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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

90s

Dian Seidel Ph.D. ’92

Dian Seidel Ph.D. ’92 wrote a memoir, “Kindergarten at 60” which will be published on June 20. A longtime climate scientist, she chronicles her adventure traveling to Thailand with her husband where she navigates a new career and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Passings

Nancy T. Ladyman ’59

Nancy T. Ladyman ’59, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, died on April 5, 2023. She was 87. Born in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., she graduated from UMD with a degree in international relations and moved to Germany, where she married, before moving to Liverpool, U.K. and…

Passings

Robert Henry Merson Jr. ’56

Robert Henry Merson Jr. ’56 of Laurel, Md., died on May 6, 2023 at age 91. He grew up in Mount Rainier, Md., and graduated from McKinley Tech High School. He went on to study marketing at UMD. An accountant, Merson spent the first years of his career at…

00s

Julie Turner M.P.M. ’03

President Joe Biden nominated Julie Turner M.P.M. ’03 as special envoy on North Korean human rights issues. She most recently served as director of the Office of East Asia and the Pacific in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and…

90s

Eris S. Parnes ’99

Blank Rome LLP welcomed attorney Eris S. Parnes ’99 to the firm’s International Trade practice group in Washington, D.C. Parnes is an accomplished litigator who focuses on advocating for and advising clients in international trade disputes and other…

10s

Alexander Gilbert ’17

Alexander Gilbert ’17 accepted a judicial clerkship in the New Jersey Superior Court. He plans to take the bar exam after graduating from the University of Memphis’ Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

Passings

Adriana Garcia ’64, M.A. ’67

Adriana Garcia ’64, M.A. ’67 died on March 31, 2023, at Calvary Hospital in New York City at age 82. After completing her degrees at UMD, she earned a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Illinois. Garcia was professor of Latin American and Caribbean…

00s

Kiandra D. Steffy ’09

Kiandra D. Steffy ’09 was named to the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board, an agency of the state’s Supreme Court. Steffy is senior counsel in Saxton & Stump’s Labor and Employment, Title IX, Investigations and Criminal Defense, Education…