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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

80s

Marisa Bartolomei Ph.D. ’82

Marisa Bartolomei Ph.D. ’82 was awarded the 2024 March of Dimes Richard B. Johnston, Jr., MD Prize. She is a co-director of the Epigenetics Institute at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, where she is also a professor of cell…

10s

Andrew Bassan ’10

Andrew Bassan ’10 won $10,200 and placed second competing on “Wheel of Fortune” in January. “It was also extra special to be one of the few contestants to play on Pat Sajak's final season,” he says. Bassan, a lawyer with the D.C. firm Kiernan Trebach,…
Akash Palkhiwala headshot

90s

Akash Palkhiwala MBA ’99

Akash Palkhiwala MBA ’99 was promoted to CFO and COO at Qualcomm. He has worked for the company since 2001, most recently as chief financial officer since 2019. He earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from L.D. College of Engineering…
Nora Shearer headshot

90s

Nora Shearer ’91

Nora Shearer ’91 was named Seward & Kissel’s chief marketing and business development officer. Most recently, she served as chief business development and marketing officer at Nardello & Co., the global investigations and business intelligence…
"Softie" Stories book cover

20s

Megan Howell MFA '20

West Virginia University Press will release a short story collection by first-time author Megan Howell MFA '20 in November. "Softie” shares tales of women and girls transforming their bodies and testing their sanity, trying to find meaning in the…

Passings

Ellen Marie Johnson Lawther Kowalyk ’55

Ellen Marie Johnson Lawther Kowalyk ’55 died on April 9, 2024, at age 90. She was a third-generation Washingtonian. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in three and a half years from UMD’s College of Home Economics and was a member of Kappa…
J. Wellford Dillard headshot

90s

J. Wellford Dillard III MBA ’97

J. Wellford Dillard III MBA ’97 was named chief executive officer of Avid, a technology provider to the media and entertainment industry. He has more than 20 years of experience in the software industry.
Shaakira E. DeLoatch headshot

10s

Shaakira E. DeLoatch ’17

Ginja Snap, a ginger beverage company founded by Shaakira E. DeLoatch ’17, was selected for the latest cohort of Satander’s small business program. Membership to the program will allow DeLoatch to scale the company to larger regional retailers.