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Maryland Today

Fall 2023

football team runs through "Go Terps" banner

Parting Shot

September 14, 2023
Popular Football Uniform Returns Full-Time This Fall
food in test tubes

Post-Grad

September 14, 2023
Food Scientist Melds Chemistry, Culinary Passion at McCormick
two gymnasts pose on horse

Post-Grad

September 14, 2023
Can You Make Sense of This Horseplay?
Lynde Washington poses in front of his artwork

Post-Grad

September 14, 2023
Former Cornerback Tackles Subjects’ Essences on Canvas
Amie Ward portrait

Post-Grad

September 14, 2023
Alum Serves Up Resources to Improve Health, Equity of Hospitality Industry
members of the Sugar Hill Sisterhood

Post-Grad

September 14, 2023
From College Park to the Caribbean, Sugar Hill Sisterhood Celebrates 50th Gathering
fans watch as Mighty Sound of Maryland marches by

Post-Grad

September 14, 2023
Meet the New Members; 3 Reasons to Return for UMD Homecoming
A white truck was driving down a country road

Features

September 14, 2023
In rural Maryland, a new “been-there-done- that” approach to the opioid crisis offers hope on four wheels.
Yellow taxi on the road

Features

September 14, 2023
Alum named NYC taxi commissioner navigates ridesharing’s rise, drivers’ economic woes—and plenty of midtown traffic.
two students sit on WMUC couch. Inset photos: students install radio tower; students review tally sheets

Features

September 14, 2023
How do you track 75 years of college radio at Maryland? Decades of deejays replay history, hijinks and the music that made WMUC.
fire burns down houses

Explorations

September 14, 2023
UMD Leads National Study on Long-Term Effects of Wildfires
Hal Daumé III behind projection of code

Explorations

September 14, 2023
Researcher Heading New $20M NSF-Backed Institute Says Systems Should Support Societal Good
Toucha11y rendering

Explorations

September 14, 2023
Palm-sized Robot Navigates Touchscreens for Visually Impaired Users
Jennifer Smallwood-Holmes talks to kids in classroom

Explorations

September 14, 2023
Ask an Expert: Advice for Real Life
holding hands

Explorations

September 14, 2023
We’ll Give Up a Lot to Share Experiences With Loved Ones, Study Shows
bus shelter with plant growing on top

Explorations

September 14, 2023
UMD-Grown, Plant-Packed Bus Shelters Debut Near Campus

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

00s

Jennifer Holz ’01

Jennifer Holz ’01, AARP Maryland’s associate state director for community outreach, received AARP’s 2023 Maureen McKoy Award for Excellence in Service. She has been with AARP since 2006.

00s

Jennifer Covahey ’08

Jennifer Covahey ’08 was named to The Daily Record’s 2023 Leading Women Under 40 list. She is director of college success at the CollegeBound Foundation in Baltimore. Covahey earned a master’s degree in mental health counseling and school counseling from…

Passings

Darren Drozdov ’94

Former football player and pro wrestler Darren Drozdov ’94 died June 30 in Pomona, N.J. He was 54, according to The New York Times. Drozdov grew up in Mays Landing, N.J., and spent most of his adult life there. After graduating from UMD, he was signed as…

Passings

Denise Tanczyn Arnett ’78

Denise Tanczyn Arnett ’78 died on July 2, 2023, at Brightview Senior Living-Westminster (Md.). She was 67. The Baltimore native earned a bachelor's degree in special education and later a bachelor's degree in physical therapy at UMD, then completed all…
Penelope “Penny” Ball Gourse headshot with dog

Passings

Penelope “Penny” Ball Gourse ’73

Penelope “Penny” Ball Gourse ’73 of Highland, Md., died on May 20, 2023, at age 75. She was born in Baltimore to Donald and Isabel (nee Bittinger) Ball. She earned a B.A. from the University of Maryland, a Juris Doctor degree from the D.C. School of Law,…
James T. Brannon III headshot

Passings

James T. Brannon III ’71

James T. Brannon III ’71 died on May 17, 2023, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at age 74, He was a graduate of LaSalle High School in Cumberland, Md., and earned a football scholarship to UMD, where he earned a degree in journalism.…

10s

John Devlin M.M. ’11, D.M.A. ’15

John Devlin M.M. ’11, D.M.A. ’15 received a 2023 Georg Solti Career Assistance Award, given to 22 young conductors by the Solti Foundation U.S. His contract as music director of the Wheeling (Va.) Symphony has been renewed for four years, and he was…

Passings

Peggy S. Ratcheson M.A. ’68

Peggy S. Ratcheson M.A. ’68 died on May 6, 2023, at her Hamilton, Mont., home after a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 80. She was born in St. Louis and attended Miami University in Ohio, the University of California Berkeley and Washington…