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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
Tamara Wilds Lawson headshot

90s

Tamara Wilds Lawson M.A. ’98, Ph.D. ’09

Tamara Wilds Lawson M.A. ’98, Ph.D. ’09 was honored with a Washington Business Journal Diversity in Business Award. Wilds Lawson is the president and CEO of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, a community-supported foundation that invests in the power…

20s

Alyson “Aly” Nesson MBA ’21

Alyson “Aly” Nesson MBA ’21 was named director of people and culture at Stratacomm. Previously, Nesson was head of people at With Double and director of human resources at Bonterra Tech.

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…

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…

00s

Emily Guskin ’06

Emily Guskin ’06 was part of the The Washington Post team recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its immersive series on the AR-15 rifle in American politics and culture. She is the polling analyst at the newspaper, specializing in…

90s

Tessa Edison ’99

Tessa Edison ’99, founder and CEO of Asset Management Consulting, was inducted into the BOW Collective, an organization of the nation’s top 100 Black female business owners.
Charise Joy Pfeffer headshot

Passings

Charise Joy Pfeffer ’02

Charise Joy Pfeffer ’02 of Rhinebeck, N.Y., died on May 5, 2024, from complications of Huntington's disease at age 43. She was a graduate of the Hebrew Academy of the Capital District, Bethlehem High School and UMD, where she majored in government and…
Kimberly Mamaril headshot

20s

Kimberly Mamaril MBA ’22

Kimberly Mamaril MBA ’22 joined Las Olas Capital Advisors as vice president of financial planning. She is a certified financial planner.