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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

Passings

Rand Wood Tuttle ’59

Rand Wood Tuttle ’59 of Warrenton, Va., died on April 13, 2024, at the age of 87. He attended Bladensburg High School, then served at UMD as senior class president, president of the SAE chapter and of the Interfraternity Council, and was a member of…
Lauren A. Mendelsohn headshot

10s

Lauren A. Mendelsohn ’13

Lauren A. Mendelsohn ’13, a junior partner at the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa, was a winner of the 2024 North Bay Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” Awards. She is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine School of Law.
Pavan Davuluri headshot

00s

Pavan Davuluri M.S. ’02

Pavan Davuluri M.S. ’02 was tapped by Microsoft to lead its Windows operating system and Surface devices teams. Davuluri joined Microsoft in 2001 and most recently served as corporate vice president.
Winston Gandy headshot

10s

Winston Gandy III ’13

As assistant coach of the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, Winston Gandy III ’13 took home the NCAA women’s basketball championship this year. Head coach Dawn Staley called Gandy “the difference maker” for his scout on Iowa star…
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…
Manuel Antonakas headshot

Passings

Manuel Antonakas ’63

Manuel Antonakas ’63 died in Towson, Md., on Jan. 19, 2024, at the age of 84. Was born on Jan. 2, 1940, in Baltimore. He graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and earned a mechanical engineering degree from UMD and a law degree from the…

Passings

Harvey Walden M.A. ’73

Harvey Walden M.A. ’73 died on Aug. 25, 2022. Walden earned a master’s degree in applied mathematics at UMD and worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for 57 years. Among his many accomplishments, Walden chose the site of the landing of the lunar…
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…