Terp Fall 2026

T H E R E VO LU T I O N A RY T Y P E

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F I N D I N G S B E YO N D T H E FO U N D E R S

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STA LWA R T O F C O N G R E S S ST E P S AWAY

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TERP INNOVATIONS THAT CHANGED HISTORY

THE CLICKABLE HYPERLINK. THE UNIVERSAL PRODUCT CODE. THE MUPPETS. A M E R I C A N L I F E WO U L D N ’ T B E T H E S A M E W I T H O U T T H E I N G E N U I T Y O F U M D R E S E A R C H E R S A N D A LU M S . PG . 1 8

FEARLESSLY FORWARD

ON THE MALL

POST-GRAD

NEWS

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UMD Shatters Fundraising Record as Campaign Builds Momentum

CAMPUS LIFE

6 7 7 8 10 11

The Revolutionary Type Therapy Swing Uplifts Girl With Special Needs Civic Engagement on the Move Framing an Arts Landmark A “Discovery” for Graduate Students Fourth (Year) and Goal

EXPLORATIONS

12 13 14 14 15 16 17 17

NASA’s Next Telescope Has 50x Terp Power Grand Challenges Grants 2.0 Confront Status Quo How to Pick Up, Pluck and Plink an Instrument Under the Sea, Electricity Tiny Tech Gut Check Drawn to Extremes Now Hear This: AI Could Add Sound to a Picture “Worth” a Read

POST-GRAD

38 40 41 42 43 43 44 45

Alumni Association Planetary Protector The Names in the Game? All Terps Actor of War Sounds From the Heart Class Notes Underexposed Parting Shot

WE THE TERPS

CONTENTS

Terp is joining in the yearlong celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This icon “flags” stories that explore democracy, civic engagement and U.S. history.

FEATURES

ONLINE

The Coolest Job Dining Services’ Jeff Russo leads the Maryland Dairy’s production of over 10,000 gallons of custom ice cream every year. go.umd.edu/thecoolestjob

—

Baby Terrapins Return to the Bay Faculty and students release classroom-raised hatchlings Tess and Tudo. go.umd.edu/babyterrapins

—

A Last Goodbye for UMD’s Yearbook Past editors flip back through the years as the once-popular publication ends. go.umd.edu/goodbyeyearbook 18

25 Terp Innovations That Changed History The clickable hyperlink. The Universal Product Code. The Muppets. American life wouldn’t be the same without the ingenuity of UMD researchers and alums.

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BY CHRIS CARROLL AND ANNIE KRAKOWER

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Steny Hoyer Yields the Floor After 60 years in public service, the longtime congressman and Terp retires with a legacy etched on American history, in Maryland and across UMD’s campus.

BY JOHN TUCKER

Findings Beyond the Founders Excavations by UMD researchers and students unearth new stories about the enslaved communities at the Jefferson and Madison estates.

Get the latest on the UMD community by visiting

BY K AREN SHIH ’09

TODAY.UMD.EDU .

P O R T R A I T B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I ; P H O T O S A T R I G H T B Y S T E P H A N I E S . C O R D L E

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FROM THE PRESIDENT

whenever i speak to our alums, I tell them that the next time they are on vacation or at a concert or sporting event, to go ahead and yell out an enthusiastic “Go Terps!” I guarantee, more often than not, that they will get a “Go Terps!” back in response (I know this from firsthand experience).

That’s because the Terp family is everywhere, and our pride in the University of Maryland is matched by how embedded Terp innovations and accomplishments have become in the daily lives of people around our nation and world. From the vitamins you take every day to the clothes you put on for a morning run, and from the TV shows you watch to the e-reader you use for books, the entrepreneurial spirit of Terp students, faculty, staff and researchers has left an indelible mark on society.

You can read all about those Terp inventions and many more starting on page 18 in this issue’s cover story, “25 Terp Innovations That Changed History.” It is a wonderful reminder of the power and importance of America’s research enterprise, and the far-reaching influence of its higher education institutions, as we continue to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country. There are few forces as powerful—as vital—in our society as our system of higher education, and the way that we use our creativity, curiosity, discovery, expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to impact the public good.

Other articles in this issue shine a light on the David C. Driskell Center, a jewel in our campus arts culture devoted to the contributions and creations of Black artists (page 8); show how we continue to prepare our students to take on the grand challenges of our time with a first-of-its-kind, graduate student living-learning community located in the new Discovery House (page 9); and celebrate the legacy of one of our state’s greatest public servants, Congressman Steny Hoyer, on the occasion of his retirement.

I hope each story reminds you how the University of Maryland has played a critical role in making real change for real people, and continues to move Fearlessly Forward into the future.

Sincerely,

Darryll J. Pines

President, University of Maryland Glenn L. Martin Professor of Aerospace Engineering

DARRYLL J. PINES President

Adviser ANNE BUCKLEY Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Magazine Staff LAUREN BROWN University Editor JOHN T. CONSOLI ’86 Creative Director VALERIE MORGAN Art Director CHRIS CARROLL ANNIE KRAKOWER SALA LEVIN ’10 KAREN SHIH ’09 JOHN TUCKER Writers KOLIN BEHRENS LAUREN BIAGINI CHARLENE PROSSER CASTILLO Designers STEPHANIE S. CORDLE Photographer JANNA SINGER-BAEFSKY Digital Asset Manager/Archivist DYLAN SINGLETON ’13 Photography Assistant JAGU CORNISH Production Manager

EMAIL terpfeedback@umd.edu ONLINE terp.umd.edu NEWS today.umd.edu FACEBOOK.COM/ UnivofMaryland X x.co/UofMaryland THREADS.COM/univofmaryland INSTAGRAM.COM/ univofmaryland YOUTUBE.COM/@UofMaryland LINKEDIN.COM/school/ university-of-maryland

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 nondiscrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

COVER Illustration by Valerie Morgan

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INTERPLAY Diary of a Wimpy Terp

A great, true honest-to-goodness life tale.

Thank you for being vulnerable enough to share and wise enough to acknowledge who you are, your strengths and weaknesses, learn from your mistakes and make the necessary changes. Living and learning are lifelong journeys, pursuits, definitely not destinations by a long shot. Do we ever actually reach a destination?

—CHRISTINE BILLINGS JOHNSON ’98, LAUREL, MD.

FROM FACEBOOK

Way to go, Jeff! I still remember racing to South Campus Dining Hall to read that day’s “Igdoof ” in The Diamondback at lunch. I was so sad when Jeff graduated before me and “Igdoof ” was gone. Kinda funny to think that Jeff might have been watching for my reaction!

—MELISSA RAE

Me in CP 1989-93: Check The Diamondback to see what Igdoof was up to! Every. Day. —PAM ZIMMERMAN ’93, UNDERHILL, VT.

I still have a clipped strip from The Diamondback: —JONATHAN P. SZCZEPANSKI ’98, BELTSVILLE, MD.

My 18-year-old loved, loved Wimpy Kid. I was a rock star to him the other day when I learned and told him I went to college with Jeff Kinney and when there I laughed at his comic strip daily. So fun to learn that we both enjoyed Kinney. We need the “Igdoof ” bathroom book republished.

I looked everywhere online and couldn’t find a copy.

—HEATHER CHRISTOPHER ’95, ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CALIF.

FROM LINKEDIN

The Diamondback comics in the ’90s were the best: Jeff Kinney, Frank Cho and Aaron McGruder were must-reads, along with the crossword puzzle.

—MARK HURLEY ’98, FALLS CHURCH, VA.

This is one of the best issues of my alumni magazine that I read. I was laughing the entire time. I am proud to be a graduate of UMD! Go Terps!

—NEOMI VEMBU ’87, LOS OSOS, CALIF.

This was fun to read! Brought back memories of reading The Diamondback on Shuttle-UM. —JENNIFER BURNS ’88, DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.

WRITE TO US We love to hear from readers. Send your feedback, insights, compliments—and, yes, complaints—to terpfeedback@umd.edu or to: Terp magazine Office of Marketing and Communications 7736 Baltimore Ave. College Park, MD 20742 Due to rising costs, Terp magazine will shift from three issues a year to two. Look for your next issue in Spring 2027.

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ON THE MALL

NEWS

UMD Shatters Fundraising Record as Campaign Builds Momentum THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND recorded its most successful fund-

raising year in history, tallying $302 million as Forward: The University of Maryland Campaign for the Fearless caught fire.

From July 2025 through June 2026, 42,251 donors supported the university, representing a 5.7% increase over the previous year, along with a nearly 50% jump in total giving.

“We are fortunate to see our UMD community rally its support so generously at such an important time,” says Vice President for University Relations Jim Harris. “Donors at every level are recognizing Maryland’s momentum and joining with us to bring impact to our campus and far beyond.”

The Forward campaign, launched last November, seeks to raise $2.5 billion to expand access to UMD’s world-class education, accelerate research that achieves real progress for real people, and unite Terps and allies to Do Good. Through donors’ support, the university has brought in more than $1.1 billion toward its goal.

Highlights included a blockbuster Giving Day, in which nearly 10,000 UMD supporters donated a total of $9.4 million in 24 hours,

the family’s foundation to continue their legacy at Maryland.

The funds, split evenly between

each other.”

The Smith family is one of the largest benefactors of the Smith School, University Libraries and

and a series of generous gifts throughout the year from benefactors

his late parents’ longtime

including the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, civil engineering

interests at UMD, will establish

the College of Arts and Humanities,

alum Stanley Zupnik ’59; and cell biology and molecular genetics

the Robert H. Smith Do Good

which includes The Clarice, the

Professor Anne Simon.

Endowed Professorship in Business

Michelle Smith Collaboratory for

Leadership, Technology and

Visual Culture and the Michelle

Societal Impact, and the Robert H.

Smith Performing Arts Library, the

Smith Endowed Faculty Fellowship

latter two of which are named for

in Business and Innovation, in

the Smiths’ late daughter.

Three significant new gifts continue to power the campaign forward:

SMITH FAMILY’S $10M GIFT BOOSTS PERFORMING ARTS, BUSINESS SCHOOL

school and performing arts center that bear their

addition to other support for the

“You can’t tell the story of the

business school. At The Clarice

University of Maryland without the

Smith Performing Arts Center,

story of the Smith family, just as

names, and in the

the gift will enhance its

thousands of students, scholars

scholarships and

productions and program-

and artists wouldn’t have a home

Robert H. Smith ’50 was a famed

programs there that

ming initiatives.

on campus without the landmark

D.C.-area builder, and his wife,

they supported.

The arts and business,

structures and institutions bearing Robert H., Clarice and Michelle

Clarice, a celebrated artist. Their

Now their son, David

says Smith, “polish one

twin passions are imprinted across

Bruce Smith, has made a new

another in the same way that my

Smith’s names,” says UMD

the UMD campus, on the business

$10 million bequest on behalf of

mother and father complemented

President Darryll J. Pines.—SL

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P H OTO BY ST E P H A N I E S. CO R D L E

the design of the estimated

aimed at improving the use of data

5,000-square-foot facility next year.

in meteorology and climate science,

It will include indoor and outdoor

an equal amount to support the

hitting bays, a dynamic putting

development of “expansive theater”

lab, and sensors and high-speed

in nontraditional performance

cameras that spit out metrics like

venues, and $2 million to support

club speed, angle and force at

an endowed chair for Parkinson’s

contact. Other technological tools

disease research. Collectively, the

like Doppler radar will track the

family’s long record of philanthropic

ball’s distance and spin rate.

support of the university totals

Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana expressed gratitude for

some $65 million.

The funding for the endowed

Schanwald’s continued investments

chairs will be matched by a $3.25

in the sports management program,

million award from the Maryland

a multidisciplinary initiative

E-Nnovation Initiative Fund, a state

designed to prepare students for

program created to spur basic and

global leadership roles.

applied research in scientific and

“His transformative involvement extends beyond his generous gift,”

technical fields at colleges and universities.

he says. “He offers his time and

The Moscow-born Eugenia

extensive industry knowledge to

emigrated to Maryland in 1979

ensure students in the program

with her family, including a young

are prepared to become leaders

Sergey, her husband, and his

and innovators in the business of

mother, Maya Brin, who later

sports.”—JT

became a Russian language instructor at UMD. Eugenia soon

ALUM GIVES $15M TO SUPPORT NEW GOLF PERFORMANCE CENTER, SPORTS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

golf—“my love affair,” he says—will

play hurt,” he jokes.

Schanwald’s passion for

BRIN FAMILY’S $8.16M GIFT HONORS LONGTIME ADVOCATE OF UMD SCIENCE AND ARTS

found a job at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researching topics related to climate and meteorology.

In 1998, at age 50, she was

now benefit the men’s and

Innovative approaches

diagnosed with Parkinson’s

women’s golf programs at UMD. He

using climate data

disease. Eugenia went on to

The first time Stephen M.

has made a new commitment of

to improve weather

become a leading advocate

Schanwald ’77 golfed with Michael

$15 million to his alma mater, split

forecasts and save lives.

of research into the

Jordan, the Bulls superstar broke

between supporting construction

Expanding the frontiers

Schanwald’s nose. During practice

of a state-of-the-art golf perfor-

of live performance.

swings before the first tee shot,

mance center on UMD’s campus

Fighting the world’s fast-

Schanwald forgot to take into

to help student-athletes improve

est-growing neurological disease.

account Jordan’s unusually

their game, and growing the

Those are among the goals

neurodegenerative disorder.

She died in 2024.

This gift, says Michael Brin, “is shaped by the story of her life, from her career as a NASA climate

broad wingspan and got

Stephen M. Schanwald Sports

behind a new $8.16 million

scientist, to her lifelong love for

whacked in the face by

Management Program in

commitment to UMD honoring

the arts, to her battle against a

a club head.

the Smith School. (He previ-

the late Eugenia Brin, wife of

terrible, but we believe, ultimately

ously made an $18 million

mathematics Professor Emeritus

conquerable disease.”—CC

The Bulls’ executive vice president of business operations at

gift in 2024 to the program and Maryland Athletics, for a

the time, Schanwald raced to the

total commitment to UMD of at

clubhouse to wash off the blood

least $33 million.)

before rejoining the match. “Bulls

UMD officials aim to finalize

Michael Brin and mother of Google co-founder Sergey Brin ’93 and Samuel Brin ’09.

It directs nearly $3.1 million to

Join us in fueling unprecedented transformation for our students, state and world. Make a gift at forward.umd.edu forward.umd.edu..

an endowed chair and lectureship

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ON THE MALL

CAMPUS LIFE

From left, the Greens used lead type blocks to print the Maryland Gazette in the 1700s, which included the “death’s head” insignia protesting British taxes.

Anthropology graduate student Emma Collett works with the artifacts at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab.

The Revolutionary Type Grad Student Conserves Relics of Colonial Annapolis Couple’s Print Shop for 250 Exhibit

ore than a decade before the first musket shots heralded a new nation’s rise, Jonas and Anne Catharine Green were arming for rebellion in colonial Annapolis, with printer’s ink as their weapon.

As the publisher of the pro-patriot Maryland Gazette, Jonas flouted British rule by marking his newspaper’s pages with a skull-and-crossbones insignia to protest the hated stamp tax. When he died in 1767, Anne Catharine took over, becoming one of the colonies’ first female news publishers and editors.

The newspaper closed in 1839—its revival decades later led to today’s Capital Gazette— and much of what remains is now in the stewardship of a UMD master’s student.

As an intern for the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab (MACL), Emma Collett has helped preserve 1,100 pieces of lead printer’s type excavated from the Greens’ original shop, destroyed by a 1780 fire. It’s the largest collection of its kind in the United States, a selection of which is

M

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on display at the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in Calvert County through September as part of an exhibit on the Greens and freedom of the press.

“The Gazette started before the nation formed, existed for 100 years while everything was changing, and offers a firsthand account of running a printshop through the perspectives of different family members,” says Collett.

As a child in North Dakota, Collett tagged along with her mother to local archives to research birth, death and church records of her own ancestors, Swedish, Danish and English members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who pulled handcarts and rode wagon trains to Utah and formed settlements. She tore into Dig magazine when it arrived by mail, fascinated by archaeological relics revealing similar family histories.

Collett came to UMD’s anthropology department wanting to make archaeological collections more accessible. At the MACL, a repository for all state-owned

artifacts, she learned that the Greens’ types were unearthed in the 1980s by the UMD-led field school Archaeology in Annapolis at the former print shop behind their Charles Street home. The surprisingly heavy objects each have a raised letter, symbol or artistic design, carved backward. Three playing card suits are accounted for (no diamonds emerged), as is Jonas’ “death’s head” motif.

The type sat in storage until earlier this year, when the MACL earned a grant from the MD Two Fifty commission to curate and exhibit them.

When Jonas died, Catharine Anne moved the press inside the house so she could put out the paper while caring for her six children.

A son assumed leadership of the Gazette following her 1775 death, leading coverage about the War of Independence before another new generation of Greens stepped in.

“All of archaeology is family history,” Collett says. —jt

P H OTOS BY ST E P H A N I E S. CO R D L E

Therapy Swing Uplifts Girl With Special Needs Student Team Creates, Installs Motorized Device

through American Sign Language and walks independently, but can’t ride a bike or play sports.

UMD engineering students and mechanical engineering principal lecturer Vincent Nguyen, partnering with the IMAGE Center of Maryland,

“It’s staying here,” her aide told her. “It’s for you.” Avaleigh smiled.—SL

developed and built her a custom swing as part of Nguyen’s undergraduate class, “Entrepreneurial Design Realization for Projects of Positive Impact.”

“Swing therapy is super common among

BEFORE 13-YEAR-OLD AVALEIGH VACOVSKY

boarded the school bus one spring morning,

Nguyen, because it can help with core muscle

she said one word over and over to her mother:

development, engage the vestibular system

“swing.”

(responsible for balance) and have a calming effect.

motorized one from UMD would be installed

Avaleigh’s swing calibrates itself based on

on her family’s back porch in Jarrettsville, Md.,

the user’s weight. A sensor attached to the seat

providing an opportunity for play to a girl who’d

measures forward and backward movement, and

never been able to use standard swings.

a small motor atop the swing’s frame pulls the

Avaleigh has autism and the genetic condition

After Avaleigh tested out the device, she asked her aide if she could swing on it again later.

a nonprofit supporting people with disabilities,

the clients that [the IMAGE Center] sees,” says

That afternoon, Avaleigh knew, a special

semesters of teams working on it.”

chains accordingly.

USP9X depletion syndrome, which causes

Teddy Hersey ’26 says it was “amazing to

developmental delays; she communicates

finally be able to deliver this project after four

Civic Engagement on the Move A new mural designed and created by Terps will mobilize social action—literally.

California street artist Corie Mattie ’12 worked with Honors Humanities students (left) in the spring to design and create the mobile mural, called “Terps Take Action.” Featuring an image of Testudo with a megaphone and spray paint can, as well as a customizable QR code, the mural will be deployed starting this fall to events like blood drives, EarthFest and TerpsVote programs. The project was inspired by UMD’s selection of the U.S. Constitution as the 2025-26 First Year Book; this year’s selection is also tied to America’s 250th: the New York Times bestseller “How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States” by Daniel Immerwahr.—SL

T O P P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I ; B O T T O M P H O T O B Y D Y L A N S I N G L E T O N

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CAMPUS LIFE

Framing an Arts Landmark

1995 Sam Gilliam, “SCARCELY BLUE,” 1995,

Driskell Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Wide-Ranging Exhibition

acrylic paint on wood The late Gilliam, who was based in Washington, represented “a generation of

TO MARK THE NATION’S BICENTENNIAL, the Los Angeles County

Black artists who broke with representational

Museum of Art hired a rising artist and scholar to mount the

styles in the mid-20th century to choose

landmark exhibition “Two Centuries of Black American Art,” the

the freedom of form and color,” says Childs.

first comprehensive look at the subject.

Works by other Black abstract artists

That artist and curator, the late David C. Driskell (right), joined

including Alma Thomas, William T. Williams,

the UMD faculty in 1977, on the heels of that smashing success. This

Mary Lovelace O’Neal and E.J. Montgomery,

year, a new milestone exhibition, “Jubilee: Celebrating 25 Years of

make up a significant portion of the Driskell

the Driskell Center Opening,” looks back at the campus center that he

Center’s collection.

launched and led. The 75 examples on display reflect prominent themes in Black artists’ work: spirituality, music and performance, landscape and abstraction, among others.

“I hope that people will get a window into the real promise of the collection here “It’s one of the only explicit collections of Black art at a public university.”

Here, exhibition curator Adrienne L. Childs Ph.D. ’05 takes Terp through several

1959

at the center,” says Jordana Moore Saggese, director of the David C. Driskell Center.

significant works, spanning “Two Centuries,” the Driskell Center’s permanent collection and “Jubilee.”—SL

1940 William H. Johnson, EARLY MORNING WORK , ca. 1940, oil

on burlap Johnson, one of the early 20th century’s most important Black modernist artists, “used an

David Driskell, “PINE TREES, NO. 5,” 1959,

innovative style he developed

oil on canvas

through years of working in

Pine trees, which surrounded Driskell’s home

Harlem and in Europe to tell the

in Falmouth, Maine, were a frequent subject

stories of African Americans,”

for the artist. “He likened them to cathedrals,

says Childs. Driskell chose nine

evoking their transcendence,” says Childs.

works by Johnson for “Two

The painting is part of the center’s substantial

Centuries,” which showcased 205

collection of its namesake’s drawings, prints

objects.

and paintings.

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

P O R T R A I T B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I ; P A I N T I N G A T L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

2024

Megan Lewis, “I FEEL LESS PRESSURE BUT I HAVE MY MOMENTS,” 2024, oil on

photograph on canvas The contemporary Baltimore artist creates

1999

colorful, highly textured portraits of young people that “capture an expressive kind

Benny Andrews, “MORNING

of beauty, composure and elegance,” says

SONG STUDY #1: MUSICAL

Childs. Lewis’ work in portraiture, like

INTERLUDE SERIES,” 1999,

this new Driskell Center acquisition in the

collage and mixed media

“Jubilee” exhibition, nods to the important

This image in the new

role human subjects have played in Black

exhibition by the late New

art past and present.

York City-based artist shows a singing figure, incorporating the long tradition of Black musicianship, and is an homage to the natural world, says Childs. “It reflects the joy and promise of the title ‘Jubilee’ and looks forward with optimism.”

T O P R I G H T: C O U R T E SY O F G A L E R I E M Y R T I S ; A B O V E : © 2 0 26 E S TAT E O F B E N N Y A N D R E W S / A R T I S T S R I G H T S S O C I E T Y, N .Y. , C O U R T E S Y M I C H A E L R O S E N F E L D G A L L E R Y L L C , N E W Y O R K , N .Y.

THE DRISKELL CENTER’S PERMANENT COLLECTION COMPRISES: Nearly

2,000 artworks, including

200+

by Driskell

6,000

volumes on African and African diaspora art

17

archival collections, including the David C. Driskell Papers

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SPORTS

A “Discovery” for Graduate Students

New Housing Opens With Interdisciplinary Academic Communities A JUST-COMPLETED SIX-STORY apartment

building on the UMD campus unlocks

“You bring a shower curtain, sheets for your bed, kitchen stuff and you’re ready

a convenient new living option for 741

to go,” says Christopher Mason, Capstone

University of Maryland graduate students,

On-Campus Management’s director of

as well as an opportunity for them to

affiliated housing at UMD.

collaborate across disciplines in a scholarly community.

Discovery House is the first UMD-affiliated

Discovery House is also home to the Grand Challenges Graduate Communities, a first-of-its-kind initiative at UMD to reimagine

housing for graduate students since

how graduate students and faculty can

Graduate Hills and Gardens in 1995. Built by

work together to solve pressing societal

Mosaic Development Partners, it’s located on

problems. The three inaugural interdisci-

the site of the Old Leonardtown community,

plinary academic cohorts, each with 15 to

adjacent to Discovery District Maryland

20 students, will focus on AI and knowledge;

and within walking distance of the College

food, water, energy and health; and the

Park Metro Station. It offers fully furnished

future of city planning.

apartments ranging from studios to five-

“Graduate students will gain access to

bedroom units, all with in-unit washers and

mentors, collaborators and professional

dryers, along with study rooms and indoor

opportunities they may not otherwise have

bike storage. A top-floor terrace boasts views

encountered,” says Stephen Roth, associate

of Fraternity Row and Memorial Chapel.

provost and dean of the Graduate School.—SL

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P H OTO BY DY L A N S I N G L E TO N

Fourth (Year) and Goal

Star Linebacker Returns for Senior Season Eyeing Redemption for Terps AFTER THE FINAL WHISTLE of last

the Terps’ defense—a bright spot amid a

NCAA divisions left the field and entered

frustrating season as it led the Big Ten in

the transfer portal. The database allows

forced turnovers. His pick-six against Florida

student-athletes to shop around for the

Atlantic opened UMD’s 2025 scoring, and

school that fits them best athletically,

his personal highlight reel only continued

academically and—thanks to revenue

after that.

sharing and name, image and likeness deals—financially, but it complicates building stable teams.

So Terps fans were elated when Maryland football in early January posted this message from the player voted MVP by his teammates: “I’m back.”

Linebacker Daniel Wingate committed to a rare fourth season at the same school.

Looking to build on his breakout junior season, when he recorded 102 tackles and earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention

idiot to not think that someone, somehow, some way wanted to have contact to gauge an interest.”

Wingate admits he could hear the portal’s call. But after talking with his family and agent, he felt there was unfinished business at Maryland.

“We have a lot of guys who believe in what’s going on right now,” he says.

His commitment, along with that of sophomore quarterback Malik Washington,

of their roster production—second only to

offered stability to young players in the program and kicked off a returnee domino

“I’m a guy that’s loyal, who sticks with

effect, from center Michael Hershey to

those who were with him in the beginning,”

defensive back Lavain Scruggs to punter

Wingate says. “I know that there’s so much

Bryce McFerson.

more that we could’ve done than 4-8. It

—DANIEL WINGATE

“Because of the type of year he had,” head coach Michael Locksley says, “I’d be an

recognition, he helped the Terps return 71% Notre Dame.

“I’m a guy that’s loyal, who sticks with those who were with him in the beginning.”

up as a full-time starter last year to helm

football season, 10,500 players across

That’s just the kind of leadership

really was motivation for me to come back

Locksley anticipates expanding in Wingate’s

and be able to go out with a bang with my

senior season—he’s already been named

guys by my side.”

The Bowie, Md., native is used to defying the odds: When his mom, Erica, was five

to the Football Writers Association of America’s watch list for national defensive player of the year.

months pregnant with him, her van veered

“You would expect that he’ll continue

off Route 202, flipped over and hit a street

the upward trend of being one of the best

sign. Mom was only minimally injured, and

linebackers not just in the Big Ten, but in the

baby was unharmed.

country,” he says.—AK

“Daniel survived the biggest tumble of his life,” she says. “I think it’s kinda how he got to be who he is today.”

After backing up the likes of future NFLer Ruben Hyppolite II, Wingate suited

P H O T O C O U R T E SY O F M A R Y L A N D AT H L E T I C S

We foster TERRAPI N PRI DE by supporting student-athletes in the game and in the classroom. Join the Fearless and make a gift to the Forward campaign.

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E X P L O R AT I O N S

NASA’s Next Telescope Has 50x Terp Power

Powerful Instrument to Search Galaxy for Exoplanets, Dark Matter f wearing college spirit gear to work were a normal part of NASA culture, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt might resemble McKeldin Mall between classes. That’s what Maxime Rizzo Ph.D. ’16 learned when he showed up for a gathering of University of Maryland alums working on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which was scheduled for launch as early as Aug. 30, after Terp’s press time.

“I was totally shocked to see how many folks I’ve been working with so long who I had not known had gone to Maryland,” says the systems engineer for Roman’s 300-megapixel-widefield instrument.

In all, more than 50 Terps are involved with the telescope, which

I

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

will capture swaths of the sky about 100 times larger than an image from the Hubble Space Telescope once it begins science operations.

It will orbit nearly a million miles from Earth near another astronomical tool led in part by Terps: the James Webb Space Telescope.

Whereas Webb, launched in 2021, was built to look far and deep, Roman provides the sweeping vistas needed to investigate dark matter, dark energy and the structure of the universe; it will also enable an expansive search of the Milky Way galaxy for distant worlds called exoplanets.

Astronomy Senior Research Scientist David Bennett, who has a joint appointment at Goddard, is one of the mission’s founders and will be using the wide-field camera for the mission’s “gravitational lensing” exoplanet survey.

With his late wife and scientific collaborator, Sun Hong Rhie, Bennett discovered decades ago that even Earth-size celestial masses can bend space enough to briefly cause stars behind them to appear brighter, as if magnified by a glass lens. Roman will scan the breadth of the sky using this method, and the team hopes to spot thousands of planets that couldn’t be found with the more typical “transit” method, which observes the subtle dimming of stars when nearby planets in

P H OTO CO U RT ESY O F N ASA / C H R I S G U N N

their system pass in front.

Because it’s not dependent on the light of a nearby sun to work, gravitational lensing should even be able to spot mysterious planets that apparently wander starless through our galaxy.

Watching the rocket carrying Roman take off represented a culmination of one part of Bennett’s career, and the beginning of a new phase.

“The software we’ve written is going to be working through this data,” he says. “That means I have lots of work to do, so I’m not inclined to retire anytime soon.”

Other UMD personnel on the mission include astronomy Ph.D. student Ellis Bogat, who is working on the telescope’s other major imaging device, a coronagraph, which will peer through the glare of distant stars to spot other exoplanets.

Astronomy Associate Professor Suvi Gezari will use the wide-field instrument to search beyond our galaxy for tidaldisruption events—bright outbursts that occur when black holes rip apart stars. Meanwhile, the Roman mission’s administrative structure includes Goddard Space Flight Center Director Jamie Dunn ’93, Project Manager Jackie Townsend ’94 and Deputy Observatory Manager Hsiao Smith ’89.

More recent grads are deeply embedded in the mission, too.

Mechanical engineer Caroline Griffin ’21 has led the building of Roman’s primary structure, which she compares to the backbone of the telescope, holding wiring, electronics and other key components.

Her interest in space was sparked as a high school freshman when a neighbor who works at Goddard gave her and her parents a tour. At the observation window into the towering clean room, Griffin was fascinated by the work of engineers and technicians piecing together the Webb Telescope.

“I remember looking down at the people moving around in the white bunny suits creating this amazing spacecraft, and it seemed so surreal,” she says. “I said, That’s what I’m going to do someday. Here I am.”—cc Technicians prepare the Roman telescope’s core components (above left) for thermal testing at Goddard Space Flight Center. In January, dozens of UMD alums working on the mission (below) gathered outside the room where the telescope was assembled.

For a list of Terps working on Roman, visit go.umd.edu/roman.

P H O T O C O U R T E SY O F N A S A ; I L L U S T R AT I O N S V I A U N S P L A S H

Grand Challenges Grants 2.0 Confront Status Quo Second Round of Program Awards Nearly $15M to Research Projects PRESSING SOCIETAL NEEDS like expanding access to mental

health services, heading off pandemics and reducing educational disparities aren’t neatly divided among academic disciplines—and neither is the University of Maryland’s signature initiative to address them.

This summer, UMD announced the awarding of nearly $15 million to support 11 high-impact research projects representing more than 40 disciplines through the Grand Challenges Grants Program.

It’s the next step in an ongoing commitment to channel the university’s research power toward solutions for the public good. In 2023, the first round of grants committed $30 million to 50 projects spanning every college and school—the largest investment of its kind in the university’s history—resulting in almost $100 million in additional external funding.

The largest three-year grants in this round are going to a new network connecting time spent in nature with evidence-based mental health care and an initiative to close knowledge gaps in women’s health across the lifespan.

All Grand Challenges Grants 2.0 awardees will receive a 50% matching in-kind and/or cash investment from their college or unit.

“These projects exemplify the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to generate new ideas, accelerate discovery and address the grand challenges facing communities in Maryland, across the nation and around the world,” Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice and Vice President for Research Patrick O’Shea said in an announcement in June.

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ASK THE EXPERT A DV I C E FO R R E A L L I F E

Under the Sea, Electricity Researcher Leads Team Harvesting Electricity From Ocean Organisms MASSIVE HILLTOP TURBINES harvesting the wind or black

photovoltaic panels soaking up sun on rooftops no longer seem very novel—but what about a device that creates clean energy by scarfing up microscopic seafood?

That’s what UMD environmental science and technology Professor Stephanie Lansing (right) and her multi-institutional team built and sank beneath the waves of the Delaware Bay (below) in July. It’s part of a $7.8

How to Pick Up, Pluck and Plink an Instrument

million project funded by the Defense or a string instrument like the guitar

Advanced Research Projects Agency

or ukulele suited to playing chords or

to create offshore electricity for

accompanying other musicians.

communications equipment, sensors and other low-power devices without

FIND THE RIGHT TEACHER

While

extending cables from ships or land.

youngsters may learn best through

Lansing, a renewable energy expert who

short lessons that incorporate play,

previously derived green fuels from animal waste

MAYBE YOU’VE DREAMED of a rock

adults have longer attention spans,

and garbage, says we shouldn’t discount the oceans that

star moment, but the only guitar you

Prichard says. Seek out an instructor—

cover 70% of our planet as a power source.

can play is the air kind. Or kids and

ideally in person—who has experience

The device known as PODPower sucks up plankton and

career muted your trumpet practice,

with older pupils and understands that

other organic matter with a funnel modeled after fish gills.

but in retirement, your interest is back,

being a novice doesn’t mean being a

The mixture is fermented and then fed into a microbial

louder than ever.

child.

fuel cell, where bacteria feeding on the organic goo shed

Can adults on a musical mission strike the right note?

electrons. The team’s test version is designed to put out at PLAY THE HITS

Love Taylor Swift or

least 10 watts; 100-watt versions are up next.

“Learning an instrument is a really

the Rolling Stones? Learn simplified

“We’ve taken things we learned how to do from working

stimulating thing to do for your own

arrangements of their songs. “With a

with farms and food waste, and put it under the sea,” she

enjoyment,” says Associate Professor

collection of only three to five chords,

says.—CC

of music education Stephanie Prichard.

you should be able to play some of

“As an adult, it’s not that it’s harder, it’s

your favorite pop songs,” Prichard

that you need to seek out the right

says. Exploring classical themes or

kind of guidance, the right kinds of

other genres is equally possible. “It’s

resources.”

rewarding to be able to play something

She offers tips to get your goals and

that’s familiar.”

results in harmony.—AK DO YOUR HOMEWORK CHOOSE THE INSTRUMENT

If starting

“Take ownership

over the process,” Prichard says. That

from scratch, Prichard says, this is a

means setting goals, structuring

more important first step than reading

practice time and reflecting on

music, which will come in time. She

progress. “You can ultimately gain a lot

suggests the piano because its layout

more satisfaction than you might have

makes music theory easy to grasp,

as a child.”

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I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y VA L E R I E M O R G A N ; P H O T O S B Y E VA N K R A P E

Tiny Tech Gut Check

Ingestible “Smart Pill” Could Help Patients Say Goodbye to Colonoscopies ike a pharmaceutical version of James Bond’s Aston Martin, a UMD-developed ingestible “smart pill” is loaded with hidden tech gadgetry for a high-stakes mission. The destination? A patient’s bowels.

Zooming through the intestines, the pill fires electrical currents to detect its target—an abnormal growth needing a biopsy. Once there, it engages its tiny springs, gears and pistons to project a scythe-like blade from its shell. Spinning in motorized circles, it lances the problematic polyp, seizes some tissue and snaps back into the capsule, which is expelled from the body 24 hours after it’s swallowed and sent to a lab.

Unlike an Ian Fleming novel, this pill isn’t fiction, though still a bit futuristic. Using artificial intelligence, low-power electronics and 3D-printed hardware, the device powered by a tiny battery could become reality within five years to screen for gastrointestinal diseases, detect bacterial imbalances and deliver drugs locally to GI invaders.

Smart pills for GI tract imaging have existed for years, but this one could also have surgical applications, along with advanced diagnostic capabilities. The small intestine, now nearly impossible to explore, could suddenly be probed for Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and various cancers. The number of colonoscopies, meanwhile, could be significantly reduced.

“You no longer have to go through sedation or fast for 24 hours; you would do this at home at a fraction of the cost,” says Distinguished University Professor and Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering Reza Ghodssi, coauthor of a paper demonstrating the biopsy technique published in June in the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the recipient of a 2026 UMD Grand Challenges Grant, the research signals a future of what he calls “wireless remote healthcare.”

In testing, the engineering team pushes the pill through pig intestines until it arrives to a section manipulated to mimic inflammation. Through a Bluetooth-equipped phone app, a

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researcher activates the device.

“At the push of a button, the heater melts, the device springs out, scrapes the tissue and zips back into the capsule, like a Rube Goldberg contraption,” says Justin Stine, an assistant research scientist for UMD’s MATRIX Lab, which focuses on autonomous robotics.

In another recent study, the researchers demonstrated a smart pill delivering drugs to localized abnormalities. A mechanism inside the capsule ejects a microneedle from its shell and into the intestinal wall.

The procedure could eliminate side effects of pills that dissolve into the bloodstream.

The researchers’ next step is to use AI to train the pills to function autonomously, navigating the gut, Ghodssi says, “like a driverless taxi on the streets of San Francisco.”–jt

UMD researchers are taking on humanity’s G RA N D C H A L L E NGES in global health, energy, data security and online privacy, sustainability and more.

You can help move Maryland Forward for bold and brave solutions by making a gift to the campaign.

I L L U S T R AT I O N / P H O T O C R E D I T

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EEXXPPLLOORRAT ATIIOON NSS

FA C U LT Y Q & A JAMES GIMPEL

How did we get here?

Traditionally, states have redrawn

Drawn to Extremes

Confused by Electoral Map Chaos? Political Scientist Sets Us Straight

their maps every decade to maintain population balance while politicians have claimed high-mindedness—that redistricting promotes fairness and representation. In truth, there’s always been bias among state legislatures.

What’s changed is that the Supreme Court began rejecting gerrymandering-related lawsuits, sending decisions back to the states. As a result, the mask is off: There’s no longer any doubt that this is about using political power for partisan advantage.

STATES’ GERRYMANDERED congressional

maps have always looked like they were drawn by a preschooler wielding an Etch A Sketch. This year, it seems the youngster downed a king-size bag of Skittles first.

Texas and California

What should we make of the Supreme Court’s decision eliminating race-conscious districting?

The Court argues that things have progressed since the civil rights era—that its decision is a step toward race neutrality and formal equality.

recently redrew their districts in hopes

But it’s reasonable and historically

of scooping up five seats for Republicans

grounded for people, including those

and Democrats, respectively. Virginia,

steeped in the history of voting rights,

Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee

to be upset. Progress has been made

and Maryland are among the other states

in some places much more than in

that have punched and counterpunched

others. In the short term, we will see

in “what’s become a bare-knuckles political

fewer Black members in Congress and

brawl,” says James Gimpel, professor of

lower-level legislatures.

If state legislatures remain partisan, won’t U.S. districts, too?

There’s truth to that. More continuity in party control means less competitive districts going forward. But even though redistricting can tilt the field, it’s not destiny. Let’s say a Democratic legislature redraws its map to gain a seat, but in doing so, the other blue districts go from a 60% to 55% majority. Suddenly, that 5% edge might not be enough to win, depending on voter turnout and Independents. In the long term, I think we’ll still have seats with a 45-55 split that go back and forth.

Does partisan redistricting hurt democracy?

Yes. Ideally, we’d like to give voters some choice. There are still some reformers who say, “Let’s live out our higher standards.” But right now, most Democrats say, “Dang, we can’t afford to do that. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” The key takeaway, though, is that favored candidates can still lose. The best thing for people to do is get out and vote. If anything can overcome a redistricting bias, it’s an electorate that’s not discouraged.

government and politics and an expert on redistricting.

Efforts to tilt the U.S. House of Representatives’ razor-thin GOP advantage this November have torpedoed candidacies, caused intra-party schisms and confused voters.

In a conversation with Terp, Gimpel explains what this means for the electorate now and later, and why he still has hope for democracy –JT

UMD Centers Civics The Maryland Democracy Initiative, UMD’s hub for research, teaching and learning about civic engagement, is hot on its own kind of campaign trail this fall. Its projects include: Creating voter guides with info on Maryland candidates running for school boards and state and federal offices.

Surveying Maryland voters on their satisfaction with how elections are conducted.

Training middle school teachers on how to teach civics.

Find out more at mdi.umd.edu.

Now Hear This: AI Could Add Sound to a Picture

Researchers Create Explorable Audio-Visual Scenes From Single Images A PHOTO OF A BUSTLING CITYSCAPE or a

make sense from different sources—beeping

majestic waterfall can be striking enough on its

Professor Ruohan Gao, who is working on the

own. But picture this: What if you could virtually

project along with Distinguished University

buttons, dripping water—allowing the

jump into those settings and take in all their

Professor Ming C. Lin and doctoral students

researchers to encode spatial audio. Users can

sights—and sounds?

Derong Jin and Xiyi Chen. “Without this very

then realistically experience auditory change in

important aspect, the world that we generate

each ear as they turn their head.

University of Maryland researchers are working to make that possible through

Its applications include more efficient content

would be incomplete.”

Using artificial intelligence vision and

creation for entertainment like gaming or film.

technology that generates a 3D scene, complete

language models, SonoWorld creates a 360-

The next step for the team is to incorporate

with spatial audio, from a single image.

degree panorama from an original image and

dynamic motion into the scenes.

SonoWorld, a new step in virtual reality

“When we are exploring our world, I can hear

predicts meaningful objects, like a microwave or

“That is the kind of fully immersive experience

you, I can hear the music, I can hear the birds

sink in a kitchen, in a process called semantic

that we hope to deliver,” Lin says. “We call it

chirping,” says computer science Assistant

grounding. AI also infers what sounds would

‘being there.’”—AK

“Worth” a Read

Friendship Expert’s New Book Examines Self-Esteem— With Tips for Improvement

In her new book out Sept. 15, she offers practical, research-based exercises to improve your sense of worth. Here are three tips: CHANGE THE PAST—IN YOUR BRAIN

Drawing from memory reconsolidation

theory, Franco guides readers to revisit memories of rejection and picture themselves intervening as an adult. “You’re going to be safe, you’re going to be cared for, and the way they’re reacting has nothing to do with you,” she says.

“Really visualize with all five senses.”

IF YOUR DAILY MOOD depends on “fire” reactions to your Instagram

story, invitations to oodles of outings or shout-outs from colleagues

TRANSFORM TANGIBLE TRIGGERS

at a staff meeting, it’s time to look inward and stop the chase for

lump in the throat or a tightness in the jaw, implicit memories can manifest

external validation.

That’s the core message of “Worth: The New Science of Self-Esteem and Secure Attachment” by

Whether it’s a clenching in the chest, a

as physical reactions. Focusing on that sensation while doing something mundane, like counting off by fours or even playing Tetris, can help you reprogram the body to let it go, says Franco.

Assistant Clinical Professor of psychology Marisa G. Franco (above), who delves into where our deepest insecurities come from and how to address them.

LEARN FROM THE ANIMAL WORLD

Gazelles shake violently after

escaping from a lion’s maw, freeing them of excess energy in the

“Your ability to connect with others really depends

moment. Trauma research suggests people could take cues from

on your own sense of self,” says Franco, a friendship

this, she says, by trying somatic exercises: slow, mindful movements

expert and bestselling author of “Platonic.”

to track lingering tension and release it.—KS

O P P O S I T E PA G E : I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y VA L E R I E M O R G A N ; T H I S PA G E : T O P I L L U S T R AT I O N C O U R T E SY O F S O N O W O R L D ; AU T H O R P H OTO BY DA N T E CO R I N A L D I

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INNOVATIONS THAT CHANGED HISTORY The clickable hyperlink. The Universal Product Code.

The Muppets. American life wouldn’t be the same without the ingenuity of UMD researchers and alums.

BY CHRIS CARROLL AND ANNIE KRAKOWER

1

Thanksgiving Turkeys AN ANCIENT MYTH tells of a great turtle that carries the

The E N T R E P R E N EURS HI P ECOSYST E M at UMD is building the next generation of innovators by supercharging student startups and equipping Terps with skills, resources and expert mentors on the road to success. Make a gift and help the university move Forward Forward..

are a far cry from the wild birds featured at the first Thanksgiving, but they’re also quite different from the lanky domesticated turkeys of the early 20th century. In the 1930s, eminent scientist Morley Jull , then the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s senior poultry researcher, and colleague Stanley Marsden planned the breeding of a compact yet meaty turkey that would fit in small residential ovens. They hatched the Beltsville Small White, which became popular in the midcentury marketplace. Jull soon took over as chair of UMD’s Department of Poultry Science, and the Beltsville Small White went on to provide part of the genetic foundation of modern turkeys.

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world on its shell. For a modern take, look to the University of Maryland, where Terrapins have created scores of technologies, products and ideas that help keep our world turning.

Every time you check out at the grocery store, click on a link or check the weekend forecast, you’re using an innovation developed by faculty or alums. Gas station fillups, videogaming sessions, daily vitamin regimens and workout attire would all be different—and worse—minus the spark of UMD genius.

It’s part of a long tradition of American intellect, creativity and resourcefulness that found their highest expression in research universities, which fuse talent and training to produce advances that make life better for everyone, says UMD President Darryll J. Pines, author of the forthcoming book, “The Progress Machine: How Universities Will Drive Innovation Into the Next Century.”

While the university consistently earns a top-10 spot in The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine’s ranking of undergraduate entrepreneurship programs, Pines (an aerospace engineer with seven patents himself) says, “People don’t know—they don’t understand—how embedded Maryland is in so many things they depend on every day.”

We aim to remedy that on the following pages, with an unofficial, chronological list of Terps’ greatest innovations.

The heroes of holiday dinners

Modern Birth Control

Research that dramatically reshaped family planning, gender roles, the workplace, sexual freedoms, and fertility trends in America and around the world all started with a root vegetable. Chemist Russell Marker 1923, M.S. 1924 set this cultural revolution into motion in the early 1940s by devising a cheap method for turning compounds in the Mexican yam into progesterone. He founded the pharmaceutical company Syntex to manufacture it, and by collapsing the drug’s price, he laid the foundation for safe, affordable and effective oral contraceptives and a pharmacy full of hormone therapies.

Bonus brilliance: Marker and a colleague invented the octane system at Ethyl Corp. in 1926. The rating system to measure resistance to incomplete fuel ignition, aka engine knocking, lets drivers economize with 87-octane gas, and keep sport cars (or lawnmowers) breathing fire with 93.

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3

Vitamin B12

For 20 years, scientists

knew that raw liver helped cure once-fatal pernicious anemia, but didn’t know

which of its components was responsible. That changed in 1948, when UMD poultry science researcher Mary

Shaw Shorb’s breakthrough

Puppets to Educate and Entertain on TV

method measuring the growth of Lactobacillus lactis

Before families could say, “Hi ho!” to Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and the rest of the Muppet gang, Jim Henson ’60 and his future wife, Jane Henson ’55, were experimenting with puppet potential at UMD. On their sketch show “Sam and Friends,” which debuted in 1955 on Washington’s NBC affiliate, they introduced an early version of the

bacteria led to the isolation of vitamin B12, key in producing red blood cells, maintaining the nervous system and synthesizing DNA. It’s still relevant decades later, with B12 supplements counteracting vitamin deficiencies caused by common medications like

beloved amphibian—crafted from Jim’s mother’s felt coat and a ping-pong ball— and eliminated the traditional puppet stage, using the TV screen itself as the proscenium. The show’s success led the Hensons to “Sesame Street,” whose cuddly characters still charm audiences today while teaching counting, the alphabet and kindness in 150-plus countries.

Prilosec for stomach acid and metformin for blood sugar.

The Moscow-Washington “Red Phone” While never actually a red phone on a desk, the hotline was instrumental in preventing escalation at the height of the Cold War. Game theory expert Thomas Schelling is among those credited with establishing a teletype system in 1963 to allow direct, speedy communication between U.S. and Soviet leaders. Later teaching about foreign policy, national security and nuclear strategy as a Distinguished University Professor of economics and public policy

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at UMD, he earned the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 for enhancing understanding of conflict and cooperation.

The hotline has evolved significantly, operating as a secure computer link since 2008.

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4

Computer Vision UMD’s roots in AI research stretch all the way to the 1964 launch of the Center for Automation Research (CFAR) by Distinguished University Professor Azriel Rosenfeld. Arguably the founder of the field of computer vision, he pioneered the study of computer image analysis, wrote the field’s first textbook and launched its first journal. The myriad applications inspired by CFAR proliferate at all levels of society, including facial recognition systems that unlock our phones, autonomous driving systems and medical imaging tools that help diagnose diseases earlier than ever before.

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P H O T O S C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : M A R Y L A N D W O M E N ’ S H A L L O F FA M E ; T H E J I M H E N S O N CO M PA N Y; U N S P L A S H

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Creamy Ice Cream

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Dawn of Bioinformatics

Cholera, a bacterial infection that kills an estimated 100,000 people yearly, was once thought to only spread person-to-person. But in a landmark 1975 research publication, microbiologist Rita Colwell , today a Distinguished

Longtime dairy science

University Professor in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced

Professor Wendell S. Arbuckle ,

Computer Studies, showed that Vibrio cholerae lives in bodies of water,

affectionately known worldwide

independent of any human disease outbreak. This work was grounded in her

as “Mr. Ice Cream,” had the

pioneering use in the 1960s of computational methods to identify bacteria

scoop on tastier scoops. His

with a consistency that individual human observation couldn’t match. Starting

extensive research into how the

in the 1980s, she developed a method that can calculate the risk of cholera

treat freezes and melts led to key

outbreaks around the globe using satellite data. Along with her discoveries,

smoothness strategies: Lower

she found—and fought—the bias that women couldn’t do science.

the “draw temperature” at which the ice cream is removed from the churning machine for smaller ice crystals, and freeze rapidly to lock those crystals into place. He compiled his findings into the 1966 textbook “Ice Cream,” which, seven editions later, is still widely considered the bible of the industry—even used by pint titans like Ben & Jerry’s.

Universal Product Code

8

The block of vertical black bars and spaces is so ubiquitous on nearly every product as to be almost unnoticeable, but the last half-century of commerce wouldn’t have been possible without the UPC. George Laurer ’51 invented the barcode as an engineer at IBM in the early 1970s; it was first used to register the sale of a pack of Juicy Fruit chewing gum at an Ohio grocery store in 1974, speeding up the retail checkout process ever since. But because Laurer and IBM didn’t patent

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Freedom From Smoking

Chemistry and biochemistry Professor Emeritus Paul Mazzocchi was ultimately unsuccessful in developing an addiction-proof opioid pain reliever.

But the resulting modified benzazepine molecule he presented in a 1979 paper was still able to bind to morphine receptors in the brain. Scientists at Pfizer who found the paper decades later used it as a framework to create varenicline, also known as Chantix, a revolutionary drug that reduced cravings and withdrawal symptoms to help millions quit smoking.

the UPC, they never made a dime from its use.

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Clickable Hyperlinks

Reaching your online destination without a hyperlink is about as easy as eating soup without a spoon. The 6 billion worldwide web surfers daily have computer

science Professor Emeritus Ben Shneiderman and UMD’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab to thank

for the intuitive shortcut. In the 1980s, while working

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on an electronic encyclopedia for the future U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum, the idea of highlighting

words in a paragraph to jump across documents struck Shneiderman. His team conducted experiments to

best, visible on both white and black backgrounds.

“Maryland was a world leader for developing user interface strategies in that period,” he says. “There was a fundamental belief in the need to bring these technologies to wider audiences.” That philosophy stretched to another of his human-computer innovations: smaller, high-precision touchscreens that activate when a user lifts their finger, allowing for today’s smartphone and tablet screens.

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The Connected Internet

By the late ’80s, the internet had sprouted isolated arms, but nothing made it the overarching global network we know and love (and hate) today. Then in 1988, UMD Director of Academic Computing and Networking Glenn Ricart Ph.D. ’80 flipped the switch on the world’s first internet exchange point; it bridged existing commercial, government and academic computer networks, vastly expanding users’ experience of the online world. Ricart is also credited as the force behind UMD becoming the first university to implement campuswide internet protocols in 1984.

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

The Modern TV Comedy

“No hugging, no learning”: That was the credo of Larry David ’76 and Jerry Seinfeld when creating “Seinfeld” (1989-98), the landmark sitcom that eschewed sentimental life lessons and character growth and proved audiences could love a squad of unlikable protagonists. Dubbed a “show about nothing,” it also “showed that you could do a sitcom about what should seem like little irritations of modern life,” says longtime Baltimore Sun TV critic and Goucher College communications and media studies Assistant Professor of Practice David Zurawik Ph.D. ’00. The series paved the way for shows like “Arrested Development, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and of course, David’s later series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Zurawik noted one other way the show changed culture: mainstreaming Jewish identity on network television.

E-reader Technology

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determine the blue color still widely used today was

Prefer reading on a Kindle over lugging around

a hardcover book? The namesake of UMD’s IDEA Factory was on the same digital page. In 1989,

engineering alum E.A. Fernandez ’69 patented

the microprocessor-based simulated book, a mass storage system with a display screen, access to a large database of chapters and pages, and the look and feel of a novel or nonfiction. Foundational in e-reading devices, it’s one of the most cited U.S. patents by technology and publishing companies.

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Cardiac Care, Reinvented

You’d need a patent librarian to keep track of the lifesaving biomedical inventions—more than 200 in all—that have poured from the mind of Robert E. Fischell M.S. ’54, Sc.D. (honorary) ’96 . Several have reshaped cardiac care: A rechargeable pacemaker battery inspired by the physicist’s work with spacecraft batteries ended the need for frequent surgeries for replacement, while a series of coronary stents he introduced with sons David, Tim and Scott in the 1990s have helped maintain cardiovascular function for millions of patients.

Today, a vast replica of his stent design towers over the ground floor of UMD’s A. James Clark Hall.

Upstairs, researchers work toward new advances in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and the Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices.

A New Concept of Identity This analytical framework used by the

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Electronics Accessibility Self-serve kiosks can equal convenience when checking in at the airport or running a post office errand, but that wasn’t always the case for people with disabilities. A lack of haptic or audio feedback made the machines inaccessible for blind users, for example, and people with limited motor control might struggle to tap buttons precisely.

The Trace Research and Development Center sought to “touch” more lives with the introduction of EZ Access in the 1990s. The set of interface enhancements to touchscreens, including a tactile keypad and speech output, has been implemented in tens of thousands of kiosks worldwide.

Real-World Quantum Computing Until physicist Christopher Monroe’s 1995 experiment at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., quantum computing was only an exciting theory. He led the team

social sciences to understand interlocking

that proved trapped ions could be used as “qubits”—units of

“-isms” related to race, gender and class

computing information that can encode not just a 0 or 1,

was created in large part by Terps. The

but potentially both at once—launching the global race to build

landmark book “Black Feminist Thought”

superpowered computers. They hold the promise of both breaking

by sociologist and Distinguished University

and protecting secure systems, designing new materials and

Professor Emerita Patricia Hill Collins

reinventing finance, healthcare and logistics. Monroe later became

(right, top) helped establish intersectionality

a Distinguished University Professor at UMD, where his group also

in 1990 as a rigorous field of scholarship.

was the first to demonstrate “long-distance quantum teleportation”

UMD’s Consortium on Race, Gender, and

of information, and then co-founded IonQ, one of the world’s

Ethnicity was founded in 1998 by scholar

leading quantum computing firms, based in College Park. Niccolo

Bonnie Thornton Dill , a professor emerita

de Masi, IonQ chairman and CEO, remembers being inspired as

of women’s studies and former College of

an undergraduate by Monroe’s seminal paper about the

Arts and Humanities dean, and women’s

experiment: “That moment was a shot heard around the

studies Professor Ruth Zambrana ; it

world for anyone passionate about quantum mechanics, and

provided a home from which intersectionality

it cemented my commitment to this company’s mission.”

developed in directions that influenced law, medicine, education and other fields.

P H OTOS A B OV E CO U RT ESY O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A RY L A N D ; P H O T O A T R I G H T B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I

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Modern Weather Forecasting If you’ve peeked at the 10-day forecast on your phone’s weather app, you’ve benefited from the work of atmospheric and oceanic science Distinguished University

SweatWicking Compression Wear

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As special teams captain for Maryland, Kevin Plank ’96 described himself as “the sweatiest guy on the football field.” Seeking a solution to his soaked cotton tees, he researched and sourced a synthetic, sweat-wicking material. The stretchy, formfitting shirts that he sold out of the trunk of his car to athletes and former teammates became the foundation of his new company: Under Armour. He soon produced a range of game-changing gear for heat—with fast-drying, chafe-free material—and for cold—with dual-layer fabric to keep athletes cool inside and dry outside. The clothing technology inspired competitors to follow suit.

“They were the trailblazers,” says Maryland head football coach Mike Locksley, whose team wears Under Armour uniforms. “They’re allowing you to be more productive because of the gear that you have on.”

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Professor Eugenia Kalnay. A pioneer in numerical weather prediction, she

developed an ensemble forecasting method, running multiple forecasting models with slight variations in conditions instead of relying on just one; this more accurately measures forecast uncertainty. That, along with her improved data assimilation systems using satellites and radar, made possible useful extended forecasts. While working at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, she also cleared the clouds on more than 40 years of global climate data with a 1996 reanalysis paper that became one of the most widely cited atmospheric datasets in history.

Graphics for Virtual Worlds

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The hit 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal did exactly the opposite of what its name

implied: Its jaw-dropping lighting effects and large, open, simulated 3D spaces made gaming

seem more real. The namesake graphics engine behind it was developed by Tim Sweeney ’93 , who started the company Epic Games in his parents’ home in Potomac, Md. The Unreal Engine went on to run its 2017 breakout phenomenon, Fortnite (above), which now counts over 650 million registered users and more than $40 billion in revenue. The most recent iteration, Unreal Engine 5, is not only the foundation of countless state-of-the-art games; it’s also used to design buildings and cars, in medical training, and in film, TV production and broadcast environments.

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Google: King of Search Engines

Language Model Pioneers

Quick: Name the internet search engines of the day when Sergey Brin ’93 and Larry Page

launched Google in September 1998. (Prize goes to the middleaged reader in the corner who remembers Northern Light.)

Its revolutionary approach to ranking World Wide Web pages operated with remarkable accuracy, and as a result, its number of daily queries skyrocketed from 10,000 at launch to 3.5 million in the first year. Today as part of Alphabet, it’s as pervasive as the air we breathe: Google owns about 90% of the search market, dominates online advertising, powers most of the world’s smartphones via Android and leads in autonomous vehicle service with Waymo—and Brin is still deeply involved.

Satellite Radio

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Around-the-clock yacht rock, podcasts spanning NPR to pro wrestling, and UFO conspiracy talk shows are all at our fingertips—or in our earbuds—through crystal clear, commercial-free radio conceived and designed by Terps. Alumna Martine Rothblatt was the first to petition the FCC to broadcast from space in a little-used section of the frequency band, while satellite communications expert Robert Briskman M.S. ’61 led the technical development of the system that debuted in 2002. That included his revolutionary, patented method to ensure listeners on the move would never hit the dead spots common in FM radio by smoothly combining the signals of multiple satellites. Based in part on the strength of Howard Stern, who brought his army of listeners to Sirius in 2004, it absorbed rival XM radio to form SiriusXM radio in 2008.

Terp computer scientists helped launch the revolution in language AI that led to today’s eerily capable chatbots—with a nod to Jim Henson ’60’s Muppets.

Computer science Associate

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Professor Mohit Iyyer Ph.D. ’17 co-authored the 2018 paper

introducing ELMo (Embeddings from Language Models), a

breakthrough that allowed word meanings to change based

on context. That same year, Jacob Devlin M.S. ’09 led

Google’s BERT (Bidirectional

Encoder Representations from Transformers) team, which

introduced a powerful new way to train a models known as

“masked language modeling.”

Together they ushered in the

“Muppet Model” era with a pre-

training approach that underpins

modern AI language models, plus a naming tradition that grew to

include Big Bird, ERNIE, RoBERTa and more.

Democratized Gaming VR

Oculus lit the fuse on consumer virtual reality when its 2012 Kickstarter campaign demonstrated demand for an immersive gaming headset. Cofounded by University of Maryland alumni Brendan Iribe , Michael Antonov ’03 and Andrew Reisse ’01 , the company created devices that were far

cheaper and performed better than the research-oriented products that preceded them. Facebook’s

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$2 billion acquisition in 2014 supercharged the venture, and the consumer Rift launched in 2016, reshaping immersive computing. “Oculus took virtual reality out of the research lab and put it in people’s hands, opening new possibilities for how we learn, experience and

WHAT DID WE MISS? We couldn’t squeeze every Terp touchstone into this unofficial list. What do you think we should have included? Email us at terpfeedback@umd.edu.

reimagine the world,” says computer science Professor Amitabh Varshney, dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences and a leading expert on VR and related tech.

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FINDINGS FOUNDERS Excavations by UMD researchers and students unearth new stories about the enslaved communities at the Jefferson and Madison estates.

BY K A R E N S H I H ’ 0 9

P H OTO G R A P H S BY ST E P H A N I E S . CO R D L E

Just steps from President James Madison’s

The view from a reconstructed log cabin where enslaved domestic workers lived at President James Madison’s Montpelier; the main house rises behind additional rebuilt dwellings. A tobacco pipe bowl inscribed with the word “liberty,” dating to the late 18th or early 19th century, was owned by an enslaved person and excavated in this area in 2016.

white-columned, brick Georgian mansion, Elizabeth McCague knelt in the red clay of a shallow excavation pit and dusted off a shard of ceramic.

It wasn’t an uncommon find: Pieces of scalloped tortoiseshell plates, Chinesestyle blue-and-white porcelain dishes and plain storage vessels are scattered in the soil across the rural Virginia plantation. But three raised capital letters, L-I-B, made this one, discovered in the ruins of enslaved people’s homes, stand out.

McCague called down to the archaeology lab, and soon, her colleagues brought another fragment of broken white pottery.

The two fit together perfectly, forming the basis of a tobacco pipe bowl that spelled out “liberty.”

“It’s one of the most powerful artifacts

I’ve ever encountered,” says the University of Maryland doctoral candidate, who made the discovery at Montpelier as a field crew member in 2016 and is now the estate’s archaeology lab director. “Someone who was enslaved under the watchful eye of James Madison, the father of the Constitution, serving him and his family, decided to own this. It was an aspirational endeavor. They knew: Liberty is out there, but not for you.”

Thousands of relics uncovered and analyzed by UMD researchers and students at the historic homes of Madison and his neighbor and fellow Founding Father Thomas Jefferson are shedding new light on the complexities of their lives.

The statesmen are celebrated not only for their roles in winning American independence, but for boldly forging a

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new system of representative government that inspired rebels fighting for democracy around the world. Jefferson’s radical pronouncement that “all men are created equal” might be the most influential expression of human dignity ever written; Madison, whose Bill of Rights secured individual freedoms in the Constitution, later called the United States “the workshop of liberty to the civilized world.” But those lofty ideals didn’t apply at their estates, or even at the White House, where they held men, women and children in bondage.

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit the two former plantations this year to explore restored rooms and walk the grounds. Now, thanks in part to UMD discoveries incorporated into exhibits and tours, visitors can better understand the humanity, ingenuity and resilience of enslaved workers who enabled these former presidents to dedicate their lives to a fledgling nation.

Arriving by carriage at Montpelier or Jefferson’s Monticello at the turn of the 19th century, visitors might leave their horses with a farrier for reshoeing, enjoy fresh peas or sweet peaches served on imported dinnerware, or see in the distance vast fields of tobacco or wheat. Just a few white family members resided in the main house (only two of Jefferson’s children by his wife survived to adulthood, and Madison’s heir was his one stepson), while hundreds of enslaved workers lived and worked across the thousands of acres.

Both men were broke when they died, so neither family held on to their bustling estates for long—a common outcome for many notable early Americans. Some homes fell into disrepair while others were sold off and remodeled dramatically. The earliest attempt at historic preservation started in the 1850s, when the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association formed to

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save George Washington’s deteriorating house after federal and state governments declined to step in.

“These women were not trying to recreate his life there,” says Susan Kern, director of UMD’s Historic Preservation Program and former director of Monticello’s archaeology department.

They reopened the property along the Potomac River as a shrine, she says, highlighting his military leadership, farming innovations and presidency.

The same happened at other historical homes up and down the East Coast, as private nonprofit organizations raised money to preserve them by selling admission tickets. Even after historians and archaeologists entered the scene in the mid-20th century, the focus has remained on the accomplishments of white men (and sometimes women, like first lady Dolley Madison and her famous hostessing skills). What got lost in these romantic tellings were their ecosystems of wealth and bondage.

“Jefferson was held up as a paragon of the sturdy backwoodsman, as a solitary self-made man, but in reality, every

A Thomas Jefferson reenactor strolls across the lawn at Monticello, once a 5,000-acre plantation. At right, UMD doctoral candidate Elizabeth McCague holds a piece of the “liberty” pipe shortly after unearthing it in 2016.

Jefferson child had an enslaved child as their body servant,” says Kern, noting that his parents enslaved more than 60 workers when he was born. “At 2 years old, he owns another 2-year-old on paper. The house is set up to serve him.”

Just 30 miles down the road, Madison’s family wealth provided the means for him to study at Princeton and serve in the Virginia legislature. Despite writing in a 1785 letter that he wished “to depend as little as possible on the labour of slaves,” by the time Madison inherited the property in 1801, the enslaved community there had grown to more than 100.

Only in 1979 did Colonial Williamsburg establish the first department of African American interpretation at an early U.S. historic site. It took decades for others to follow suit.

As an enslaved blacksmith named Moses sweated over molten metal, pouring and pounding to create tools and weaponry that supplied not only Montpelier but also clients throughout Virginia and even the Continental Army, the sounds of his work would have carried up the small hill to Madison’s main house. There, the man who later became the fourth president pored over centuries of political philosophy to write the Virginia Plan—the basis of the U.S. Constitution—enshrining rights that remained out of reach for most.

“This is one of the coolest things we get to learn about in archaeology: the people who didn’t get memoirs written about them, the folks who left their mark in the form of nails and horseshoes and things left in the ground,” says McCague (left), part of the archaeological team that excavated the blacksmith shop this summer and is advised by UMD anthropology Chair and Professor Barnet Pavão-Zuckerman.

The site was chosen in collaboration with the Montpelier Descendants Committee, an organization of people whose ancestors were enslaved there and nearby. In 2022, it became the first group in the nation to gain structural parity with the nonprofit foundation that runs a presidential home, giving it equal say in the research conducted, exhibits created and tours offered. It’s a new model that MDC member Henry Anglin, whose great-grandfather was enslaved at the adjacent Newman Plantation, hopes others will follow.

“It’s really essential for descendants to have a true voice to end up with a realistic, truthful story,” says Anglin, who’s leading efforts to build a memorial for the enslaved next to Montpelier’s unmarked burial ground, now shrouded by woods and overgrown vegetation.

Drawing from oral histories, the committee has filled in gaps in knowledge as the archaeological team combines historical ledgers and papers with discoveries

like a whittled children’s toy or rusted pocketknife.

One such family story came from MDC member Bettye Kearse, whose ancestor, Mandy, was captured in Ghana, transported across the Middle Passage and bought by Madison’s father. She was said to have worn a red bead in her hair and passed it down to her daughter, Coreen.

But as generations served the Madisons in the kitchen, this bead was lost—possibly until archaeologists recovered a reddish quartz ring centuries later.

Encountering the artifact felt like destiny to Sara Thiam MAA ’26. While

One of the greatest mysteries of all of those who are descendants of the enslaved, stolen from the African continent, is the essence of our identity.”

—SARA THIAM M.A.A. ’26

applying to UMD, she’d taken a trip to Mali and Senegal, where she has ancestors, and she immediately recognized the intact circle of carnelian from Montpelier because she’d bought several similar pieces of jewelry at traditional markets.

Initially, researchers thought the ring originated in India, a better-known source of carnelian, and had been traded to Africa. But Thiam reviewed European accounts, largely in French, showing that West Africa also held extensive deposits that supported a quartz mining industry dating back to the first century. She also delved into what the carnelian was and is still used for: Women across the region adorn themselves with the quartz as a symbol of fertility and protection, whether braided into their hair or worn on a finger.

“One of the greatest mysteries of all of those who are descendants of the enslaved, stolen from the African continent, is the essence of our identity. That’s something that DNA tests can’t give us back. That’s something that genealogy research can’t give us directly,” says Thiam. “I was naturally drawn to this opportunity to restore an aspect of that, and to work with the descendants from start to finish.”

Ephraim Chase, part of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Summer Research Initiative, watches an exhibition called “The Mere Distinction of Colour” at Montpelier.

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Archaeology field school students and staff at Montpelier dig next to the icehouse and “the temple,” where they’ve found horseshoes, nails and gun parts.

In Jefferson’s sun-drenched butter-yellow dining room, America’s “founding foodie” and his family were served what was then exotic cuisine. Macaroni and cheese, crispy fries and refreshing scoops of ice cream— all unfamiliar to the States and inspired by his time as U.S. minister to France— appeared via a revolving food service door and a wine dumbwaiter built into the side of a fireplace.

But out of sight, toiling in the tunnels beneath them, were enslaved people like brothers James and Peter Hemings and sisters-in-law Edith Fossett and Frances Hern, who bought or grew the ingredients and prepared the dishes.

“These enslaved cooks brought creativity and ingenuity in creating a whole new food system, combining ingredients and

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techniques from many cultures,” including West African and Native American traditions, says Pavão-Zuckerman.

As a zooarchaeologist studying bones, she and her students offer a glimpse into the everyday lives of people on the plantations, from the owners to the overseers to the enslaved people. Animals interacted with humans daily, whether horses pulling carts, caged birds singing, or livestock providing wool and meat.

Her research at Montpelier goes back to 2001, and just before the pandemic she added Monticello to her portfolio. That’s led to insights about the types of meat that the Jeffersons and Madisons would have eaten: an assortment of wild game pre-1800s, and later, domesticated young livestock like suckling pig and veal.

What’s been more eye-opening is the variety of animals found at the homes of enslaved workers. Given meager rations of just cornmeal, preserved fish and pickled pork, they were expected to supplement their own diets to survive. For domestic workers, that might take the form of growing a small garden (which they could tend only at night or on Sundays, ostensibly a day of rest) or raising poultry.

“Chickens were often the only way enslaved people could earn money,” says doctoral student Kristen Hickey, poring over bags of bones and broken eggshells in the zooarchaeology lab at UMD’s Woods Hall. Eggs could be sold in town or even to enslavers so they could buy extra cloth for clothes, blankets or other household items.

A surprising number of fish bones have been found around the homes of carpenters and blacksmiths. Tasked with making a certain number of chairs or nails a day, they had more control over their time than other enslaved workers and could visit nearby rivers or ponds, says PavãoZuckerman (right).

Even field workers, who labored from sunup to sundown, were found to have remains of raccoons, possums, squirrels and other small game in their homes, likely trapped or killed with slingshots as the animals crept among the crops.

“Humans are extraordinarily resilient, even under the worst circumstances,” says Pavão-Zuckerman, whose findings are displayed in reconstructed homes next to the main house at Montpelier. “These enslaved people exercised whatever control and power they could to survive. They found ways of doing what they needed to preserve their own humanity, and the humanity of their families.”

Twenty-four feet underground, enslaved

workers packed frozen blocks into an icehouse each winter so the Madisons could store meat, cream and other perishables throughout the year. Concealed by “the temple,” a domed, open-air neoclassical structure held up by eight white pillars (itself a symbol of freedom and enlightenment used by abolitionists to point out the hypocrisy of enslavers), the pit was built into the back of a hill, invisible to visitors coming down the road to the main house. The small opening above, letting in just a spear of sunlight, would have felt as far away as the liberty promised by the Founding Fathers.

That’s where Pavão-Zuckerman found herself in June, standing in the dark with a couple of undergraduates from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Summer Research Initiative. It was a world away from the airy, painting-filled drawing rooms they’d toured at Monticello a day prior, says anthropology major Pierce Smith ’29. “It feels more real.”

Bringing undergrads along on her visits to both sites each summer is an opportunity to pique their interest in history, archaeology and preservation as well as

deepen the connection between UMD and the scholars at the two plantations.

She gives lectures to field students and checks in on the excavations and labs; over the last decade, a half-dozen of PavãoZuckerman’s students have been involved.

Working with Terps “is great because we’re able to do research we would never have the resources to do our ourselves,” says Matt Reeves, Montpelier’s director of archaeology. “Their specialized analyses advance our research and what we’re able to present to the public.”

This fall, Montpelier archaeology intern Lee Stamey will continue the tradition as they pursue a master’s degree in applied anthropology at UMD. Over the past year, Stamey has been working with the archaeological team to excavate the blacksmith’s

shop and adjacent homes of enslaved people.

“People will veer off the path and come ask, ‘What are you digging up?’” says Stamey, who has held out a button from a shirt or earthenware dinner dishes, for example, to help visitors relate findings to their own lives. The “liberty” pipe McCague helped find, meanwhile, is part of an exhibit in the Montpelier cellars.

That’s the impact of an artifact. When the smoke clears from the nationwide celebrations of America’s 250th, Stamey hopes people will see beyond the familiar tales of the Founding Fathers, one clay-encased find at a time. “It’s really rewarding to show somebody something new, and see the moment when something changes in their mind.” terp

Clockwise from right: a red carnelian ring that an enslaved person likely brought across the Atlantic Ocean, the two parts of the “liberty” pipe pieced back together, and catalogued animal bones in the Montpelier Archaeology Lab.

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I L L U S T R AT I O N / P H O T O C R E D I T

Steny Hoyer Yields the Floor After 60 years in public service, the longtime congressman and Terp retires with a legacy etched on American history, in Maryland and across UMD’s campus

BY J O H N T U C K E R

PA I N T I N G BY G R EG O RY M A N C H E S S FO R T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A RY L A N D

SIPPING A BEER AT A CAPITOL HILL soirée in 1988, John Berry ’80 overheard a congressional staffer mention that a Virginia university was lobbying the National Archives to build a huge facility on its campus to house millions of its documents. The next morning Berry tipped off his boss, U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer ’63, that the prized repository was in play.

Within days, Hoyer and University System of Maryland Chancellor John S. Toll were leading the archivist of the United States on a tour of UMD’s campus; a couple of weeks later, Hoyer added an earmark to an appropriations bill establishing UMD as the site of the eventual 1.8 million-square-foot building. A befuddled Virginia staffer who later ran into Berry said, “I’ve never been so thoroughly sideswiped. Hoyer outsmarted us.”

Hoyer recalls the coup jubilantly: “Now it’s probably the premier archival institution in the world,” he says. “We brought some fantastic researchers to the campus.”

It was a classic move by Hoyer, who will retire from a 45-year career in Congress when his term ends in January. The longest-serving member of either chamber to represent Maryland, Hoyer shaped the influential 5th District abutting Washington into a research powerhouse, helping pump billions of dollars into behemoths like NASA’s Goddard Space

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Flight Center, Patuxent River Naval Air Station and NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, many of them tightly aligned with the University of Maryland.

“Steny’s leadership resulted in the modern federal research presence in the state of Maryland,” says emeritus UMD trustee Tim Maloney, a former state delegate whose district overlapped with Hoyer’s. “He did it quietly and without recognition. He was just interested in seeing results.”

The No. 2 member of the Democratic caucus for two decades—second only to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, an ally and frequent sparring partner—Hoyer played the role of happy warrior and shrewd tactician, a consensus-building centrist who complemented her street-fighting progressivism. The 87-year-old has spent nearly his entire career in public office; Hoyer was elected in 1966 to the Maryland Senate and joined the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981.

Still popular—he won 72% of the vote in his district in the 2024 primary—Hoyer walks away as the only Marylander to serve as majority leader. A throwback to an era when members of both major parties respected each other, he helped steer the passage of bipartisan landmark legislation including the 1990 American with Disabilities Act and the 2002 Help Americas Vote Act in response to the contested 2000 presidential election, the most sweeping election reform since the Voting Rights Act. “He is one of the most underrated giants of U.S. legislative history,” says Berry, who after working for Hoyer ran President Obama’s Office of Personnel Management and served as ambassador to Australia.

Following retirement, Hoyer will donate his official papers to UMD Libraries, a collection that contains everything from personal notes, speeches, photos, campaign materials and correspondences with constituents and colleagues.

“From the very beginning, the University of Maryland has been a big part of my life, and I’m very proud of it,” he says.

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BORN IN NEW YORK, Hoyer moved to District Heights, Md., as a child and enrolled in UMD in 1957 (tuition: $178). After posting 1.7 and 1.0 GPAs his freshman year, he took a semester off, then reenrolled, still without direction.

One day that spring, he was set to leave campus when a Pontiac convertible cruised by, carrying the guest speaker to the annual convocation ceremony. Hoyer thought the car looked cool and decided to follow it.

The teenager sat in awe as the handsome young U.S. senator talked passionately about politics and implored graduates to serve their communities and country.

Immediately drawn to public service, Hoyer now calls his walk to the field house to hear John F. Kennedy “my road to Damascus.”

Above: Hoyer speaks from a podium with his late wife, Judy Hoyer, at his side in an undated photo. Right: a young Hoyer (left) meets with He changed his major from President Lyndon Baines Johnson in an undated photo. business to government and politics and was elected student government Black voters’ support nearly 7-to-1 and vice president. After marrying his high claimed the seat by 300 votes. In Annapolis, school sweetheart and graduating with high he cast one of his first votes to end the ban on honors, Hoyer enrolled in Georgetown law interracial marriage. school and joined the campaign team of U.S. At 35, he became Maryland’s youngRep. Daniel Brewster of Maryland; there, he est-ever Senate president, championing a met a young staffer from Baltimore named district growing increasingly Black, educated, Nancy D’Alesandro, who the following year affluent and attractive to federal government became Nancy Pelosi. After he was elected workers. In 1981 he won a special election president of the Maryland Young Democrats, to represent the U.S. House’s 5th District, anointed by The Washington Post as “a earning the nickname Boy Wonder. “There man to watch” and remained on staff when was a certain way Steny Hoyer’s heels clickBrewster became a U.S. senator, he made clicked along the marble halls of the State his first run for elected office, distinguishing House that set him apart from the others. He himself in a crowded field vying for a state had the sharpest, most urgent click-click in Senate seat with a platform on fair housing.

Annapolis,” the Post wrote upon his deparThe newly drawn district had backed ture from the legislature. segregationist candidate George Wallace Among his new constituents was Yvette in the 1964 presidential election, but Hoyer Lewis, a Prince George’s County music focused on a concentration of Black constitteacher who dreamed of singing professionuents, knocking on doors till his knuckles ally—if only she could get her foot in the hurt. “People saw a skinny white kid looking door at the Kennedy Center. Her husband younger than my 26 years, and said, ‘What suggested she call her congressman; are you doing here?’” he recalls. He won

meeting when they first bumped into each other in political circles years later, but that didn’t surprise her.

“I’m not unique,” says Lewis, now a close friend who sits on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. “I’m one of a million Hoyer stories.”

[Hoyer] is one of the most underrated giants of U.S. legislative history.”

—JOHN BERRY ’80, FORMER STAFFER AND AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRALIA

maybe she could speak with a staffer. With surprising ease, she secured a meeting with Hoyer. She left with a smile and no expectations, but two weeks later received a letter from the Kennedy Center offering an interview.

Lewis landed a Kennedy Center teaching job, then a Washington Opera audition, then a resident understudy position. Following the contentious 2000 presidential election, she became politically active and ultimately served as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party for eight years. “Steny Hoyer changed my life,” she says.

Hoyer didn’t remember their original

HOYER GRADUALLY BUILT his influence in Congress, chairing the Helsinki Commission on U.S.-European security, earning a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and traveling to Darfur and South Sudan to raise awareness of genocide.

He became Pelosi’s chief lieutenant in 2003 and House majority leader in 2007, charged with scheduling floor business and mobilizing the party vote on important legislation.

With increased clout, he directed millions of dollars into UMD programs through federal agency appropriations. A savvy analyst, he identified potential research partnerships, joint faculty appointments and student pipelines connecting UMD to the government, then brokered behind-thescenes deals.

“He might tell his colleagues in the House, ‘Hey, the engineering school’s developing a remote sensing program that would be great for NASA Goddard,’” says Brian Darmody, chief strategy officer for the Association of University Research Parks. Formerly UMD’s assistant vice president for research and economic development, he worked closely with Hoyer in the 2000s to establish M Square, a public-private research hub that has since grown into UMD’s Discovery District Maryland.

Hoyer also secured funds from the Department of Defense for a UMD center now known as the Applied Research Lab for Intelligence and Security; from the Department of Agriculture for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, where more than two dozen UMD faculty work; and from the Food and Drug Administration for its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,

TO P P H OTOS CO U RT ESY O F T H E O F F I C E O F ST E N Y H OY E R ; ABOVE RIGHT PHOTO: UPI PHOTO / KEVIN DIETSCH VIA ALAMY

which has a research partnership with UMD in College Park. On campus, Hoyer also helped net construction money for the Physical Sciences Complex and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Meanwhile, he continued preaching in support of civil rights. In 2010, when a bill to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning gay Americans from serving openly in the military died in committee, Hoyer sidestepped the blockade by orchestrating a second Senate vote at the eleventh hour of the session, a “political miracle,” says Berry, his former staffer.

Hoyer was the first person whom Berry came out to as gay, after his parents. When Berry’s partner died of AIDS, Hoyer pulled over on Route 50 and listened to him weep on the phone for 30 minutes.

“He’s not only the best boss I’ve ever had, but a mentor, a second father, a true saint,” says Berry.

HOYER LOOKS YOUNGER than his 87 years, and he knows it. “God’s been good,” he says, after practically bounding into his office on the top floor of the Longworth building in crisp shirtsleeves and a yellow tie.

Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) joins hands with incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) at a press conference to announce the results of the House Majority leadership elections, in Washington on Nov. 16, 2006.

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I believe in democracy.

I believe that over time, people mostly do the right thing.”

—STENY HOYER ’63

Mentally sharp, though unsure whether he could deliver at 89, he is retiring somewhat reluctantly. Pelosi, his longtime colleague, is also stepping down at age 86.

One corner of Hoyer’s office is dedicated to the late Rep. John Lewis, one of his closest friends in Congress, with whom he marched 15 times across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., to make good trouble. In an opposite corner is the flag of Denmark (the self-described “proud Dane” in 2009 was honored as a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog).

After retirement, he’ll remain active in Democratic politics and spend more time in his St. Mary’s County home. A rabid UMD football and basketball fan, he intends to keep shouting at nearly every home game alongside his wife, Elaine Kamarck, a

Hoyer briefs reporters in his Capitol Hill office in 2010.

director at a public policy nonprofit whom he married in 2023. (Hoyer’s first wife, the educator Judy Pickett Hoyer, died in 1997, leading Hoyer to create early-childhood programs across Maryland in her name.)

He’ll leave the House having shaped the careers of hundreds of staffers, including Jazz Lewis ’11, MPP ’14, who met Hoyer as a graduate student intending to become a community organizer. Instead, he agreed to lead his reelection campaign the day after commencement.

Above, Hoyer walks arm in arm with the late Rep. John Lewis alongside other members of Congress on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 40th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery, Ala., voting rights march. At right, Hoyer heads to his final swearing-in.

He says of his legacy, “Hopefully it will be that members of the Black community, in particular, would say that Hoyer ended as he began in 1966: someone who was supportive of equal rights, civil rights and humanitarian concerns.”

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

“His approach to public service was kindness, thoughtfulness and always following up. Every function was super long because he listened to everyone—it didn’t matter if they were a mechanic or someone’s granny,” says Lewis, who became Hoyer’s senior policy adviser and is now UMD’s director of state government relations.

Hoyer’s seat will almost crtainly be inherited by another recent campaign manager, 32-year-old state Del. Adrian Boafo, who in June won the Democratic primary.

Ever congenial, the lion of the House laments that American politics has devolved into pettiness and divisiveness over the last decade. Still, he’s an optimist, easily quoting from Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address: “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans … unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed.”

Twelve presidential administrations later, in an emotional January speech on the House floor to announce his retirement, Hoyer passed his own torch, urging his colleagues to examine their conscience and renew their courage: “We must remember that we are not great or unique because we say we’re great, but because we are just, generous and fair.” TERP

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for Bold and Brave Solutions.

The University of Maryland is building the Capital of Quantum — driving the research, nurturing the startups and training the workforce to lead the next major technological leaps in computing, pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity and more.

Join us in igniting a new quantum revolution, one with immense power to do good.

forward.umd.edu

POST-GRAD

A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N

Letter From the Senior Executive Director AS I TRAVEL TO ALUMNI EVENTS across

the country, one thing I’ve found myself saying often is, “There has never been a more exciting time to be a Terp.”

Maryland’s momentum is undeniable.

What does that mean for you? It means you’re part of a powerful network with a shared connection to a university con-

3 Terp Stories, 1 Forever Home Every Terp’s path to and through the University of Maryland is different. But all of us can commemorate that connection with a personalized brick or paver on Legacy Plaza or Testudo Row, just steps away from SECU Stadium at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.

Here’s why three alums did just that.

tinuing to rise. It means there are more opportunities than ever to connect with fellow Terps, share your expertise, grow professionally and support the next generation of Maryland graduates.

One of the best ways to do that is through Terrapins Connect, our networking and mentorship platform that helps students and alums build meaningful connections across industries, interests and generations. We’re excited to have recently launched a new mobile app, making it even easier to tap into the strength of the Maryland network wherever you are. Visit alumni.umd.edu to learn more.

We’re also investing in new ways to support your personal and professional growth. This year, we relaunched our Coaches Corner program, offering exclusive opportunities to connect with professional coaches and gain guidance at every career stage.

No matter where life takes you, I encourage you to stay connected to Maryland and to one another. Whether you’re attending an event, volunteering with a local network, mentoring a student or simply striking up a conversation when you spot a fellow Terp, you’re helping strengthen a tradition that defines our community: Terps supporting Terps.

It’s a tradition that has connected generations of Maryland graduates, and one that will continue to move us Forward together.

Jessica K. Roberts ’02 Senior Executive Director University of Maryland Alumni Association

The Alumni Association fosters T E R RA P I N P RI D E by rallying alums through programs that merge passion and purpose. Make a gift now through the Forward campaign.

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

P H OTOS CO U RT ESY O F A LU M S ; I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y VA L E R I E M O R G A N

A F U L L- C I R C L E M E M E N T O FA M I LY I N D I F F E R E N T F O R M S

Blessing Enekwe ’04, M.A. ’09, Ph.D. ’16 moved

Kirk Bell’s favorite memories of his days on campus

from Massachusetts to attend UMD as an

with his fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa (PSK), aren’t

undergraduate, but never expected to be here

about big events like Greek Week. They’re the

25 years later. First she fell in love with the

shared moments spent on the porch of 7 Fraternity

campus—suburban, but close to Washington,

Row, looking out toward Memorial Chapel, reading

D.C. Then she got involved with student groups,

The Washington Post or cheering for

from the Black Student Union to The Eclipse.

their hometown teams.

“We all came from different walks of life, different backgrounds,

Now the triple Terp serves as program director for postdoctoral affairs at the Graduate School, where she supports these scholars and helps them decide what’s next.

different areas and formed a very

“One of the things about Maryland is that there are a lot of

close-knit bond,” says Bell ’88. “It

opportunities, but it can be pretty overwhelming at times,” she

was a true brotherhood.”

says. “Having been here for this many years in various capaci-

His fraternity brothers were there for his wedding and remain close with his family. Whenever one of the group passes on, all too soon, Bell and his brothers come together

ties, I’m able to draw on my own experiences.”

That quarter-century on campus is something she chose to celebrate with a commemorative brick.

“I’ve walked these sidewalks, I’ve walked this whole terrain, for 20-plus years,” she says. “My hope is that my children

to gather donations for a brick on

will attend the university and as they walk by the Alumni

Testudo Row, right by the iconic Testudo statue at

Association, they can always look out for my brick.”

Riggs Alumni Center that greets fans on football game days. He always shares the bricks’ location with his brothers’ surviving family members, so they can visit anytime.

“It was about finding a way to remember them,” Bell says, “and to further our bond at UMD.” His children, Megan ’16, Connor ’18 and Ryan ’21, M.Ed. ’22, also attended Maryland, where the boys

ACROSS MILES AND MILESTONES The study abroad trips that Rudy de Leon Dinglas ’07 took to Germany and Italy as an undergraduate weren’t just the defining

joined PSK. Bell purchased bricks for all three

experiences of his time at Maryland. They

when they graduated.

sparked a lifelong love of travel.

“Maryland provides us all a common bond, to go

Even as his journey has taken him around

to alumni events, sporting events and tailgate for

the world, many times and many miles from

football,” Bell says. “It’s always going to be near

Maryland, his connection remains strong.

and dear to my family.”

“[Seeing a Terp abroad,] you have this instant connection and end up talking to a random stranger just because you see someone with a [Terps] hat or a backpack or a pin,” he says.

His brick serves as a reminder that no matter where he goes, he’s part of a network larger than himself.

“The brick was a meaningful way for me to give back while leaving a small piece of my story on campus, particularly next to

W H AT ’ S YO U R S T O R Y ?

Leave a permanent mark on campus at alumni.umd.edu/bricks.

Testudo,” Dinglas says. “When you look down at the names and quotes on the bricks, it creates a link across generations of Terps.”

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POST-GRAD

PROFILES

K E L LY FA S T M . S . ’ 9 3 , P H . D . ’ 0 5

Planetary Protector

NASA Scientist Leads U.S. Efforts to Stop Asteroids lead NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination urtling through the Office. solar system at more than Most of the solar system’s estimated 1.4 30,000 mph, an asteroid million asteroids are concentrated within striking Earth could have ripple the belt between Mars and Jupiter, but they effects for all of humanity. The dinosaurs had occasionally get knocked off orbit and swing no warning 66 million years ago. Luckily for toward the inner planets. Miles-long objects us, there’s Kelly Fast M.S. ’93, Ph.D. ’05. aren’t the main concern since they’re rare As NASA’s acting planetary defense officer, and highly visible, nor are little ones that she oversees U.S. efforts and global coordination to survey the sky, calculate orbits, study physical properties of near-Earth objects and identify possible impact risks. When observations in early 2025 showed asteroid 2024 YR4—half the length of a football field—on a potential crash course with Earth in 2032, she had to make the nerve-wracking call to notify U.S. agencies and the United Nations on behalf of the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN).

—KELLY FAST M.S. ’93, A flurry of global news stories PH.D. ’05 followed as the probability kept increasing, peaking at 1 in 30. By the end of February, though, additional observations narrowed down 2024 YR4’s path; Earth was in the clear.

For Fast and her colleagues, 2024 YR4 turned out to be a good exercise and a reminder of why they do the work: “It’s all about finding the asteroids before they find us,” she says.

The Hollywood-raised Fast developed her love of astronomy watching “Star Trek” and “Space: 1999” rather than “Armageddon.”

She worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt during and after her Ph.D., focusing on planetary astronomy research. After moving to NASA headquarters in Washington, she pivoted to managing the Near-Earth Object Observations Program, and in mid-2024, she stepped in to

H

disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere and make shooting stars or fireballs. Instead, NASA focuses on those in between, particularly 140 meters and larger that are tricky to spot amid many different orbits.

Her work frequently reconnects her with her alma mater; the 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, humanity’s first attempt to alter a celestial body’s

“It’s all about finding the asteroids before they find us.”

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

P H OTO CO U RT ESY O F N ASA

P U Z Z L E S O L U T I O N : M AT C H ; E N J OY; G E N I U S ; L E N G T H ; J I M H E N S O N

BILL ’80 AND MARTIN MAIER ’79

The Names in the Game? All Terps orbit, included UMD researchers, and NASA’s Planetary Data System Small Bodies Node, which archives spacecraft data and supports IAWN coordination, is based at UMD’s astronomy department. “UMD is such a key part of NASA data activity,” she says.

She’s looking forward to the launch next year of NASA’s NEO Surveyor mission, which will be the first infrared space telescope specifically designed to find nearearth objects, giving scientists the ability to detect darker asteroids, as well as provide a better view closer to the direction of the sun, which can obscure objects for ground-based telescopes.

Ultimately, “an asteroid impact is a very rare event,” Fast says. “Other natural disasters happen all the time, but this is the only one we could potentially prevent.”—ks Left: Kelly Fast stands in the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope in Sutherland, South Africa. Below: The asteroid 2024 YR4 in January 2025 as viewed by one of the largest telescopes in NASA’s Planetary Defense network.

Alum Brothers Expand Puzzle Book Series With UMD Theme ARE YOU SOMEONE who while watching TV points at

the screen and exclaims (whether or not anyone else is in the room), “That’s a Terp!”?

Maybe that’s just us. But a more fun way to put that knowledge to use might be with “Celebrity Word Scramble: Top Terps,” the 35th book by brothers Bill ’80 (above right) and Martin Maier ’79 (right). The latest in their series challenges readers to solve 112 puzzles, and all the solutions are notable UMD alums.

“It was a lot of fun going through and learning about some of these Terps who made an impact on the community,” Bill says.

The book features puzzles with four common four-, five- and six-letter words to unscramble, with circled letters in each then used to form a celeb’s name, such as Harry Hughes ’49, Joy Bauer ’86 and Dominique Dawes ’02.

Ready to test your solving skills? Try one of the “Top Terps” puzzles below.—AK

M

C

A

H

T

O

E

Y J

N

WHO AM I? Born: 1936 in Greenville, Miss.

S

I

E

U

N

G

Attended during the 1950s His creations included Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Miss Piggy, and Kermit the Frog

T

ABOVE: NASA / MAGDALENA RIDGE 2.4M TELESCOPE / N E W M E X I C O I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G Y / R YA N

L

H

E

G

N

Answer at left of page.

FA L L 2 0 2 6

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POST-GRAD

PROFILES

L A R R Y B A B I T S ’ 6 9, M . A . ’ 74

Actor of War

Archaeologist Alum Blended Personal, Professional Interests on Reenacted Battlefields or DeCADes, up and down the Eastern Seaboard, Larry Babits ’69, M.A. ’74 transformed time and again into a stranger he knew intimately: a nameless rear rank private in the First Maryland Regiment, fighting the British for American independence.

Nurturing an interest initially sparked while a UMD undergraduate, Babits has taken part in some 200 living history events: shooting competitions and Revolutionary and Civil War reenactments, a hobby that both influenced and was influenced by his work as an archaeologist specializing in American battlefields and sunken military ships.

“My work made the details of the reenactments better,” says Babits, now a retired professor of maritime studies at East Carolina University. “You look for patterns in the artifacts, and you can extrapolate from that to reproduce things that enable you to better interpret what you’re doing.”

Babits, known for his seminal book “A

F

Devil of a Whipping,” on the critical 1781 Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina, was particularly curious about the daily lives of low-ranking soldiers. For reenactments, Babits’ wife sewed his uniforms, and he carried a historically accurate weapon; his first gun, a flintlock musket, was an original that he bought from the descendants of a Revolutionary War soldier.

“He’s like a dog on a bone when he’s researching,” says a friend, former Maryland Historical Society President Burt Kummerow. “He’s done really important stuff for the community that’s interested in that subject matter.”

A favorite battle to reenact, Babits says, was Antietam. “We were in the sunken lane, where the Irish Brigade came up over the hill, and you could see their flagstaffs before they came up, and then you could see their bayonets come up, and then you could see the men come up,”

he says. “That’s something people hadn’t remarked on in their letters about the battle.”

During a reenactment to mark the Battle of Cowpens’ 200th anniversary, Babits took note of an anachronism that might have changed the course of history—someone had turned up with a highly decorated long rifle.

When the sun emerged from behind the clouds, its flash on the rifle’s silver was visible even 50 yards away. “That’s one thing you wouldn’t have seen in the Revolution, because it gave away a man’s position.”

Babits still participates in uniformed shooting competitions but gave up reenacting in 1995, when his age started to make his portrayal of a low-ranking soldier unrealistic, in his detail-oriented historian’s view. “A lot of reenactors don’t stop, but their bent shoulders, potbellies and gray hair show they are not front-line infantrymen.”— sl

Larry Babits, holding the Maryland flag, spent decades acting as a private in Revolutionary and Civil War reenactments.

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T E R P. U M D . E D U

P H OTOS CO U RT ESY O F L A R RY BA B I TS

ATKKSTHKAYA T KT K A N’ 6 A9, N DM’.1A9, . ’M 74 . P. S . ’ 2 3

CLASS NOTES LILIANA NORKAITIS ’25 was appointed

to Harford County’s Board of Education less than four years after graduating from the school system, making her one of the state’s youngest public officials. She earned a government and politics degree at UMD in three years and serves as communications director for state House of Delegates District 7.

Sounds From the Heart Alum’s Device Enables At-Home Tracking of Cardio, Lung Problems

COBY GOODHART ’20 was profiled

by People magazine for juggling his full-time work as an engineer with his luxury dog walking business in New York City, Goodhart Dog Co. KARA MCGRATH ’13 , owner of Paste

HEART DISEASE IS THE LEADING CAUSE of death around the world, claiming

& Rind in Washington, D.C., won the

victims from far-flung villages in Kenya to cities along the American Rust Belt. Soon,

categories of Perfect Plate and Perfect

a portable, patient-driven device co-created by a UMD graduate could empower

Beverage at the Cheesemonger

millions of people to better track their heart health, wherever they are.

Invitational, which brings together

SoundHeart, an electronic stethoscope guided by a user interface on a mobile app,

experts from the U.S. and Europe to

enables patients to reliably record heart and lung sounds at home and securely share

compete in cheese trivia, blind taste

them with a physician.

“We want to reach as many patients as we can, especially those who face barriers

tests, on-the-spot sensory analyses and salesmanship.

to accessing in-person care,” says Akshaya Anand ’19, M.P.S. ’23 (above), chief operating officer of Korion Health (“cor” means “heart” in Latin).

This fall, telehealth companies and health systems will be able to purchase the device for their patients to monitor chronic health conditions, collect long-term

MONICA MCNUTT M.JOUR. ’13 ,

New York Knicks radio analyst for ESPN and an NBA, WNBA and college

data and catch changes between visits. SoundHeart also enables early detection of

basketball analyst for MSG Networks,

symptoms related to congestive heart failure, valvular disease or asthma.

called every game of the team’s 2026

Anand met co-founder Anna Li, a University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon

championship run.

University M.D./Ph.D. student, at a hackathon in 2021 and was spurred by Li’s experiences with sicker-than-usual patients coming to the emergency room because they

ANN MARIE ALLISON M.A. ’98 wrote

couldn’t access regular care during the pandemic. They homed in on the stethoscope

and directed the comedy “You’re

after interviewing healthcare providers, and their idea won the $1 million Hult Prize

Dating a Narcissist” starring Marisa

in 2024, beating nearly 10,000 teams of young people from around the world.

Tomei and now available on Apple TV

That funding enabled them to grow their team to five employees, navigate the hurdles of getting medical device clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug

and Prime Video. Inspired by her own experiences in dating, it’s about a

Administration, and buy materials, equipment and robotic assembly tools for the

psychology professor trying to stop her

manufacturing process. After additional clinical trials in the U.S. and abroad, they

daughter’s whirlwind engagement from

plan to release the product directly to consumers.

a man whom she believes is trouble.

“We had a pretty steep learning curve,” says Anand, but she credits UMD resources like Startup Shell and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship for mentorship and networking opportunities. “Every day I wake up motivated and excited, working on something to help others in the community. That makes all the difference.”—KS

P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I ; I L L U S T R A T I O N S B Y CHARLENE PROSSER CASTILLO

Submit your class notes and read many more at terp.umd.edu.

FA L L 2 0 2 6

43

UNDEREXPOSED

Crabby Camaraderie TERPS CLAW INTO A CRAB FEAST on campus in

1983, but that’s all the info we could find about this photo in the university’s archives. Recognize anyone rocking ’80s styles while cracking open shells and cold brews? Do you know what occasion called for the newspaper placemats? Brush off the Old Bay and let us know at terpfeedback@umd.edu, then read the responses in the next issue alongside

FROM THE LAST ISSUE…

A few readers shelled out information about the reptilian race featured in the Spring 2026 photo, which they noted was a Terrapin Derby, common during Homecoming festivities of decades past.

Drury Bagwell, former assistant vice president of student affairs, recalled spearheading the idea in the 1970s to encourage engagement across student groups. Bernie Bogdan ’79 thought he recognized classmate Miriam Moriarty ’79 in the pictured 1978 event coaxing the competitors fearlessly—albeit slowly—forward.

another snapshot of UMD history.—AK

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P H OTOS CO U RT ESY O F T H E D I A M O N D BAC K P H OTO COLLECTION, UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

PA R T I N G S H O T

WET NOSE, FULL HEARTS

The newest addition to the UMD Police Department is a “facility dog” named Sammy. He comes from Canine Companions, a national organization that trains service dogs, and can perform 40 commands, such as “tug” to open drawers or “push” to press a button to open a door with either his nose or paws. Elena Rivello ‘26 pets the 2-year-old Labrador-golden retriever mix as he looks to his handler, Cpl. Bart Brady. Read more about Sammy L U S T R AT I O N / P H O T O C R E D I T atI Lgo.umd.edu/facilitydog.

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