership role in archival education. Its graduates already hold prominent positions at NARA, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and the World Bank, as well as academic, public and private institutions nationwide.–LB
SPRING 2013 TERP 35
CLASS NOTES
JOSHUA WELLE M.B.A. ’08 are among 33
CHRISTINE LYNN JONES ’10 married
William Orlando Machado on May 11. She is a first-grade teacher for the Howard County Public School System. DAN SPILMAN ’10
has been hired as an energy engineer at Keres Consulting, an American Indian-owned general management consulting firm specializing in energy and sustainability services and headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M. He’s working on a nationwide energy conservation program for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Spilman is based in Frederick, Md.
members of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2002 who share how Annapolis and the Sept. 11 attacks shaped their lives in the book “Shadow of Greatness: Voices of Leadership, Sacrifice and Service from America’s Longest War.” The book was published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press, and all proceeds go to veterans’ charities.
JEREMY MALNAR ’09
has earned certification in energy management from the Association of Energy Engineers. Malnar works for Keres Consulting, an American Indian-owned general management consulting firm.
MEGHAN COLLIN (ELGER) COURTNEY M.B.A. ’09 and
CPA TIM PETERS ’99 has been elected an
Make Note Tell the Terp family about your new job, wedding, baby or other milestone or adventure by sending a class note (and photo!) to terpmag@umd.edu.
36 TERP SPRING 2013
associate of Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. He joined the firm’s Hagerstown, Md., audit department in 2008.
JESSICA M. STEVENS ’09 and Barrett W.
Duke are engaged to marry on Sept. 7 in Annapolis, Md. The couple started dating in 10th grade and graduated as valedictorian and salutatorian in 2006 from Annapolis Area Christian School. She is in her third year at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Kait (Baker) ’07 and Chris Keelan ’07 had their baby girl, Camden, photographed as a little terrapin just 10 days after her birth on Feb. 26. The diehard Terps fans married in Memorial Chapel in 2010, held their “gender reveal” party at Homecoming last year and have decorated their Catonsville house with “tons” of Maryland items. He is a team supervisor at T. Rowe Price, and she is a flight attendant with United Airlines.
JORDAN SCHUGAR PH.D. ’08 has received the 2013 Apple Distinguished Educators award, recognizing 90 teachers nationwide who have creatively integrated technology into their learning environments. He is an instructor in the English and professional and secondary education departments at West Chester University (Pa.).
MARNI LYNN MANKUTA ’07 is engaged to marry Michael Anthony Falcone on June 22 in Delray Beach, Fla., according to The (Wilkes-Barre) Times Leader. She earned
her master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from George Mason University and is a human capital consultant for Federal Management Partners in Alexandria, Va.
Annapolis, Md. She is a linguist recruiter for Lionbridge Technologies.
CATHRYN ANNA MCGINNIS ’07 is engaged to marry Trevor Alexander Arbes in October in
LAUREN AMANDA STOCKL ’07 and MARK JOSHUA WALTERS ’07 wed on Oct. 20 at
Stevens photo by Hartcorn Photography
the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. He is a chartered property casualty underwriter for CS Insurance Strategies in Chicago.
development with NES Associates LLC. Former Maryland defensive midfielder BRIAN KINGSBURY ’01 JAMES TIMOTHY WATTS ’06 and CLAIRE NICOLE BERKEY ’08
ANDREW DAVID GLADSTEIN ’06
married Lauren Paige Mittleman Feb. 9 at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, N.Y. He is a litigation associate at the New York law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel. He received a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University.
are engaged to be married in July in Baltimore. He received an M.B.A. from Emory University in 2011, and is a management consultant with First Annapolis Consulting in Linthicum, Md. She is s a management consultant with KPMG in Baltimore and in the fall will start purusing an M.B.A. at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
DEBRA SMITH ’05 SAMANTHA ALEXANDRA JACOBS ’06
married Andrew Nathan Benbasset Miller May 4 in Old Westbury, N.Y. She is a dietitian in Pleasantville, N.Y., and advises companies on improving nutrition in their cafeterias. She is also a clinical dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. She received a master’s in clinical nutrition from New York University.
and PATRICK BELOTT ’05 wed Jan. 20 at the Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba. She is a lawyer at Jones Day in Washington, D.C. Belott is the athletic director for Albert Einstein High School in Kensington. They live in Bethesda.
rewrote history to strengthen the corporate state, while progressives, communists and other leftists vied to make their own versions of the past more popular. He’s an assistant professor of history and public history coordinator at Rhode Island College. BOFTA YIMAM ’04, a reporter for Fox 13 News in Memphis, Tenn., won a Regional Emmy Award in January for excellence in the Continuing Coverage category for her reporting highlighting Kimberlee Morton, who inspired Kimberlee’s Law signed last year in Tennessee to keep convicted rapists in prison for their full sentence. She was also nominated twice in the Light Feature Reporting category.
ERIK CHRISTIANSEN M.A. ’04, PH.D. ’09
BRANDI RICE ’99,
examines in “Channeling the Past: Politicizing History in Postwar America” how powerful corporations
M.S. ’04 is engaged
to marry Jordan Maniscalco June 21 in Palm City, Fla. She is in business
has been named the inaugural men’s lacrosse coach at Division II Lynn University. Kingsbury coached Saint Michael’s College last season, setting a school record for wins (11-5), earning a third seed in the Northeast-10 Conference tournament and ranking No. 9 in the nation.
RAJEEV KUMAR KAUL ’00 and Gitika Ahuja
were married Feb. 1 at the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club in Kailua, Hawaii. He is a senior manager specializing in technology at the New York office of Accenture Consulting. MICHAEL J. SCHOEN ‘00 co-published
“Confronting the New Frontier in Privacy Rights: Warrantless Unmanned Aerial Surveillance,” the cover article in the American Bar Association’s Air & Space Lawyer legal journal. It addresses constitutional privacy rights associated with surveillance by unmanned aircraft, or drones. He earned his juris doctorate from Villanova School of Law.
Singer-songwriter RISA BINDER ’99 and Rie Sinclair were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Original Song for a Drama Series for “Just Like That,” a song they co-wrote that aired on “General Hospital.” The winners will be announced June 16. On May 3, Risa performed a few songs off her debut album “Paper Heart” on “CBS This Morning: Saturday.” The American Academy for Microbiology has elected JACQUES RAVEL PH.D. ’99 a 2013 Academy Fellow, recognizing his contributions to the field. He is a professor at the Institute for Genome Sciences
Josh Murphy ’03 and his wife Kelley are training their children to love Maryland sports. From left are Keara, 6; J.J., 4; Alannah, 2; and Maddy, two months. They write, “Though we now live in North Carolina, we are Terps fans for life.”
Jacobs photo by Brett Matthews Photography; Smith photo by Wendy Hickok; Rice photo by Provided; Kaul photo by Rosalie R. Radomsky
SPRING 2013 TERP 37
and in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Office of Environmental Management in the U.S. Department of Energy. Moury began his career as a nucleartrained submarine officer, and he holds the rank of captain in the Navy Reserves.
’93 has been named
director of Pennoni Associates’ locations in Columbia and Germantown, Md. He previously served as a director of international A/E services for Tetra Tech. TERENCE NOONAN ’92, executive producer
MATTHEW MOURY M.S. ’94, M.B.A. ’99 is
the deputy assistant secretary for safety, security and quality programs within the
Professional engineer THOMAS M. CHICCA
of “Anderson Live,” has been named executive producer of Warner Bros.’ upcoming talk show “Bethenny,” starring “Real Housewife”
Bethenny Frankel. Noonan also is the creator and executive producer of TLC’s “DC Cupcakes” and “A Slice of Brooklyn.” He helped produce “The Dr. Oz Show,” “The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet,” “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and “The Montel Williams Show.” Carrick Capital Partners has named RAUL FERNANDEZ ’90
to its executive team as a special advisor. He is chairman of Object Video and former chairman and CEO of Dimension Data. He is founder and former CEO of Proxicom, a provider of e-business solutions. Fernandez is also vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a private partnership that owns the Washington Wizards, the Washington Capitals and the Washington Mystics, and owns and operates the Verizon Center. CHRISTOPHER HALKYARD ’90 has been
Jenn (Rinaca) ’04 and Jim Diercksen ’03 welcomed their first son, James William, on Feb. 13. She is an analyst for Moody’s Investors Service and he’s a compliance officer for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. They live in Hoboken, N.J.
38 TERP SPRING 2013
DARYN RUSH ’90 has rejoined White and Williams LLP, where he started his career, as a partner in the Reinsurance Practice Group. He’s based in the firm’s Philadelphia office.
promoted to chief supply chain officer for Gilt Groupe. He joined the online shopping destination company in April 2010 as vice president of operations. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children.
PRADEEP LALL M.S. ’89, PH.D. ’93 has
been honored with the Southeastern Conference’s Auburn University Faculty Achievement Award for 2012–13. Lall is the T. Walter Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Vehicle and Extreme Electronics at Auburn. He holds three U.S. patents and serves as associate editor for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ “Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies” as well as the ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging. He has written two books, 13 book chapters and more than 325 journal and conference papers. CHERYL LOGAN ’86,
principal of Park-
dale High School in Prince George’s County, has received the 2013 Distinguished Educational Leadership Award from The Washington Post. She was cited for renewing the focus on academic achievement at the school in her three years there. A 26-year teaching veteran, Logan received a master’s degree in education from Johns Hopkins University and is pursuing a doctorate from Maryland.
BOB KEANE ’87, AIA, has been promoted to managing principal at WDG Architecture, a national architecture firm based in Washington, D.C. He has 26 years of experience and serves as director of higher education for WDG. He designed Oakland Hall, the newest dormitory at Maryland, and directed design for Sea Gull Square, a mixeduse development at Salisbury University; the West Grace Student Housing development in Richmond for Virginia Commonwealth University; and the CUNY Residences,
a student housing development for the College of Staten Island in New York.
MARK K. LEWIS ’87
has been elected to a three-year term on the management committee of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. Managing partner of the firm’s D.C. office, he concentrates his practice on energy-related projects, transactions and controversies. He received his juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990.
nominations for the 2013 New York Emmy Awards: “Tunnel to Towers Memorial Run” (Community Service), “Race for the Cure” (Health/Science: Program/Special) and “Giants’ Road to Glory: Super Bowl XLVI Postgame Show” (Sports Coverage). JIM ST. MARIE ’84 has
joined Pixorial, an unlimited online video service, as vice president of business development. He previously worked at Microsoft and Boeing and helped launch several startups including ONYX Software, NetIQ Corp. and Four Winds Interactive LLC. St. Marie is working from Pixorial’s Colorado headquarters. ALICE ESTRADA ’81 has
been hired as executive director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum. MICHAEL COX ’86 has
CARL ELEFANTE ’80 and
been appointed to the Calvert Memorial Hospital Foundation board of trustees. He is president of Calvert Wealth Management in Dunkirk, has served on the Calvert County Community Fund and on the board of trustees at Huntingtown United Methodist Church. He is also a member of the Calvert County Chamber of Commerce.
KATHRYN IRWIN ’99 of
Quinn Evans Architects were part of the team honored with the State Historic Preservation Officer’s Award at the 2013 District of Columbia Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation. The award recognized their restoration and “stunning transformation” of the National Academy of Sciences headquarters.
president of T-Line TV, which netted three
DR. MARC HERMAN ’75 has joined the New
York Islanders as their official team dentist. He has a practice in Woodbury, N.Y., and is chief of several divisions at North Shore University/LIJ Hospital. This year, he’ll receive his master’s degree in health care ethics from Creighton University School of Medicine.
FREDERIC REAMER ’74 in his new book
JOHN SENG '79 has TODD EHRLICH ’86 is
Academy's Frank J. Weaver Lifetime Achievement Award. He is founder and president of the health and science communications firm Spectrum in Washington, D.C., and chairs GLOBALHealthPR, which he cofounded as the first, and now the largest, independent public relations group dedicated exclusively to health and med- ical communications.
been given the Public Relations Society of America Health
“Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships in Human Services” analyzes the range of issues
that occur between practitioners and patients. He also provides models that can help prevent problems. DAVID PHILLIPS ’68
been selected to run the new Dane County (Wisc.) Office of Economic and Workforce Development. He’s on the county’s Community Development Block Grant Commission and most recently was in charge of economic development for the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce. He also served as president of Downtown Madison Inc. and chaired the Madison Economic Development Commission.
Passings Maya Jackson Randall M.A. ’01, a journalist at The Wall Street Journal, died Feb. 26 in Atlanta of plasma cell leukemia at age 33. The daughter of two journalists, Randall majored in journalism at Howard University, where she interned at Essence and Newsweek magazines. Randall went on to work at Money magazine and in the Platt division of McGraw-Hill before being hired at the WSJ at the age of 25 to report on the energy industry. She covered the nation’s financial crisis and wrote a series of articles that forced the U.S. Treasury to disclose how funds for the Troubled Asset Relief Program were being spent. Randall is survived by her husband, Jeremy; her son, Jeremiah; her parents Lillian and Harold Jackson; her brother, Julian Jackson; and her sisters, Candice Jordan and Lauren Harris. Sara B. McCraw ’95, an assistant professor in the College of Education at East Carolina University, died Nov. 23 of ovarian cancer. She is survived by her partner of 18 years, James M. Gardner of Lancaster, S.C. They lived in Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, Del., before moving to Greenville, N.C., in 2011. She was the daughter of Pete and Ginny McCraw. Other survivors include her sister, Lee McCraw-Leavitt, and a niece and nephew. A foundation has been set up in her name to continue the research and work she had as an educator. Information can be found and contributions in her honor can be made at www.whensarasmiles.org. SPRING 2013 TERP 39
James Kevan Guy ’85, a mechanical engineer in Snohomish, Wash., died of a heart attack on March 13. He was 52. Born in D.C., Guy moved after graduation to San Diego for a job with General Dynamics, then to Mesa, Ariz., and then to Washington State in 2007 to be closer to extended family. He worked for Precor, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and most recently, Zodiac Lighting Solutions. He was an avid inventor, holding at least 18 patents, and enjoyed coaching his
children in sports. He is survived by his wife, Teresa Ann; children Cameron, Taylor and Colin; parents Bernie and Donna Guy; brothers Bernie and Chris; and a sister, Janine Garrison. Shirley A. Wagoner Ph.D. ’81, a retired elementary schoolteacher and local history buff, died Feb. 24 of complications from a recent stroke and a fall. The Huntingdon, Pa., resident was 83. A native of California, Wagoner
Jim and Jane Henson on the set of "Simon and Friends."
Jane Henson ’55, widow of and original collaborator with Jim Henson ’60, creator of the Muppets, died of cancer April 2 at her home in Greenwich, Conn. She was 78. According to The New York Times, the couple met in a puppetry class in 1954 at Maryland, and the following year he asked her to join him as a creator and performer on a series of five-minute puppet segments for D.C.’s NBC television affiliate. Mrs. Henson worked on “Sam and Friends” until it ended in 1961, though less actively after she and Mr. Henson married in 1959 and started having children. In her later role as unofficial talent scout and gatekeeper of his enterprises, she was credited with hiring many of the puppeteers and writers involved in creating the Muppets, who made their debut as an ensemble in 1969 on “Sesame Street.” When her children were older, she was active in entertainment projects like the arena shows “The Muppet Show on Tour” and “Sesame Street Live.” In 1982 she helped form the Jim Henson Foundation, which promotes puppetry. She and her husband, who were legally separated in 1986, remained friends until his death in 1990 at 53. She is survived by her children, Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather Henson; seven grandchildren; a stepgrandchild; a sister, Margareta Jennings; and a brother, Brereton Nebel. 40 TERP SPRING 2013
earned a bachelor’s degree in 1951 from Manchester College in Indiana and master’s degree in education from Boston University in 1968. She worked in school districts in Illinois, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and retired in 1994 as a reading specialist in Montgomery County Public Schools. She also was a children’s book editor for Silver Burdett & Ginn in Lexington, Mass., and was known as a bird-watcher and for her research into Pennsylvania historical figures. Wagoner is survived by her husband of 50 years, Robert; a son, Nathan; three grandchildren; and a sister, Carol Ahlf. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Annamarie Wagoner-Littler, in 2008. Laura H. Montano M.A. ’80, a Montgomery County teacher for more than 25 years, died Jan. 12 at her Rockville home. She had mitral valve disease and was 59, according to The Washington Post. Born Laura Renee Hunt, she grew up in Silver Spring and graduated from Pallott High School in Laurel. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in 1975 from what is now Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania. In 1977, she received a master’s degree in special education from Duquesne University. She taught special education at Stephen Knolls School in Kensington, then was a reading teacher at Gaithersburg High School from 2005 to 2010. Montano retired in 2010 after a few months of working at Rockville’s Needwood Academy. Survivors include her husband of 33 years, Robert; her mother, Eileen Dye; children Michele, Robert and Michael; brothers Gary Hunt and Brian Hunt; a stepsister, Ellen Dye; and a stepbrother, James Dye. George DeBuchananne ’75, who worked in real estate development and construction and was an amateur photographer, died of lung cancer Jan. 26 at Montgomery Hospice’s Casey House, according to The Washington Post. He was 67. After serving in the Army in Germany, he received a bachelor’s degree in geography from Maryland and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from George Washington
Henson photo courtesy of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
University. He worked as a planner, estimator and construction manager for Winchester Homes, Bozzuto Group and other real estate and construction firms before retiring in 2006. He was a longtime member of the Silver Spring Photography Club, exhibited his work in galleries, taught photography for the Montgomery County Department of Recreation and served as a volunteer photographer and docent at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. Survivors include his wife of 36 years, Vera, and son, Alec; his mother, Mary C. DeBuchananne; and siblings Jean Hurst, Marilyn Innis, Jon, James, David and Daniel. William M. Maury ’63, chief historian at the U.S. Census Bureau, died April 12 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. He was 73 and had complications from lung disease, according to The Washington Post. A Kensington resident, he served in the Army in the early 1960s and received a master’s degree from George Washington University (GWU) in 1968. He was a data analyst for the Federal Aviation Administration and a historian for the National Archives before joining the Census Bureau as chief historian in 2002. He was the chief historian of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society before he received a doctorate in American history from GWU in 1975. Maury founded a monthly community historical paper in Kensington. His first two marriages, to Karen Hartman and Irene Chung, ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 14 years, Trammell Manly Maury; two children from his first marriage, Rebecca Maury and Brooke Maury; three stepchildren, Andrea Lonas, Adele Lonas and Tarim Chung; two sisters; a brother; and three grandchildren. Michael R. Nofsinger ’62, M.A. ’64 of Orlando and formerly of Luke, Md., died Feb. 7, according to the News Tribune of Keyser, W. Va. He was 77. Nofsinger served in the Air Force and, in 1957, played basketball at Maryland
and married his high school sweetheart, Midge. The Nofsingers were longtime residents of Tampa, then Orlando, where he was president of Moran Printing Co. until his 1999 retirement. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Midge (McRobie); daughters, Linda Wright, Kris Myerson and Lorie Rossi; five grandchildren; and siblings Bob Nofsinger and Dean Nofsinger, Anne Spriggs, Mary Jo Torbet, Helen Holder, Jean Burton and Sue Smith. Helen (Richter) Banes ’55, a local fiber artist and jewelry designer, died April 1 of cardiac arrest at her Chevy Chase, Md., home. She was 92, according to The Washington Post. She and her future husband, Daniel, were born in Chicago and moved to the Washington area together in 1948. Banes was one of 12 founders of the Bead Society of Greater Washington and a founding member of the Torpedo Factory Fiberworks Gallery. She was an artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Va., from 1983 until her retirement in 2010. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she taught classes in fiber art and design for the Smithsonian Associates Program in Washington. She co-wrote two books, “Beads and Threads: A New Technique for Fiber Jewelry” and “Fiber & Bead Jewelry: Beautiful Designs to Make & Wear.” Her artwork was displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the old Plum Gallery in Kensington. Daniel Barnes, her husband of 72 years, died 20 days after her. Survivors include three daughters, Susan Banes Harris, Ruby Sherpa and Sally Banes; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Francis C. Belcher ’51, a retired Air Force major who later spent 20 years with what is now the Defense Security Service, died Feb. 3 in Southern Maryland of a heart ailment, according to The Washington Post. He was 90. Belcher grew up on military installations as his father pursued a career in the Marine Corps. Belcher served in the Marine Corps in the Pacific during World War II, joined the Air Force in 1951 and became an intelligence officer with the Office of Special Investigations.
His postings included Spain, Japan and the Philippines before retiring from the military in 1968. At the U.S. Department of Defense, he helped process security clearances. Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Gladys Vantaman Belcher; a son, Michael; two daughters, Pamela Schoessler and Nancy Gaffney; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Warren Francis Herzog ’51, a retired sales representative and active member of his community, died Jan. 28 at Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., according to Newsday. He was 87. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945, and was president of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at Maryland. He was a member of St. John’s Church in Goshen, Cataract Engine Company & Fire Police, Goshen Lions and Ocean Pines Fire Ambulance Company. He served as a volunteer with Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Md., was a founding member of Goshen Recreation and was a founding board member of Arden Hill Hospital and Atlantic General Hospital. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Jane; daughters, Betty Bennett, Diana McNally and Judy Railey; a son, John; 10 grandchildren; and a sister, Lila Bruce. He was preceded in death by a brother, William Herzog. Henry R. Elsnic ’49, a retired savings and loan executive and decorated World War II veteran, died April 1 of Parkinson’s disease at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium, Md. He was 88, according to The Baltimore Sun. Elsnic was born in Baltimore and raised above his family’s grocery store. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1942, he enlisted in the Army and served in France with the 66th Infantry Division as a scout. He was discharged at war’s end, and his decorations included a Bronze Star. He began his banking career at the old North Eastern Bohemian Savings & Loan and rose to be president and chairman of the board. After the bank’s merger in the 1980s when it became Madison & Bradford Savings SPRING 2013 TERP 41
and Loan, he again served as president and board chairman. He retired in 2002. For nearly 60 years he spent Saturdays in the fall attending Terps football games in College Park. He was also a longtime Orioles fan and a duckpin bowler and had a regular pitch-card game with friends that went back more than 50 years. Surviving are his wife of 63 years, the former Dorothy Patricia Haas; a son, Steven; two daughters, Deborah Burgio and Diane Freeland; a sister, Doris Elsnic Rogers; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Jeane Mast ’49, a retired Foreign Service officer, died April 18 in Bethesda, Md. She was 85 and had Parkinson’s disease, according to The Washington Post. Mast joined the Foreign Service in 1984 and had overseas postings in South Africa, Zaire (now Congo) and Malaysia. In the mid-1990s, she worked as office manager for Sen. Russell B. Long (D-La.), then returned to the State Department. She worked for the Africa and Near East Asia bureaus before retiring in 2008. Mast was an office manager of her former husband’s dental practice in Washington from the mid-1960s until late 1970s. Her marriage to David Mast ended in divorce. Survivors include five children, Carol Beach, Joanne Valentine, Patricia Mast, David M. Mast and Margaret Ziegler; a sister; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Photos taken by Alfred Danneger (left) during his nearly 50-year tenure at UMD included an image of the third-floor offices in the old Agriculture Building (now Symons Hall), featured in the April 1948 issue of Old Line magazine, and a circa 1971 picture of story time at the Center for Young Children.
Alfred Danegger ’50, a noted photographer and nearly 50-year employee of the university, died Feb. 21 at his Lewes, Del., home. He was 89. Danneger grew up in Milford, N.J., where his father operated Danegger’s Hi-Way Nursery. He enrolled at Maryland and completed one semester before enlisting in the Army two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Danegger served in the Signal Corps as a combat photographer, then after the war returned to Maryland to complete his degree. On his graduation day, he began working for the Office of University Relations as university photographer. An avid traveler, he guided European bicycle trips for the American Youth Hostels and later spent 10 years serving on its board of directors. He also served as chaperone for the university’s theater and dance groups for international tours. He was a leader in the University Photographers Association, serving as president twice, and served as president of the Maryland Industrial Photographers Association. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Dorothy; two children, Robert and Anna Jarrell; and three grandchildren. 42 TERP SPRING 2013
Alfred Zimmerman ’49, former director of the old D.C. Board of Parole and Probation and a longtime hospital volunteer, died Jan. 20 following complications from a fall, according to The Washington Post. He was 94. Zimmerman served in the Navy before World War II, and rejoined the Navy during the war, serving with an intelligence unit in Baltimore. He briefly worked for the FBI before joining the Maryland corrections department. He shifted to the D.C. parole board in 1957, became director in the 1960s and retired in the late 1970s. Zimmerman lived in Silver Spring, Md., before retiring to Leisure World, also in Silver Spring. He volunteered for 30 years at what is now MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, primarily in the addiction and mental health center. His wife Photos courtesy of University Archives
of 59 years, Mary, died in 2009. Survivors include a daughter, Karen Hoffman, and two grandchildren. June MacBayne Jacobs Brown ’48 died at her Ocean Pines, Md., home on Feb. 13, according to The (Salisbury) Daily Times. She was 85. Born in Washington, she majored in biology and joined Alpha Xi Delta sorority at Maryland. In college, she met Earle W. Brown and they married in 1947. His career as an officer in the U.S. Army took them around the world. They settled in Lincoln, Neb., in 1970, where she worked at Culler Junior High School and the University of Nebraska’s Office of Financial Aid. The couple retired to Ocean Pines in 1992. June was a bridge player, a dancer with the Pine Tappers and a member of Mumford’s Landing Pool Aquatic Women and the local P.E.O. She is survived by her five children, Denise Brown, Lynne Brown, Susan Norland, Neil Brown and Carol Erbach; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years; her brother, Paul MacBayne Jacobs; and one granddaughter, Elizabeth Carol. John “Jack” Robert Schrecongost ’48, a retired engineer and avid sailor, died Feb. 8 at age 86. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, Schrecongost earned his mechanical engineering degree from Maryland, where he played football under Coach Bear Bryant and was president of his senior class. He tested locomotives for the General Electric Co. in Erie, Pa., then over 21 years moved up to supervisor and eventually a vice president, working with off-highway vehicles. Schrecongost retired in 1988, and he and his wife moved to Kent Island, Md., where he served as a commodore for the Prospect Bay Yacht Club. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; eight children, Barbara Bell, Bob, Becky Madine, Bill, Brenda Angle, Brad, Beth Rhodes, Bonnie Monninger; a sister, Ann; 12 grandchildren and 13 greatgrandchildren. He is preceded in death by a sister, MaryLou, and a son, Brian. Katherine “Kitty” Gray (Dunlap) Weaver ’47, a former poultry farmer and scholar of Soviet-era education
practices, died Jan. 9 at her Glengyle farm home of complications from pneumonia, according to The Washington Post. She was 102. The daughter of a Florida newspaper columnist, she graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1932 and received a master’s degree in English from George Washington University a year later. She earned a second bachelor’s degree, in agriculture, from Maryland. In 1933, she married Henry “Hank” Weaver, a longtime legal executive. In the late 1940s, the Weavers moved to Glengyle, a 110-acre farm in Loudoun County, Va., and Kitty Weaver took up poultry farming after the previous owners left her 50 leghorn chickens. She acquired 4,500 more but gave up the egg-selling business in 1955 after being advised she would need an additional 15,000 chickens to turn a profit. Weaver became fascinated with Russian education and communism following a 1963 visit the couple took to the Soviet Union. She made 48 subsequent trips and wrote three books on the topics. At the time of her death, Weaver was working on a fourth book, “You Don’t Live to Be 100 Overnight.” Her husband died in 1995; her only immediate survivor is a nephew she helped raise, William Dunlap.
1998. He remarried in 2000 and is survived by his wife, Dorothy, as well as three sons from his first marriage, James Jr., Thomas and Christopher; and three grandchildren. Stan Lore ’34 of Pittsburgh, a retired sales executive with U.S. Steel, died Feb. 20 at the age of 100. He attended Central High in D.C., and at Maryland was a member of the baseball team and president of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, even as he worked three jobs. He worked for many years as a sales executive and manager at U.S. Steel, from which he retired in 1977. Later he became the director of Cor-Ten Steel Marketing and Technical Service for U.S. Engineer and Consultants before retiring again in 1998 after 62 years with U.S. Steel. He owned Terps football season tickets for 25 years and was an active 60-year member of Southminster Presbyterian Church where he taught Sunday School, was president of the deacons and served on several committees. He was predeceased by his wife of 53 years, Helen; and his son, Rodney. He is survived by a daughter, Pamela Lore Iams; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Retired Air Force Col. James Robert Finton ’41 died April 26 at Falcons Landing Military Retirement Community in Potomac Falls, Va., from the effects of a stroke one week earlier. He was 93. Finton graduated from Eastern High School in D.C. and was commissioned in 1941 at Maryland through the Reserve Officers Training Corps. After earning his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, he undertook graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During World War II, he was assigned to a joint Anglo-American base on the Red Sea in Aden. His career after the war included tours at the Pentagon, WrightPatterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio and Andrews Air Force Base and as a professor at Virginia Tech. Finton received numerous awards, including the Air Force Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Force Commendation Medal. His wife of 56 years, Iris, predeceased him in SPRING 2013 TERP 43
INTERPRETATIONS
The Value of International Partnerships To prepare our students to thrive in today’s interdependent world, the University of Maryland emphasizes a blend of research, innovation and entrepreneurship education, and international study. On our recent mission to Israel and Jordan with Gov. Martin O’Malley, UMD increased its strength in these three areas by initiating or expanding academic collaborations with Tel Aviv University, the University of Haifa, Technion and Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment. We made a little history in signing our first exchange with an Arab institution, the University of Jordan. We agreed to create “global classrooms” for UMD, Israeli and Jordanian students to take courses together using real-time video conferencing that links classrooms between our respective institutions, blended with online instruction. We also signed exchanges that will make it cheaper for our students to study in At UMD, innovation Israel and Jordan and vice versa. is our future, There is simply no substitute for firsthand experience of our interdeentrepreneurship pendent world. Consider the example of Carrie, a junior UMD student I is our culture, and just met. She learned Arabic at UMD and is studying Hebrew this semesinternationalization ter at Haifa. She is interning in an Arab community, and this summer she will have another internship in Jerusalem. Next fall, she will conis our touchstone. tinue her studies as a Philip Merrill Scholar back in College Park. When we graduate global citizens like Carrie, the student benefits and so does Maryland. Israel is often called “Startup Nation” for the inspired pace of its high-tech sector. We glimpsed the innovative vitality of Israeli universities in moving promising technologies from academic labs into the commercial world. Also, I learned the cultural and social value placed on innovation in a meeting with Israel’s President Shimon Peres, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Oslo Accords. When asked what could be done to bring peace to the region, Peres replied, “Build 1,000 innovation incubators.” Young people throughout the Middle East, he explained, need jobs and economic growth to have hope for the future. This is a lesson I want our students to learn: to put knowledge into practice by solving the great challenges of our time. These international partnerships bolster our innovation and entrepreneurship efforts. We hope to give our students a chance to work on innovative projects in Middle East startups, and their students will take part in similar projects on our campus. Our faculty will collaborate in research projects with their counterparts abroad in a number of fields where we share strengths, such as food security, conflict management and public health. At UMD, innovation is our future, entrepreneurship is our culture, and internationalization is our touchstone.
”
”
—Wallace D. Loh, President
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PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
I create new arrangements and original music for violin in genres from R&B to pop, soul, funk, hip-hop and more, introducing new audiences to the versatility and voice of my instrument. It’s a musical shot across the bow. Chelsey Green D.M.A. ’14 / music performance
PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI / PHOTO CREDITS
SPRING 2013 TERP 45
FRom ReseaRch to development to launch, umd Is dedIcated to the poweR oF FeaRless Ideas.
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