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Spring 2023

red shoes peek out of a teal hammock on McKeldin Mall

Parting Shot

June 02, 2023
Students Embrace Warmer Weather on McKeldin Mall
students dance on McKeldin Mall

Post-Grad

June 02, 2023
Can You Help Us Identify These Terps?
Kylie D’Alessio films Alex measuring wall

Post-Grad

June 02, 2023
Thousands Follow Alums on TikTok, Instagram
Ryan Bunch poses with "Oz and the Musical" book, on yellow background with white and gray Wizard of Oz illustrations

Post-Grad

June 02, 2023
Alum to Head International Wizard of Oz Club
Sahil Rahman ’12 and Rahul Vinod ’11 pose outside Rasa restaurant

Post-Grad

June 02, 2023
Friends’ Fresh Take on Indian Cuisine Expands Across D.C. Area
Amber Mayfield with "While Entertaining" magazine cover

Post-Grad

June 02, 2023
Alum Highlights Black Chefs, Artists at NYC-Based Event Agency
four Terps Under 30 speakers

Post-Grad

June 02, 2023
Alums Share Advice at Terps Under 30, Women’s Leadership Development Conference
woman with briefcase walking through red tape

Explorations

June 02, 2023
Maryland Economist’s Studies Fueled Federal Drive to Ban Controversial Employee Contracts
liquid dropping into test tubes

Explorations

June 02, 2023
New Compound Fights Both Fentanyl and Meth in Bloodstream
Keisha Prawl-Woods stands in the forest

Explorations

June 02, 2023
REI-Funded Center Promotes Nature-Based Research and Reparation
drops falling onto surface

Explorations

June 02, 2023
Engineers’ Picker-Upper Is Even Quicker
still from “All That Breathes” movie

Explorations

June 02, 2023
Researcher Executive-Produced Lauded Documentary
tick

Explorations

June 02, 2023
Ask a Researcher: Advice for Real Life
car going from house to brick office building

Explorations

June 02, 2023
Survey Shows Cars Fuel Post-COVID Commute
green leaves

Explorations

June 02, 2023
Unprecedented UMD Research Program Targets Climate, Racial Justice, Energy and More
Maryland women's basketball player shoots ball vs. South Carolina

Campus Life

June 02, 2023
Achievements by Women’s Basketball, Softball and Gymnastics Teams

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

Passings

Thomas Russell Watt Sr. ’74

Thomas Russell Watt Sr. ’74 of Punta Gorda, and more recently Largo, Fla., died on April 28, 2023, following a long illness. He was 88. Born in Washington, D.C., Watt served in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1957 and graduated from UMD. He worked as an…

10s

Portia Baker Hopkins Ph.D. ’16

Portia Baker Hopkins Ph.D. ’16 became the university historian at Rice University. She was formerly postdoctoral research associate in data curation for African American studies at Rice.

Passings

Diane Alexander Shankman ’66

Diane Alexander Shankman ’66 of Silver Spring, Md., died on May 7, 2023, at age 78. She graduated from Wheaton High School and graduated from UMD with a degree in textiles and clothing. Shankman held a variety of positions in the federal government,…

Passings

Charles Joseph "Chuck" Mannix ’66

Charles Joseph "Chuck" Mannix ’66 died on April 11, 2023 at the age of 79 while recuperating from heart surgery in Wayne, Pa. Mannix was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Bethesda, Md. He was an alumnus of St. John's College High School in D.C. and…

Passings

Leslie Leibowitz ’56, M.S. ’90

Leslie Leibowitz ’56, M.S. ’90, of LaValle, Md., died on April 7, 2023, after a yearlong battle with ovarian cancer. She attended Allegany High School and earned a bachelor's degree in radio and television communications at UMD. Leibowitz became a…

70s

Franklin Black ʼ75

Franklin Black ʼ75 published his debut novel, “The Milk War Murder.” In it, a farmer and labor organizer joins a sharpshooter and war widow to investigate the murder of the son of a United States senator in 1929. Black is also a software engineer and…

Passings

Elizabeth Matthews ’65

Elizabeth Matthews ’65 died at her home in Delmar, Md., on May 4, 2023. She was 79. Soon after graduation from UMD, she began her microbiology career as a lab technician at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She put her career on hold for…

00s

Ben Margolis ’07

Ben Margolis ’07 an engineer who later founded several climate technology companies, was named a Breakthrough Energy Fellow. It is a program of Breakthrough Energy, a network founded by Bill Gates that aims to accelerate innovation in sustainable energy…