Letter from the President
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

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In April, the USM and the Board of Regents named  Aminta Breaux as president of
Bowie State University. Aminta comes to BSU from Millersville University in Pennsylvania where she served as vice president for advancement for three years. While at Millersville University, Aminta grew the University's endowment from $30 million to $40 million. She will join BSU as president on July 1 and we look forward to welcoming her to the System. Read more here.

At the beginning of April, I had the opportunity to celebrate  Ronald Nowaczyk's inauguration at  Frostburg State University . Ron took office in May of last year as the fifteenth president of FSU. He has been a welcome addition to the USM and he continues to dedicate himself to FSU and the surrounding community. 

April concluded with  USM Goes Wild at the Maryland Zoo , which brought together over 2,700 alumni, staff, and family and friends from nine USM institutions together in Baltimore for a fun-filled evening. Those in attendance enjoyed rides on the carousel, the many animals at the zoo, and the camaraderie of the USM community.  During the event, FSU adopted the bobcat exhibit and the zoo's two bobcats, Kilgore and Josie. Please click here to view photos from the event.


TU President Kim Schatzel, FSU President Ronald Nowaczyk, and Chancellor Bob Caret

Frostburg State University adopts the bobcat exhibit

I am pleased to announce that Brit Kirwan will be inducted into the Baltimore Sun's 2017 Maryland Business and Civic Hall of Fame for his success in molding the USM's institutions into key economic drivers for the state of Maryland, and for his current efforts to reform Maryland's K-12 education funding to equitably serve students across the state. Brit and his fellow winners will be honored at an event in June. Congratulations, Brit!

I am also pleased to announce that Foundation Board Chair Bonnie Stein and Foundation Board member Alicia Wilson were both named to The Daily Record's list of Maryland's Top 100 Women for 2017. You may read more about this honor in the articles that follow. Congratulations to Bonnie and Alicia!

Please remember that the next full board meeting will take place on June 6 at Hidden Waters in Baltimore, Maryland. As always, please contact me at raley@usmd.edu or 301-445-1941 with any questions or comments. 

Sincerely,

Leonard R. Raley
In This Issue:
Board Member News
Board Membe boardmembernewsr News
Foundation Board Chair Bonnie Stein and Foundation Board member Alicia Wilson have been named to The Daily Record's list of Maryland's Top 100 Women for 2017. Stein was also inducted into the Circle of Excellence, which signifies her third time receiving this award. Stein and Wilson were honored on April 24 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Congratulations to both!
Gifts ArGiftsAroundtheSystemound the System

Alumni couple Richard Sherman, MD, SOM '72 and Jane Sherman, PhD, SON '85 gifted the University of Maryland, Baltimore $1.5 million in March. The gift will establish the Richard and Jane Sherman Center for Health Care Innovation that will be located in the Health Sciences & Human Services Library. The Center will centralize software with the potential to enable people to efficiently focus ideas towards the improvement of patient-physician focused heath care. Read more here.
Dave Rommel and SU President Janet Dudley-Eshbach

Salisbury University has received a $5.5 million gift from Dave and Patsy Rommel. Dave Rommel is the owner of the Rommel Electric Company, which specializes in electrical, mechanical, traffic, and transit work. The gift will benefit SU's new Center for Entrepreneurship at the Plaza Gallery Building in downtown Salisbury. The Center is set to open by 2020 and will have space for SU entrepreneurs, a "makerspace" for robotics, and an on-site store that will sell products developed through the Center. Read more here. 

The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation pledged a $1 million gift to support the Bob Parsons Veterans Institute at the University of Baltimore. The gift will support services designed to improve the lives of military members. Established four years ago, the Center at UB helps veterans with academic advising, financial aid, career counseling, and peer support. According to President Schmoke, Parsons' commitment to UB allows the University to "deliver outstanding educational experiences for veterans." Read more here.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the University of Maryland, Baltimore held the UMBC-UMB Partnership Symposium on April 12 at bwtech@UMBC South. The annual event aims to establish meaningful and sustainable research collaboration between the two institutions. The keynote speaker at the event was Wendy Perrow, the CEO of AsclepiX Therapeutics. Collaboration between the institutions has led to shared organizational infrastructure, shared research facilities, dual campus degree programs, research, and innovation partnership seed grants. Read more here.
USM NewUSMNewsBriefss Briefs

Towson University's President Kim Schatzel
Towson University Marriott
announced that TU will be leveraging a university asset to begin its effort to build stronger connectivity to Greater Baltimore as an anchor institution. TU will reopen the Towson University Marriott Hotel as student housing by fall of 2018 in order to meet the demand for upper-division student housing. The renovation project will provide living space for students much faster and more efficiently than building new dorms. As a result, TU and its students will build a greater connection to downtown Towson.  Read more here.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed a bill authorizing $7.5 million in funding to create the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute (MEI2) at the University of Maryland, College Park. The initiative will catalyze clean energy research programs at academic institutions across the state and develop private investment in clean energy innovation and commercialization. MEI2 will also bolster jobs in the clean energy industry sector throughout the state.   Read more here.

Brownsville residents outside the John Wesley A.M.E. Church
Frostburg State University students have been working on a 
fundraising campaign to erect a Brownsville monument on campus. The Brownsville neighborhood, which was home to 240 African-American residents in 1920, was purchased by FSU to expand the school from 1927 through 1950. The state paid as little as $10 per home, before fair market value laws, which led to tension among the community. The campaign stemmed from a research project that began in a public history course where six students researched how to memorialize Brownsville. The project is estimated to cost $10,000 and students hope to install the memorial between Allen and Simpson Halls. Read more here.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore is planning to launch a student innovation center this summer in order to bring together UMB's entrepreneurship resources and to expand opportunities for students to be involved in commercializing research alongside staff and faculty. Jim Hughes, chief enterprise and economic development officer at UMB, hopes the center will bring together all the UMB schools as well as the USM schools. The center is part of an initiative called the Center for Maryland Advanced Ventures, which attempts to strengthen collaboration efforts between University of Maryland, College Park and UMB. Read more here.

USM Launches $25 MillionMDMomentumFund Maryland Momentum Fund

The USM is launching a $25 million early-stage investment fund to increase new company creation and commercialization of leading-edge research. The Maryland Momentum Fund will fill gaps in the fundraising pipeline in order to push USM's innovative ideas into the marketplace. 

The USM has already committed to $10 million and the System is collaborating with UM Ventures (a joint initiative of UMB and UMCP) and UMBC to reach venture capitalists and angel investors for an additional $15 million. 

The Maryland Momentum Fund will accelerate the success and profitability of USM startups, attract entrepreneurs and innovators to USM institutions, seize the opportunity to commercialize valuable USM intellectual property, and develop long-term financial returns that can be reinvested in future startups affiliated with the USM. 

In order to be eligible, companies must be in Maryland; be based on USM-owned intellectual property; be founded by USM faculty, students, or alumni; or be in a USM incubator, research park or RISE Zone. Individual investments will range from $50,000 to $500,000 per company. 

Bowie State University EBSUFundstablishes James E. Proctor
Endowed Fund

On April 12, BSU named the education building in honor of Delegate James E.  Proctor, Jr. Proctor is a BSU graduate who was appointed to the House of Delegates in 1990. During his storied career, he helped secure $200 million from the state for BSU and met with President Mickey Burnim at least once per session to discuss the University's needs. 

In addition to the naming, BSU is establishing the James E. Proctor endowed fund. President Burnim thanked the alumni and donors who generously gave in order to establish the fund and said, "In so doing, the Proctor family is making the pursuit of higher education possible for students at Bowie State University."

Women from Across USdailyrecordM Honored by Daily Record

The Maryland Daily Record's 2017 list of Maryland's Top 100 Women includes many women in leadership positions across the USM. Among the honorees are Towson University President Kim Schatzel, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff at UMES Kimberly Conway Dumpson, Regents Board member D'Ana E. Johnson, Foundation Board Chair Bonnie Stein, and Foundation Board member Alicia Wilson. The award was created in order to recognize outstanding women leaders for professional achievement, community service, and commitment to mentoring. The honorees were recognized on April 24 at a ceremony at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Congratulations to all of the System women honored!
UMCP Dedicates Edward St. UMCPSTJohnJohn Learning and Research Center 
The University of Maryland, College Park
dedicated the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center on May 11. The Center is named for Edward St. John '61, who gifted $10 million to the building's construction and is the founder and chairman of St. John Properties. At 187,000 square feet, the space has twelve classrooms, nine teaching labs, group study rooms, and informal study spaces. Classes at the Center will begin at the end of May for the summer session.

This space will give students a place to move seamlessly from lectures to group projects, thus enhancing collaborative learning at UMCP. The Center is located between Campus Drive and McKeldin Mall and is part of the Greater College Park initiative, which is a $2 billion public-private investment to revitalize Baltimore Avenue and the campus. 
Freeman Hrabowski FeatFreemanured in The New York Times

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski was featured in an interview "Freeman A. Hrabowski III on the Value of Resilience" in The New York Times. In the interview, Hrabowski speaks about his early years, growing up in Birmingham, participating in the civil rights movement, and attending t he Children's March in 1963. From a young age, Hrabowski's parents taught him the importance of grit, which reflects UMBC's motto "Grit & Greatness." 

The interview also touches on Hrabowski's thoughts on leadership, the hiring process, and his advice to new college graduates. He advises new grads that they should try "finding ways of using your brainpower to work as effectively as possible to reach your goals and never give up and continue to work at it." He added, "the world is not necessarily fair. Get over it. Just keep being your best. Develop that tough skin." Click here to read the full interview.

Langenberg Lecture F LangenbergLectureeatures Barbara Mikulski

The USM held its annual Langenberg Lecture on April 10 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski delivered the lecture on the importance of civic engagement and civic education for students. University of Maryland, Baltimore student Linda Morris, who studies at the Francis King Carey School of Law, was presented the annual scholarship award to recognize her work as a public service leader. The day also featured a panel titled, "The Role of Information in a Democratic Society," and was moderated by Lucy Dalglish, dean of the Merrill College of Journalism at UMCP. Dalglish was joined by panelists: Alan C. Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; Brian Stelter, senior media correspondent for CNN Worldwide; and Hannah Cole-Chu, third-year law student at the Francis King Carey School of Law. Click here to watch the Langenberg Lecture.
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Editor: Micaela Cameron | mcameron@usmd.edu