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Fall 2023

Parting Shot football team runs through "Go Terps" banner

Rewriting the Script

Popular Football Uniform Returns Full-Time This Fall

Post-Grad two gymnasts pose on horse

Underexposed

Can You Make Sense of This Horseplay?

Post-Grad food in test tubes

Lessons in Flavoring

Food Scientist Melds Chemistry, Culinary Passion at McCormick

Post-Grad Lynde Washington poses in front of his artwork

Brush With Greatness

Former Cornerback Tackles Subjects’ Essences on Canvas

Post-Grad Amie Ward portrait

Cheers to Safe Bars

Alum Serves Up Resources to Improve Health, Equity of Hospitality Industry

Post-Grad members of the Sugar Hill Sisterhood

The Sweetest Connection

From College Park to the Caribbean, Sugar Hill Sisterhood Celebrates 50th Gathering

Post-Grad fans watch as Mighty Sound of Maryland marches by

Alumni Association News

Meet the New Members; 3 Reasons to Return for UMD Homecoming

Features A white truck was driving down a country road

Roads to Recovery

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

Features Yellow taxi on the road

All Hail David Do

Alum named NYC taxi commissioner navigates ridesharing’s rise, drivers’ economic woes—and plenty of midtown traffic.

Features two students sit on WMUC couch. Inset photos: students install radio tower; students review tally sheets

‘Get Listening, Kids’

How do you track 75 years of college radio at Maryland? Decades of deejays replay history, hijinks and the music that made WMUC.

Explorations fire burns down houses

Burning Question for Babies’ Health

UMD Leads National Study on Long-Term Effects of Wildfires

Explorations Hal Daumé III behind projection of code

Building AI You Can Trust

Researcher Heading New $20M NSF-Backed Institute Says Systems Should Support Societal Good

Explorations Toucha11y rendering

An Ally for Access

Palm-sized Robot Navigates Touchscreens for Visually Impaired Users

Explorations Jennifer Smallwood-Holmes talks to kids in classroom

Preschool Director Explains How to Turn Tots’ Chatter Into Conversation

Ask an Expert: Advice for Real Life

Explorations holding hands

Better Together

We’ll Give Up a Lot to Share Experiences With Loved Ones, Study Shows

Explorations bus shelter with plant growing on top

Gimme (Green) Shelter

UMD-Grown, Plant-Packed Bus Shelters Debut Near Campus

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

20s

Brandon Bennett Young ’22

Brandon Bennett Young ’22 (above) won the National Havoc Robot League’s August tournament and "Golden Dumpster" trophy in Norwalk, Conn., in the 30-pound category with his vertical spinner bot "Vorion.” This win qualified Young for the league’s…

Passings

Herbert LeRoy Strawsburg Jr. ’56

Herbert LeRoy Strawsburg Jr. ’56 died on June 5, 2023, at Frederick (Md.) Health Hospital at age 89. He graduated from Frederick High School and earned an accounting degree at UMD. He served as vice president of Farmers and Mechanics National Bank until…
Albert James Klavon headshot

Passings

Albert James Klavon ’68, M.S. ’73, Ph.D. ’75

Albert James Klavon ’68, M.S. ’73, Ph.D. ’75 of Silver Spring, Md., died on May 26, 2023, at age 87. He earned three degrees at UMD in agriculture and agricultural and extension education, then worked there for 38 years, including 23 as an assistant dean…

90s

Alka Bhave ’96, M.S. ’98

Alka Bhave ’96, M.S. ’98 was hired as president of Fearless Digital, Baltimore’s largest software development company and one of its largest minority-owned businesses. Prior to joining Fearless, Bhave was chief operations officer for the nonprofit…
Jo Elaine Tucker headshot

Passings

Jo Elaine Tucker ’89

Jo Elaine Tucker ’89 died on March 26, 2023, at her home in Naples, Fla., after a battle with cancer. She was 62. She grew up in Bel Air, Md., and earned a psychology degree at UMD. She was a massage therapist who had a passion for helping people to…

Passings

Susanne (Popluder) Mosler ’67

Susanne (Popluder) Mosler ’67 died on Aug. 22, 2023, in University Park, Fla., at age 78. She graduated from Forest Park High School in Baltimore, where she played badminton and was a member of Phi Delta sorority. At UMD, she majored in elementary…

00s

L.S. McKee M.F.A. ’05

“Creature, Wing, Heart, Machine,” the debut collection of alter-ego poems by L.S. McKee M.F.A. ’05, confronts the surveillance gaze of online desire. Her work has appeared in Narrative, The Massachusetts Review, Best New Poets, Cincinnati Review, The…

80s

Todd D. Brown ’84

Todd D. Brown ’84, an attorney with Shulman Rogers in Potomac, Md., was named to Best Lawyers 2024, a recognition based on peer review that he has earned every year since 2019. He practices in the area of land use and zoning law.