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Spring 2024

collection of Terp license plates

Features

May 17, 2024
UMD-themed vanity plates are the highway four-leaf clovers we love to spot. We share some of the best—and the tales behind the tags.
cooking utensils and lock

Explorations

May 21, 2024
Researchers Use Recipes to Test Tool for Analyzing DoD Classification Guidelines
Melvin Edwards poses with statue

Parting Shot

May 17, 2024
Sculpture Dedicated to Late Groundbreaking Artist
people hold hands along Baltimore Avenue

Post-Grad

May 17, 2024
An ‘Underexposed’ Photo of UMD History
Lauren Champion rowing

Post-Grad

May 17, 2024
Terp, Teammate Complete Race Across Atlantic in Record Time
collage of Lee Mendelowitz, Di Zou and Benjamin Eidelberg

Post-Grad

May 17, 2024
3 Alums Crunch Numbers as Sports Analytics Experts for Pro Teams in the DMV
Jeanette Epps in astronaut gear

Post-Grad

May 17, 2024
Alum Astronaut Joins International Space Station
volunteers hold bags

Post-Grad

May 17, 2024
Terps ‘Do Good’ on Campus and Beyond
A couple sits behind a table with some card games on it

Features

May 17, 2024
A Fluctuating, Ever-Changing, Up-and-Down Journey to Gaming Success
The image is a stylized, futuristic illustration that depicts a hilly landscape with a car winding through it.

Features

May 17, 2024
Ninety-second battery fill-ups. All-day range. Unparalleled safety. UMD researchers are powering up EVs to save the planet.
two baby deer near mailbox

Explorations

May 17, 2024
Is Neighborhood Wildlife Spreading COVID?
one person whispers into another's ear

Explorations

May 17, 2024
Gabbing About Others Offers Unexpected Benefits in Social Groups, UMD and Stanford Researchers Find
three cartoon brains exercising

Explorations

May 17, 2024
Researcher Finds That Moderate Movement Can Protect Memory and Cognition
SHELBI NAHWILET MEISSNER portrait

Explorations

May 17, 2024
Professor Tells Stories Behind Her Traditional Tattoos
Frederick Douglass statue

Explorations

May 17, 2024
New Center Links Humanities, Social Change

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue
Melissa M. Bissen headshot

90s

Melissa M. Bissen ’96

Melissa M. Bissen ’96 was included in Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Maryland for 2024. Bissen is vice president and controller of Whitney, Bailey, Cox, & Magnani and has provided professional accounting services to Baltimore-area…
Dan Flannery headshot

80s

Dan Flannery ’85

Dan Flannery ’85 was named chief operating officer at Loews Hotels & Co. Most recently, he was the CEO of Cape Resorts, and before that role, Flannery created and launched the Edition luxury lifestyle brand with Ian Schrager, opening its first 15…
Colleen Vacelet headshot

00s

Colleen Vacelet ’02

Colleen Vacelet ’02 was selected as the Baltimore Business Journal’s “2024 Mentor of the Year.” She is the founder of Intreegue Design, an Elkridge-based landscape architecture firm, and last year acquired Order Green Supply, a Baltimore firm that…

70s

Willie May Ph.D. ’77

Willie May Ph.D. ’77 was named to the Baltimore Business Journal’s “Faces to Watch” for 2024, which highlights leaders in Greater Baltimore business who are leading top companies, nonprofits and projects with “a mission to effect change.” May is the vice…

80s

Thomas “Tom” Bradley ’80

Thomas “Tom” Bradley ’80 was appointed to Palomar Holdings’ board of directors. Bradley has over 30 years of experience and has held multiple executive and board-level positions, including most recently as executive chairman and CEO of Argo Group…

00s

Tahra Grant ’08

Tahra Grant ’08 was promoted to executive vice president and chief communications officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment. She is the first African American woman to hold this role at a major Hollywood studio. She had led corporate communications for…

Passings

Emily Ann Sakakini Murray ’69

Emily Ann Sakakini Murray ’69 died on April 10, 2024, in Hockessin, Del., at age 77. She graduated from Granby High School, and from UMD magna cum laude with a degree in library science. She was a lifetime member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society and the…

90s

Victoria Gruber ’91

Victoria Gruber ’91 was named by the Maryland Daily Record to its 2024 Top 100 Women List. Gruber is the executive director of the Maryland Department of Legislative Services.