Fall 2024

Campus Life

From Ashes to Awe

Students and Faculty Mark 20 Years of Excavating and Documenting Little-Known Ruins Near Pompeii

News

two cans of Testudo Premium Lager, with one showing Testudo holding a Maryland flag

Testudo on Tap

UMD Joins With Baltimore Brewery Co-founded by Alum to Offer New Beer

News

2 Terps Take Gold

Triple Jumper, Basketball Player Earn Top Honors in Paris Olympics

Features

Connie Chung sitting at a table with her book in front of her

‘Connie’ Breaks a Story: Her Own

Trailblazing journalist Connie Chung ’69 battled misogyny and racism to reach the pinnacle of TV news. In a new self-titled memoir, she shares what it took to get there.

Features

10 in 10

From titles to revenue to academics, Maryland scored by joining the Big Ten Conference. Here are 10 ways it’s been a B1G decade.

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

90s

Rani Al-Mashat M.A. ’98, Ph.D. ’03

Rani Al-Mashat M.A. ’98, Ph.D. ’03 was appointed Egypt’s minister of planning and international cooperation. She was most recently the minister of International Cooperation and served as the first female minister of tourism. She also worked at the Central…

Passings

Sheila A. Rovelstad ’72

Sheila A. Rovelstad ’72 died on May 20, 2024, in Venice, Florida, at the age of 73. At UMD, she was active in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She went on to become owner of the Artistree Shop in Ellicott City, Maryland, cosmetics manager of the May Company in…

Passings

Robert L. Parker M.S. ’58, Ph.D. ’60

Robert L. Parker M.S. ’58, Ph.D. ’60, of Washington, D.C., died on April 21, 2024, at the age of 94. Raised primarily in Des Moines and Pocahontas, Iowa. Parker received his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his graduate…

Passings

Ruth Ann Bates ’73

Ruth Ann Bates ’73, of Deale, Maryland, died on June 17, 2024, at age 73. She graduated from Richard Montgomery High School and earned a degree in WHAT at UMD and a master's degree from Trinity College. She had a successful career in microbiology working…

90s

Tricia Bishop ’99

Tricia Bishop ’99 was promoted to managing editor of The Baltimore Sun. She had been director of opinion and features content since 2019. She started as a features editorial assistant at The Sun after graduating from UMD and worked as a reporter,…

00s

Madieu Williams ’03

Madieu Williams ’03 joined Eagle Title as a settlement officer. He previously worked in corporate and nonprofit organizations,and has an MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore School of…

10s

Andrew Gonnella ’11 MBA ’17

Andrew Gonnella ’11 MBA ’17 was named chief executive officer of Urban Umbrella, which provides modern sidewalk scaffolding solutions. He had been involved with the company as an investor since 2017, serving as a strategic advisor since early 2024 and as…

Passings

Melanie Knouse Cline ’12

Melanie Knouse Cline ’12 died on June 3, 2024, at age 33. At UMD, she was the captain of the Ultimate Frisbee intramural team and a frequent attendee at the drop-in softball group that her father Ernest Knouse established in 1976. She enjoyed cooking,…