Alumni Association News

Letter From the Senior Executive Director

COMMENCEMENT SEASON is one of the most exciting times of the year at the University of Maryland. Our Testudo statues and iconic M transform into photo backdrops, Campus Drive fills with families carrying bouquets and cameras, and graduates line up in their regalia to cross the stage. From my office at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, I have a front-row seat to it all—and the distinct pleasure of welcoming our newest Terps into the alumni family.

It is a powerful network, now 431,000+ strong. Below, you’ll meet just a few of the award-winning alums who make our community extraordinary.

To support Terps everywhere, your Alumni Association hosts a wide range of programs and events, exhibited by a packed spring season. We launched Professional Development Month (featuring our first Alumni Career Fair), showcased esteemed faculty and students moving the future of AI forward and held National Networking Night with more than a dozen events across the country. The EnTERPreneur Conference and Black Alumni Weekend also returned, bringing hundreds of Terps together for networking, learning and meaningful connection. Last but not least, we recently wrapped up our annual Grad Bash, a tradition where graduating students celebrate this milestone and learn how to stay engaged as alums.

There are myriad ways to get involved. We offer year-round professional development and lifelong learning programs, including our annual Summer Reading Challenge. More than 40 regional, affinity and academic networks offer opportunities to volunteer and engage with fellow Terps year-round. We even have one-time activities such as writing postcards to admitted students, an effort that engaged nearly 400 alums this year.

However you choose to participate, you’re carrying forward a tradition I hold near and dear: Terps supporting Terps. As the alums featured in this issue demonstrate, when we come together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.

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

The Alumni Excellence Awards

From fighting climate change to creating lifesaving medical technology, our alums are making a lasting impact. The Alumni Excellence Awards honor a select group whose achievements move the university, and the world, forward. Meet the 2026 awardees below and dive deeper into their stories at alumni.umd.edu/excellence.

Forward for TOMORROW’S TRAILBLAZERS

This award honors alums who are expanding access to education, empowering the next generation of leaders and advancing innovation. Their work supports student success—from scholarships and experiential learning to mentorship and entrepreneurship—helping Terps thrive in an evolving world.

M. JAYSSON EICHOLTZ ’99
RETIRED COO, FORGE BIOLOGICS
Eicholtz is an operations professional who has developed labs and other physical spaces that help biotech and pharmaceutical companies create life-saving therapeutics.

AMY NEUGEBAUER M.C.P. ’06
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE GIVING SQUARE
As founder and director of the nonprofit Giving Square, Neugebauer helps kids ages 7-14 shape their world through the power of altruism.

LYRIC AMODIA MBA ’25
FOUNDER AND CEO, THE MOVEMENT STREET
Amodia is the founder of The Movement Street, a nonprofit that inspires, equips and mobilizes lifelong volunteers through culture, creativity and community-based service.

Forward for STRONGER COMMUNITIES

Maryland alums honor the spirit of connection, civic responsibility and creative impact. Through service, innovation, the arts and advocacy, these distinguished Terps are uniting communities, inspiring action and driving meaningful change on campus and around the world. They exemplify what it means to Do Good and do well.

CHRISTOPHER KOPER ’88, M.A. ’92, PH.D. ’95
PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY, LAW AND SOCIETY, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
A pioneer in evidence-based crime policy, Koper created the globally used Koper Curve Principle to help police departments organize patrols in crime hot spots.

MARIE BRODSKY ’24
COFOUNDER AND CEO, WISE CONNECT
Brodsky launched the digital platform WISE Connect to create social opportunities for older Americans. It seeks to cut health risks, including dementia and stroke, associated with isolation.

Forward for BOLD AND BRAVE SOLUTIONS

These alums are advancing knowledge, driving innovation and creating real-world solutions to society’s most urgent challenges. Whether through breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, quantum science, literacy or global health, these Terps are shaping a better, more equitable future by turning bold ideas into lasting impact.

RAM SAMUDRALA PH.D. ’97
PROFESSOR AND CHIEF, DIVISION OF BIOINFORMATICS, UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
Samudrala invented a pioneering technique to predict disease treatments, analyzing how every drug interacts with every protein in the human body.

JENNIFER JENKINS MBA ’16
CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER, RUBICON CARBON
A 2007 Nobel Prize recipient with former Vice President Al Gore, Jenkins fights climate change through innovation in the voluntary carbon market.

LUKE T. KUES M.P.H. ’25
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, TRUE COMMUNITY
Working to galvanize a “wellness revolution,” Kues founded True Community, which provides first aid and CPR certification in 20 American cities and in Africa.

The Alumni Association fosters TERRAPIN PRIDE by rallying alums through programs that merge passion and purpose. Make a gift now through the Forward campaign.

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The Maryland Awards

Each year, we honor the exceptional achievements of seven distinguished alums at A Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards. Presented during an intimate ceremony in November, these awards recognize Terps who have excelled in public service, launched innovative companies and made groundbreaking discoveries. Learn more at alumni.umd.edu/maryland-awards.

FIRST LADY DAWN FLYTHE MOORE ’97
Hall of Fame Inductee

BRENDAN IRIBE
President’s Award

OMAR TARABISHI ’13 M.A. ‘21
Do Good Award

JACKIE CARDELLO ’93
Tyser Gottwals Award

MARGO THOMAS PH.D. ’90
Elaine Johnson Coates Award

RITA R. COLWELL
Spirit of Maryland Award

KEVIN TU ’23
Outstanding Young Alumnus Award