Supporters Like You

Betsy and George Sherman

A generous new gift from the Sherman Family Foundation will dramatically expand the reach and impact of the University’s K-12 and early childhood education work. The transformational gift will provide funding to launch the Betsy & George Sherman Center as a national model to advance excellence in urban schools.
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Bill Wade

“Living on a fixed income while enjoying retirement means we’re careful with our money,” says Bill Wade ’72, economics. “Making a bequest intention to the UMBC Foundation allows me to give more than just writing a check.”
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Todd Carton

When Todd Carton earned his degree from UMBC in 1977, he never imagined that his studies in theater criticism, literature and creative writing would eventually lead him to become an accountant for nonprofit organizations. But his professors encouraged him to go off the beaten path, and now Todd is helping UMBC students do the same.
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Dr. Marilyn Demorest

When Professor Emerita of Psychology Dr. Marilyn Demorest started teaching at UMBC in 1972, the university was 6 years old, and the psychology department had 10 faculty members. As her career grew and developed, so did UMBC. By the time she retired in 2010, the school had exponentially increased in size, both in terms of enrollment and faculty hiring.
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Judge Wanda Keyes Heard

When she began her college search, the Honorable Wanda Keyes Heard ‘79, political science, knew very little about UMBC. But when she and her family — then living in Long Island, New York — returned from a visit to schools in the DC area, they decided to stop by the new university in Catonsville. That chance decision would change Wanda’s life.
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Clolita Vitale

Clolita Vitale ’75, theatre, is truly a Retriever Believer. When she first walked onto UMBC’s campus in the late 1960s, she was struck by how new the university was. She even recalls walking around on plywood planks as construction was underway. But where some might have preferred an older, established school, Vitale found UMBC's newness exciting-a promise of things to come.
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Catherine Weber

Each year at UMBC, a faculty member is chosen to receive the Carl Weber Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching Award. It honors a faculty member from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for exceptional dedication to teaching as demonstrated by his or her enthusiasm, up-to-date teaching materials, effective mentoring, community service in the teaching area, approachability, rigorous learning requirements, coherent teaching philosophy and inspirational teaching style.
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Student Scholarship Q&A: Kirley Silva, information systems

Every so often, we highlight the importance of student scholarships by introducing you to the very students they help to succeed. Today, we're featuring Kirley Silva '15, information systems, an Esperanza Scholarship recipient.
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Donor Q&A: Ira '81 and Elizabeth Allen '82

From time to time, we'll interview donors who are making a difference at UMBC. Today, we're talking with Ira Steven Allen '81, biological sciences, and Elizabeth Ward Allen '82, political science, who fell in love with track and field — and each other! — during their time together as students. The couple established the C. James Pfrogner Endowment April 1998 (and amended in March 2002) to honor their former coach and support both the men's and women's track and field programs at UMBC.
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Dr. Robert Burchard Gives Back to His "Second Home"

It's 9 a.m., and the library is quiet, as libraries usually are, when Dr. Robert Burchard, professor emeritus of biological sciences, sits down to discuss his experience at UMBC and the reason he's giving back to the place that's been a second home to him for more than 40 years.
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A Father's Wisdom: Jo Anne Sabas '77

If Jo Anne Sabas '77 could give you a piece of advice, she'd pass along something her father, Captain Samuel Joseph Sabas, once said to her: "You can lose your job, you can lose your home, you can even lose your health, but when you earn a college degree it can never be taken away from you.
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