Winter 2022

Campus Life

A Peak of Pickle Players

With Pingpong-Tennis-Badminton Mashup on the Upswing, Terp Pro Leads the Way

Campus Life

Projecting the Future

Family’s $2.5M in Gifts Will Fund Arts Innovation, Support Education Majors

Explorations

Book Pulls the Lid Off Canned Food’s History

Cupboard Staple’s Impact Goes Beyond the Dinner Table

Campus Life

Science Behind the Suds

New Fermentation Major Will Support Growing Maryland Craft Beverage and Food Industries

Explorations

Swipe Left on Dating Stereotypes

Study Reveals Fewer Romances, Little Difference Between App, In-Person Pairings

News

New Lab, Center Advance Quantum Computing

UMD Makes $20M Investment in Q-Lab, Leads $25M NSF Grant on Quantum Simulation

Post-Grad

‘Protecting the Democratic Process Itself’

Alum Takes Over as Capitol Police Chief in Wake of Jan. 6 Riot

Explorations

Another Kind of Tree Planting

Researcher Asks: Could Burying Enough Dead Wood Alter the Globe’s Climate Trajectory?

Campus Life

A Hardly ‘Boring’ Achievement

Student Team Wins Safety Award in Elon Musk’s Digging Contest

Campus Life

Living, Learning and Teaching

Honors College Scholar-in-Residence Spends Semester Among Students in Residence Hall

News

New Dining Hall to Honor Indigenous People of Maryland

Post-Grad

Letters of Hope and Familiarity

Alum’s New Book Highlights African Americans’ Relationship to Lincoln

Post-Grad

A Better Plan for Secondhand

Alum’s Streamlined Furniture Resale Website Aims to Cushion the Stress of Online Sales

Post-Grad

Throwback Threads

As Women’s Basketball Team Shoots for More Success, Get a Glimpse of 1920s Game-day Garb

Class Act

Alumni Association News

Explorations

The Big Question

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

90s

Erek L. Barron ’96

Erek L. Barron ’96 was sworn in as the 49th United States attorney for the District of Maryland. Barron was most recently a partner in a law firm in Maryland, with a focus on complex business and criminal litigation. Barron received his law degree from…

90s

Grant Newman ’99, M.S. ’00

Grant Newman ’99, M.S. ’00 was appointed chief financial officer at Elroy Air, an aerospace and logistics company. He recently served as senior vice president, strategy and corporate development at Era Group. In addition to his UMD degrees, he earned an…

20s

Pranav Desai M.E. ’20

Pranav Desai M.E. ’20 was promoted from senior vice president of product innovation to chief product officer at Reputation, a company specializing in reputation experience management. Previously, he was a group product manager for Verint’s Customer…

70s

Christine Edwards ’74

Christine Edwards ’74 received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Edwards, a 1983 Carey graduate, is a recently retired partner and chair of the bank regulatory practice at Winston &…

90s

Byron Breland ’92, M.S. ’96

Byron Breland ’92, M.S. ’96 was appointed chancellor of the North Orange County (Calif.) Community College District. Breland previously served as chancellor of the San Jose–Evergreen Community College District. He holds a master’s degree in education and…

Passings

Donald Lee Deardorff II ’90

Donald Lee Deardorff II ’90, 54, of Xenia, Ohio, died on Oct. 22, 2021. Born in Providence, R.I., on Oct. 1, 1967, to Donald L. Deardorff and Dorothy Ann Frizzell Deardoff, he earned his B.A. from Gettysburg College, his M.A. from the University of…

90s

Daniel K. Wims Ph.D. ’94

Daniel K. Wims Ph.D. ’94 became the 12th president of Alabama A&M University. He had served as its provost and vice president for academic affairs and research, as well as professor of agricultural sciences. He also held positions at Fort Valley State…

Passings

Andrew Jackson “Jack” Smith ’60

Andrew Jackson “Jack” Smith ’60 of Princess Anne, Md., died on Nov. 1, 2021. Born in Portsmouth, Va., to the late Andrew Jackson Smith and Myrtle Owens Sickman, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War for three years. He worked with the Radio…