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Spring 2025

Spring 2025 collage of receipt, court documents, photo of two women and red string connected by red pushpins

Criminal Calculations

How Students in UMD’s Forensic Accounting Club Helped Crack a Murder Case

 Features portraits of IAP Cohort 1 on colorful background

A Second Family, a Limitless Future

A unique scholarship program has transformed the lives of hundreds of UMD students. Twenty-five years later, its pioneers share how.

 News map showing core quantum entities in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia: federal agencies and labs, quantum companies, quantum resources and university-affiliated research centers

State, UMD to Build ‘Capital of Quantum’

High-Tech Field Will Bring Transformative Advances, Leaders Say

 News group of nine holds documents at table with UMB, UMD tablecloth

$10M Gift Propels New Center for Translational Engineering and Medicine

State Initiative Adds $12.5M to Investment From Edward and Jennifer St. John

 Campus Life student in red shirt leads tour by Do Good statue

New ‘Image,’ Name for UMD’s Tour Guides

Walk Back Through 40 Years of Fun Facts and Surprising Perks

 Campus Life gloved hands hold 3D-printed peace medals

Tribal History Meets Modern Tech

Piscataway, UMD Team Up to 3D-Print Replicas of Peace Medals

 Campus Life student walks by four framed images of playing cards

Students Put Their Stamp on the Stamp

Art Purchasing Program Puts Terps in Charge of Creative Choices for Gallery’s Collection

 Campus Life baby goat drinks from a bottle

New Kids on the Farm

Campus Farm Welcomes First Dairy Goats

 Campus Life Kermit the Frog

An Unforgettable ‘Kermencement’

Alum Jim Henson’s Beloved Muppet Named Speaker for Campus Ceremony

 Campus Life archival photo of men's lacrosse team

Sticking to Success

Powerhouse Men’s Lacrosse Program Celebrates 100th Season

 Campus Life football player with money sign on jersey and dollar bills in background

The X’s and O’s of Revenue Sharing

What to Know as Colleges Could Begin Paying D-I Student-Athletes

 Explorations two students point to cream pan they dug up

Crystal Clear

Centuries-Old Stones Uncovered by Archaeologist Reveal Stories of Ireland’s Mystical Past

 Explorations Sherlock examining news story with magnifying glass

How to Be Your Own Fact Checker

Ask the Expert: Advice for Real Life

 Explorations cartoon brain with hands holding dumbbell, papers, phone, ball, book, briefcase

Heart-Healthy Lifestyles Can Also Delay Brain Aging, UMD Researchers Find

Diet, Exercise and Other Behaviors Can Impact Dementia Risk, Study of 20K Brain MRIs Shows

 Explorations Marsha Laufer talks to student

A Vote for Civic Education

Gift to Maryland Democracy Initiative Supports Political Engagement, Literacy

 Explorations tornado coming out of laptop

A New Twist on Tornado Tracking

Undergrad Coproduces First Database Documenting Events Worldwide

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Losing a Game of Risk

Insurance Expert Proposes Plan to Save Homeowners’ Coverage

 Explorations five roads diverging on yellow background

Bottleneck Buster

After Key Bridge Collapse, Engineer Seeks to Ease Commutes in Baltimore

 Features cracked eggshell with dark background

Solutions to Bird Flu Hatched

On the farm and in the lab, researchers are fighting a virus that’s pushing up food prices and threatening a new pandemic

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue
Alicia Patterson Rasnic

Passings

Alicia Patterson Rasnic ’64

Alicia Patterson Rasnic ’64 of Glen Ellyn, Ill., died on April 28, 2025. She was 83. She attended Towson High School, studied human ecology at UMD, then traveled the U.S. conducting marketing survey work for Proctor and Gamble. She went on to market…
Christian Dubay

90s

Christian Dubay ’95

Christian Dubay ’95 was named chair of the board of directors of the American National Standards Institute. Dubay is vice president, engineering and research and chief engineer of the National Fire Protection Association.  
Joseph E. Amato

80s

Joseph E. Amato ’84

Joseph E. Amato ’84 was named interim president and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. He was the bank’s current executive vice president and chief financial officer. 
Katherine Polasek

90s

Katherine Polasek ’99

Katherine Polasek ’99 was named dean of SUNY Cortland’s School of Professional Studies, effective July 3. She was chair of the university’s kinesiology department. Polasek earned an M.S. in kinesiology from the University of Illinois, Chicago and a Ph.D.…
Ryan Lewis

00s

Ryan Lewis MPP ’09

Ryan Lewis MPP ’09 was appointed CEO of Rancher Government Solutions (RGS), the leader in secure Linux, Kubernetes and enterprise Open Source software for critical missions in the U.S. government. Prior to joining RGS, he served as partner at SRI…
Donald M. McCall Jr.

Passings

Donald M. McCall Jr. ’81

Donald M. McCall Jr. ’81 died on April 19, 2025, in Melbourne, Fla., at the age of 70. He was a varsity football player at Liverpool High School outside Syracuse. At 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served until 1985. During his time in…
Brent Howitz

90s

Brent Horwitz ’92

Brent Horwitz ’92 was named chief customer engagement officer at WMS, the premier global provider of cruise wireless connectivity. He brings more than 25 years of cruise connectivity industry expertise, including business development and customer…
Gina Cady

00s

Gina Cady ’05

Gina Cady ’05 was one of the winners of the Clean Energy Education and Empowerment’s Initiative’s C3E Awards, honoring nine women for outstanding leadership and accomplishments in clean energy. Cady was a U.S. diplomat for the United States Agency for…