Fall 2022

Campus Life

Da Vinci Drone’s New Twist

UMD Students Help Renaissance Master’s 500 Year-old Design Take Flight

Campus Life

‘Bridging’ an Academic Divide

Faculty and Students Bring Writing Course to D.C. Corrections Facilities

Campus Life

Tell and Show

Guests Curate Driskell Center Exhibit by Sharing Artworks That Moved Them

Campus Life

A New Recipe for Success

As Yahentamitsi Opens, See How Student Dining Has Changed

News

Home on the Range

Donation, Land Purchase Permanently Place Angus Cattle Program on UMD Land

News

illustration of gun with a knot at the end

UMD, GMU Launch Gun Violence Prevention Effort

Collaboration With D.C.-Area Universities to Pursue Evidence-Based Solutions

News

‘A Link to the Past and a Window to the Future’

School of Public Policy’s Dynamic New Building Invites Problem-Solving Discourse

Photo

Out With the Crowd

Fans Pack Baseball Stadium to Cheer on Terps in NCAA Regional Tournament

Features

The Modern Battle for Maryland’s Oysters

Pirates plundered and diseases decimated the Chesapeake’s bounty, but UMD researchers are wielding AI and robotics to save a struggling industry.

Features

Coal Veins

Waves of immigrants have long clashed in Pennsylvania coal country, where a UMD anthropologist is digging into the commonalities between old and new.

Features

A Bucketload of Terp Traditions

The “M Book,” with its 20 don’t-miss Maryland milestones, is back. Join a super-spirited student on her journey to complete them all.

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

Passings

John W. Witters ’65

John W. Witters ’65 died on July 5, 2022, in Temple Hills, Md., at age 81. John was born in Mt. Vernon, Ill. and graduated from Mt. Vernon Township High School, John moved to Washington, D.C., where he met his bride, graduated from UMD and began his…

20s

Shinta Herwantoro Hernandez Ph.D. ’21

Shinta Herwantoro Hernandez Ph.D. ’21 was recognized by Women We Admire as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Maryland for 2022. She is the founding dean of the Virtual Campus at Montgomery College in Maryland. Prior to that, she was chair of the…

Passings

Richard Wayne Beckner Ph.D. ’75

Richard Wayne Beckner Ph.D. ’75, 89, of Carlisle, Pa., died on Aug. 23, 2022. He graduated from Codorus Township High School, where he was captain of the debate team. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served on active duty, then in the Air Force…

10s

Victoria E. Thornton ’16

Victoria E. Thornton ’16 joined the law firm Goodell DeVries as an associate as part of the firm’s combination with Astrachan Gunst Thomas. Prior to entering private practice, she interned for The Honorable Jennifer B. Schiffer and served as a law clerk…

80s

Michelle Singletary ’84

Michelle Singletary ’84 will receive a lifetime achievement from the 2022 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, sponsored by the G. and R. Loeb Foundation Inc. and University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of…

Passings

Donna Dilts Bennett ’69, MBA ’79

Donna Dilts Bennett ’69, MBA ’79 of Vero Beach, Fla., died on July 2, 2022. She was 74 years old. She started her career as an economist with the Civil Aeronautics Board, which is where she met her husband of 33 years, Randy Bennett. Bennett moved on to…

Passings

Robert Mitchell Foster ’51

Robert Mitchell Foster ’51 of Wilmington, N.C., died on June 17, 2022, at age 94. He was raised in Kansas City, Mo. and D.C. and in 1945 entered the U.S. Army. After graduating from UMD, he earned his master’s degree in education studies from the George…

80s

Kevin McKeon ’85

Kevin McKeon ’85 married Tamatha Molyneux on June 11 at UMD’s Memorial Chapel. The UMD-themed reception was held at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center. McKeon is senior vice president for finance at payment processing company Vantiv.