University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Motto:	An Honors University in Maryland
Established:	1966
Type:	Public university
President:	Freeman A. Hrabowski III
Faculty:	1,018[1]
Students:	12,268[1]
Undergraduates:	9,612[1]
Postgraduates:	2,656[1]
Location:	Catonsville, Maryland, United States (39°15′19.80″N 76°42′40.52″W / 39.2555°N 76.7112556°W / 39.2555; -76.7112556)
Campus:	Suburban, 500 acres (2 km²)
Colors:	Black, Gold and Red[2]
Nickname:	Retrievers
Mascot:	True Grit
Athletics:	The UMBC Retrievers, 17 varsity teams, NCAA Division I
Affiliations:	America East Conference; MAISA; AAU
Website:	www.umbc.edu www.umbcretrievers.com

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County^[3] (generally known as UMBC) is a public research university, located in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, in the community of Catonsville. Established as a part of the University System of Maryland in 1966, the university specializes in the natural sciences and engineering, while also offering a breadth of programs in the liberal arts. The University is not a satellite campus of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Contents 1 Academics 1.1 Financial Aid and scholarships 1.2 Rankings 1.2.1 Faculty Research Recognized with Top Rankings 1.3 Notable professors 2 Campus 2.1 Research and Technology Park 2.2 Notable buildings 2.2.1 Public Policy Building 2.2.2 The Hillcrest Building 2.2.3 The Commons 2.3 Other locations 2.3.1 Steam tunnels 2.3.2 Grassy knoll 2.3.3 Pig Pen Pond 2.4 Campus Police 2.5 Night Life 3 Student life 3.1 Student activities and organizations 4 Athletics 5 Notable alumni 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Academics

UMBC's Undergraduate School offers 54 majors and 42 minors and 20 certificate programs in the physical and biological sciences, social and behavioral sciences, engineering, mathematics, information technology, humanities, economics and visual and performing arts. New degree programs include management of aging services, media and communication studies, and gender and women's studies.

UMBC's Graduate School offers 33 master's degree programs, 23 doctoral degree programs and 20 graduate certificate programs. Programs are offered in emergency health services, education, engineering, imaging and digital arts, information technology, life sciences, psychology, public policy and a host of other areas of interest. A new gerontology Ph.D. program is one of only six in the United States.

[edit] Financial Aid and scholarships

UMBC is home to the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, a program focused on the cultivation of underrepresented minority scholarship and awareness in the math, science, and engineering disciplines.

Other scholarship programs include the CWIT Scholars Program, the Humanities Scholars Program, the Linehan Artist Scholars Program, the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program and the Sherman Teacher Education Scholars Program.

Major businesses in the Baltimore-Washington area recruit using scholarships and internship opportunities.

[edit] Rankings

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is particularly regarded for its natural science and engineering programs. According to the National Science Foundation, the University is among the top three Ph.D-granting universities in the United States in the production of IT degrees at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. UMBC ranks second nationally in degrees awarded by colleges that grant bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in the computing sciences. The university continues to be the largest producer of IT graduates in the Maryland area^[4]. The Carnegie Foundation's new classification of American colleges and universities places the university alongside other extensive doctoral/research universities. UMBC is one of only two public universities in Maryland to hold this position, the other being University of Maryland, College Park. Only 152 universities are part of this category nationwide.

The university is also regarded for its diverse student population. The Princeton Review ranks UMBC 2nd^[5] on its Diverse Population list, as well as including it on its Best in the Northeast list^[6]. According to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UMBC is ranked 1st nationally in the total number of undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry degrees awarded to African Americans, 4th nationally in the total number of chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate degrees awarded to Asian Americans, and 7th nationally in overall undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry degree production^[4].

National
7th chemistry and biochemistry degree production
1st chemistry and biochemistry degrees awarded to African Americans
4th chemistry and biochemistry awarded to Asian Americans
76th prestigious faculty awards

Most Diverse Universities
1. City University of New York-Baruch College
2. University of Maryland, Baltimore County
3. City University of New York-Brooklyn College
4. University of Alabama at Birmingham
5. Temple University

UMBC is among the top five national universities recognized as innovative schools to watch in U.S. News & World Report's 2009 Best Colleges Guide

Up and Coming School
1. George Mason Univ. (VA)
2. Clemson University (SC)
3. U. of Southern California
4. Arizona State University
5. Univ. of Md.-Baltimore County
6. Drexel University (PA)

UMBC is ranked by the USNews and World Report rankings as a national university: third tier.^[7]

The Carnegie Foundation's new classification of American colleges and universities, issued this month, places UMBC in the top tier of America's research universities. Of the nearly 4,000 colleges and universities nationwide, UMBC is one of only 152—the top 3.8 percent—to be included in the elite category, "Doctoral-Research Universities/Extensive."

UMBC also is among the top 100 national public universities ranked in the 2001 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges. U.S. News ranked UMBC 14th nationwide in its listing of national universities graduating students with the least amount of debt; UMBC was the only Maryland institution represented in this category, which also includes the California Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 2001 edition of the Kaplan Newsweek College Catalog rated UMBC a "best value," based on a national survey of guidance counselors, who cited UMBC's strong professional, computer-technology, and arts programs. UMBC is Maryland's only university named in this category, which also includes William and Mary, the University of Virginia, and the University of California, Berkeley.

In recognition of its multicultural campus and academically exceptional students from all backgrounds, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) has been ranked second on The Princeton Review “Most Diverse Student Body” list.

UMBC’s student body is among the most diverse nationally (37 percent minority, including 18 percent Asian, 15 percent African American and 4 percent Hispanic and Native American).

The Princeton Review recognized UMBC in its newly released rankings of U.S. colleges, The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition. The annual publication offers updated reviews of each institution and separate rankings lists about student life, based on responses from administrators and student surveys.

The “Most Diverse Student Body” ranking lists 20 leading institutions. UMBC placed ahead of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Temple University and State University of New York-Stonybrook University.

The 2003 Kaplan/Newsweek How to Get Into College guide has hit the newsstands featuring UMBC as one of “America’s Hot Schools.” This exclusive list of a dozen schools that are among students’ top picks is “dominated by some of the country’s top public universities,”

[edit] Faculty Research Recognized with Top Rankings

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UMBC faculty continue to be recognized for excellence in research. The University now ranks second among U.S. universities in NASA research funding, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The university's NASA-funded centers are the Joint Centers for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), the Joint Center for Astrophysics (JCA), Goddard Earth Systems and Technology Center (GEST) and the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST).

"We are training a new generation of scientists that the nation needs to conduct research which literally may be critical to the health of the planet in the future," said Raymond Hoff, professor of physics and director of JCET and GEST. "The opportunity for a medium-sized state research university to become the number two partner with NASA on grant-based research could not have happened without the effort of strong supporters at NASA and the research performed by the young faculty that UMBC has been able to hire through these centers."

In addition, the University's geoscience research was ranked third nationally for citation impact (the number of times peer professors cite UMBC faculty work in their own research papers) by Thomson Scientific's Science Watch. Harvard and the Georgia Institute of Technology are the only other U.S. universities with more frequently cited research on the environment, water, soil, atmosphere, pollution and climate change, according to Science Watch.

The Departments of Information Systems and Public Policy were ranked eighth and tenth respectively in their fields by the 2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, which measures the number of books and journal articles written by faculty members, the number of times other scholars have cited these publications and the grant monies, honors and awards the faculty members received. The index is prepared by Academic Analytics, a for-profit company that ranks academic programs in a wide range of fields.

[edit] Notable professors

Africana Studies

• Dr. Acklyn Lynch- noted scholar, writer, cultural critic and activist

Aging Studies

• Dr. William H. Thomas - an international authority on geriatric medicine and eldercare, founder of The Eden Alternative and author of What Are Old People For?

American Studies

• Warren Belasco - food scholar and renown historian, author of Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food

Biological Sciences

• Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg - a leading immunologist

Chemistry

• Ramachandra S. Hosmane- a leading organic synthesis and medicinal chemist.
• Michael F. Summers - a Howard Hughes Investigator and a leading biological NMR spectroscopist

Emergency Health Services

• Dr. Stephen Dean - An internationally recognized expert in Emergency Medical Services system design.

English

• Christopher Corbett - A former news editor and reporter with The Associated Press, and the adviser for UMBC's student newspaper, The Retriever Weekly.

Gender and Women's Studies

• Carole McCann - reproductive politics, cultural politics of gender, sexuality, race and science, U.S. women's history
• Anne Brodsky, Director of the Gender and Women's Studies Program, author of With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan

Mathematics

• Thomas Mathew - one of the leading statisticians
• Bimal Sinha - one of the leading statisticians
• Manil Suri - bestselling author

Political Science

• (Former Professor) Nabil Mikhail - expert in the field of Middle Eastern Relations
• Thomas Schaller - talk show host, political commentator, and author of Whistling Past Dixie

Philosophy

• Stephen E. Braude - a leading parapsychologist and a noted thinker in Temporal Logic and the Philosophy of Mind.
• Jim Thomas - ranked ninth on RateMyProfessors.com Top-Rated Professors of 2008 list.^[8]

Psychology

• Christopher Murphy - one of the country's premiere domestic violence researchers
• Carlo DiClemente - a leading expert in addictions, co-developer of the Stages of Change model.

[edit] Campus

[edit] Research and Technology Park

BWTECH@UMBC is a 41-acre research and technology community at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). bwtech@UMBC has a total development capacity of 350,000 square feet of office and laboratory space. The park will ultimately comprise five new state-of-the-art buildings occupied by research and technology firms. The firms have access to university expertise, students, technology, programs and facilities.

RWD Technologies' headquarters is located in the 62,000 square foot three-story building at 5521 Research Park Drive. A second building, with three stories and 60,000 square feet of Class A space at 5523 Research Park Drive, is fully occupied by several companies, including BDMetrics, Solvern Innovations, Convergent Technologies, Med-IQ, Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center (GEST), Erickson School of Aging Studies, Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), ACTiVATE® and Invoke Systems. Both buildings are owned and managed by Merritt Properties, LLC.

A one-story, 23,500-square-foot building houses the United States Geological Survey (USGS) MD-DE-DC Water Science Center, with which UMBC's researchers have collaborated over the years in analyzing the region's water resources and how to preserve them. Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) developed the USGS building, 5522 Research Park Drive. COPT is also developing a 110,000 square-foot multi-tenant facility, 5520 Research Park Drive, which will be available for occupancy in Summer 2008.

Erickson Retirement Communities is developing a $20million building, 5525 Research Park Drive . Erickson will move its information technology department, adult living national broadcast network Retirement Living TV (RL-TV) and private charitable foundation to the 100,000 square-foot building, expected to be completed in 2008. The move will increase research collaboration and internship opportunities between the Erickson organization and UMBC students and faculty in The Erickson School and visual arts, communications and information technology programs.

[edit] Notable buildings

[edit] Public Policy Building

Completed in 2003 at an estimated cost of $18,700,000, the Public Policy Building houses the Shriver Center and related departments. This 62,000 GSF academic building includes public and general classroom space, as well as faculty offices for the Departments of Sociology and Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Public Policy and the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR). An outdoor terrace and an interior double-story lobby with multi-media displays serve as areas to facilitate open discussion, supporting Public Policy's mission to increase environmental and social awareness.

[edit] The Hillcrest Building

In 1965 the land UMBC currently occupies was sold to its proprietors, which included the Hillcrest Building. In this period it functioned as an administration building, with rooms for student organizations and clubs and housed the Residential Life office. The basement of the building was renovated into a club known as "The Rattskeller". The building ceased to be used by the university in 2000, and future plans to demolish it were announced. Some students took an interest in trying to preserve the building on the grounds of its historical significance.

Trevor J. Blank, a former student at UMBC, led a historic preservation effort to halt administrative efforts to raze the structure. He co-authored a book with David S. Helsel, M.D., titled "Spring Grove State Hospital," which includes a brief spotlight on the Hillcrest Building's history.

During the Summer of 2007 the building began to be demolished. As of late August 2007, the building has been completely torn down.

[edit] The Commons

The Commons, which opened in January 2002, is the hub of student life on campus. It consists of multiple dining opportunities, the campus bookstore, Off-campus Student Services, the Women’s Center, various student lounges, meeting rooms, administrative offices, as well as office space for many of the 180-plus UMBC student organizations, including the Graduate Student Association. Occupying more than 144,000 square feet (13,400 m²), The Commons is equipped with wireless internet access and information displays. Architecturally, the facility is quite unusual in design featuring a multitude of glass windows that provide an appealing environment for the many social activities.

[edit] Other locations

[edit] Steam tunnels

The steam tunnels are a series of maintenance tunnels that connect almost all major buildings on campus. The tunnels are located underground, where tunnels usually are. The main tunnel runs directly under the "main concourse" that leads from the library to the administration building, and is about 1/2 a mile in length. They carry all heating, water, electrical, and data lines within them. They are only accessible from secured entrances within the buildings themselves and a few select grates near Erickson Field.Also, the steam tunnels lead to an entrance to maintinence paths that lead to every building. This is the only outside entrance to the tunnels. Students are expelled for entering these areas. \^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Grassy knoll

The "Grassy Knoll" is a landmark in a somewhat hidden clearing in the woods between the Administration Drive and the Commons Garage. It is accessible via a path near the drainage tunnel.

[edit] Pig Pen Pond

Located on the south end of campus, Pig Pen Pond is one of the few remaining elements of the farmland upon which UMBC was built. It is home to much wildlife, including the Baltimore oriole^[9].

[edit] Campus Police

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County Police Department is a nationally accredited law enforcement agency servicing a population of 10,628 students and faculty not including daily visitors on over 50 acres (200,000 m²) of campus property and adjoining streets and roadways. The Police Department also employs a number of students as Police Student Marshals. Their main function is to provide campus wide escorts, event security, and to unlock and lock buildings.

[edit] Night Life

Flat Tuesdays- is a pub in the Commons at UMBC. It offers a space for hosting events, as well as live music.

Every Freakin' Friday- Each Friday in the commons, the Student Events Board offers free pool and ping pong, video game tournaments, concerts, stand-up comedy, and other social functions. Movies are played in the nearby lecture hall on the projector screen.

The Fish Head Cantina (known by students as 'The Fish Bowl') is a local bar and highly populated by college students from UMBC.

[edit] Student life

Approximately 75% of freshman students live on campus. With the completion of Erickson Hall, Harbor Hall, and the Walker Avenue Apartments, UMBC is making the transition from a commuter school to a residential school. As more students move onto campus, organizations such as the Resident Student Association (RSA) and Student Events Board (SEB) are continually creating more activities for students to become involved in. In addition to events created and sponsored by the University, hundreds of university-sanctioned clubs and organizations are present on campus to build a sense of community. These clubs and organizations range from Greek life to academic and cultural clubs, to activity-based clubs including cycling, ice hockey, sky diving, sailing, tennis, ultimate frisbee, rowing, and the martial arts. The school is known for the ethnically diverse student body and remains in the top 20 most diverse schools in the country.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Student activities and organizations

[edit] Athletics

The school's sports teams are called the Retrievers, with colors black and gold with red. The mascot of the University is the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, the state dog of Maryland, named True Grit. There is a statue of True Grit that stands in front of the Retriever Activities Center (RAC). The Retrievers participate in NCAA Division 1 as a part of the America East Conference, fielding 17 varsity sports; eight men and nine women. The Retrievers fight song is the UMBC Riser, and was written by Dr. George LaNoue, a professor of policy sciences.

The men's lacrosse team has risen to prominence in recent years. In 2009, the Retrievers secured their fifth consecutive outright or shared America East regular season championship and their third America East tournament championship in four years. UMBC has secured a berth in the NCAA tournament each of the past four seasons.^[10][11] In 2007, the unseeded Retrievers upset seventh-seeded Maryland, 13–9, in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Division I second round for the first, and so far only, time in school history.^[12]

The Retrievers won their first regular season American East Men's Basketball title in 2007-08, and also qualified for their first NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. They had previously competed in the Division II men's basketball tournament.

[edit] Notable alumni

Arts and entertainment

• Dennis Bowen - musician, internationally toured as drummer of the Dan Deacon Ensemble, and drummer of Double Dagger on Thrill Jockey Records.
• Brian Dannelly - Director/writer of the 2004 film Saved!; series director/producer for the television shows Weeds, Pushing Daisies, and others.
• Duff Goldman - the star of the Food Network reality television show Ace of Cakes, the owner of Charm City Cakes.
• Robert Mugge - Film writer, director & producer.
• Johnathon Schaech - Actor, writer, director, and producer.
• Kathleen Turner - Oscar-nominated actress.

Education

• James Clements - 23rd president of West Virginia University.

Journalism

• Tony Harris - CNN news anchor.

Politics

• Ron Dillon, Jr. - Anne Arundel County Councilman, District 3.
• Allan H. Kittleman - Maryland state senator, District 9.
• James N. Mathias, Jr - former mayor of Ocean City, MD, member of the Maryland House of Delegates.
• Dan Patrick - Texas State Senator, Radio Talk Show host.
• Victoria L. Schade, former member of Maryland House of Delegates, District 31.

Sports

• Mehdi Addadi - Olympic swimmer at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
• Wayne Franklin - Former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the York Revolution in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
• Dan Marohl - National Lacrosse League (NLL) forward for the Philadelphia Wings.^[13]
• Steve Marohl - NLL forward for the Baltimore Thunder and the Pittsburgh Crossefire; Major League Lacrosse (MLL) attack for the Baltimore Bayhawks.^[13]
• Brendan Mundorf - NLL forward for the New York Titans; MLL forward for the Denver Outlaws.^[14]
• Jeff Ratcliffe - NLL forward for the New York Titans.^[15]
• Brian Rowland - United Soccer Leagues Second Division goalkeeper for Crystal Palace Baltimore.
• Drew Westervelt - NLL attack for the Philadelphia Wings; Major League Lacrosse attack for the Denver Outlaws.^[16]
• Jay Witasick - MLB pitcher who is currently a free agent.

[edit] See also

• Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE) (largely based at Princeton University)
• Swoogle (search engine)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Official UMBC Retrievers site
• Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, UMBC
• UMBC Freeform Radio Station
• UMBC Wrestling Homepage
• Retriever Weekly - A weekly print and online newspaper created by UMBC students for UMBC students.
• UMBC Underground - An alternative news blog created by anonymous individuals for UMBC students.
• Overheard at UMBC - A daily blog posting humorous and out of context quotes overheard at UMBC.
• Baltimore Weather - Provided by the weather station at UMBC.
• College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
• College of Engineering and Information Technology
• College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
• Continuing & Professional Studies
• Erickson School of Aging Studies
• Graduate School
• School of Social Work
• UMBC Men's Ice Hockey
• UMBC Campus on Google Street View

v • d • e University of Maryland, Baltimore County Academics University of Maryland, Baltimore County Majors and Programs • Meyerhoff Scholarship Program • Center for Women and Information Technology Scholars Program Research Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment Student life University of Maryland, Baltimore County Student Organizations Athletics UMBC Retrievers • America East Conference • True Grit • Retriever Activities Center • UMBC Stadium

v • d • e University System of Maryland Main Institutions: Bowie State • Coppin State • Frostburg State • Salisbury • Towson • University of Baltimore • University of Maryland, Baltimore • UMBC • University of Maryland, College Park • UMES • UMUC Joint campuses: USM at Hagerstown • Universities at Shady Grove Research centers: Biotechnology Institute • Center for Environmental Science

v • d • e Colleges and Universities in Maryland Private Universities Baltimore Hebrew · Baltimore International · Johns Hopkins · Loyola · Mt. St. Mary's · St. Mary's Seminary · Stevenson Private Colleges Capitol · Columbia Union · Goucher · Hood · MBCS · MICA · McDaniel · Ner Israel · Notre Dame · St. Johns · Sojourner-Douglass · Washington Public Institutions Bowie State · Center for Environmental Science · Coppin State · Frostburg State · Morgan State · Naval Academy · Salisbury · St. Mary's · Towson · University of Baltimore · University of Maryland, Baltimore · UMBC · University of Maryland, College Park · Biotechnology Institute · UMES · USM at Hagerstown · UMUC Community Colleges Allegany · Anne Arundel · Baltimore City · Baltimore County · Carroll · Cecil · Chesapeake · Frederick · Garrett · Hagerstown · Harford · Howard · Montgomery · Prince George's · Southern Maryland · Wor-Wic

v • d • e America East Conference Albany • Binghamton • Boston University • Hartford • Maine • New Hampshire • Stony Brook • UMBC • Vermont Associate Member: Fairfield (field hockey)