Winter 2023

Post-Grad

man holds microphone while presenting taxidermied sea turtle on field

Totally Turtle-y Taxidermy

Preserved Donation of Aquatic Animal Fits in Swimmingly at UMD

Post-Grad

Balancing Act

Circus Performer Combines Passions for Physics and Acrobatics

Post-Grad

Delante Desouza ’16 shoots a basketball as Michael Cooper in "Showtime" TV show

‘Showtime’ for a Terp’s Transformation

Computer Science Grad Channels ’80s Lakers Star on Hit HBO Series

Post-Grad

Three hands raise beer glasses for toast

Here’s to a Terp Toastmaster

Alum’s Toast Wins $50K in Guinness Contest

Features

Fatema Hosseini is shown in front of a projected image of Afghans lining up to board a military jet to evacuate the capital, Kabul

The Dreams of Fatema

Driven from Afghanistan by extremism, a journalism student lands at UMD and prepares to reclaim her lost homeland.

Post-Grad

Geoff Larson ’80 poses near brewing equipment with mountains in the background

Beer, Off the Beaten Track

Alum Celebrates 35 Years of Craft Brewing Success in Alaska

Post-Grad

Alumni Association News

The Alumni Excellence Awards

Explorations

The Big Question

What’s Been the Most Significant Lie or Untruth Told to the Public?

Explorations

Moving Beyond ‘Getting Tough’

Amid Spiraling Violence, Criminologist Studies New Approaches to Gun Crime

Explorations

Electromagnetic Control Could Pull Surgery Into the Future

UMD Mechanical Engineering Researcher Is ‘Disarming’ Surgery Robots

Explorations

Progressively closer photos of Dimorphos

Planetary Protectors

Terps Helped Propel NASA Mission to Redirect an Asteroid

Explorations

Backyard Climate Guard

Extension Experts: Climate-Resilient Gardening’s Just a Few Steps Away

Explorations

Roots of Injustice

Research Finds More Vulnerable Tree Canopy in Redlined Baltimore

Explorations

Cover Stories

ARHU Dean’s Podcast Debates Musical Remakes

Campus Life

Stadium Renamed in Partnership With SECU

Credit Union to Support Maryland Athletics, Financial Literacy and Community Service

Campus Life

UMD men's basketball team stands on sideline, with one player with Ukrainian flag draped over his shoulders

Showing Support on the Court

Men’s Basketball Player From Ukraine Grapples With War From Afar

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

Passings

Henry W. Heikkinen Ph.D. ’73

Henry W. Heikkinen Ph.D. ’73, of Denver, Colo., died on Nov. 9. He was 87. Household staples such as Cheerios and instant mashed potatoes have Heikkinen’s thumbprint on them through his work as a food engineer for General Mills. Determined to use his…

Passings

James W. Kenney ’66

James W. Kenney ’66 died on Nov. 14 in Philadelphia at age 79. Raised in Haverford, Pa., he earned a master’s degree in engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Kenney had a distinguished career as the head mechanical engineer at Drummond Scientific…

90s

Michael Freeman Ph.D. ’93

Michael Freeman Ph.D. ’93 was appointed to the board of trustees at Veritas Prep Charter School in Springfield, Mass. He is a special assistant to the president at Westfield State University. He has a master’s degree in counselor education, student…

00s

Gary Aiken ’01

Gary Aiken ’01 was named chief investment officer of Concord Asset Management, a division of Concord Wealth Partners, where he will oversee investment strategies, including macroeconomic analysis, asset allocation, security selection, and trading and…

90s

Dr. Zachary J. Roberts ’99

Dr. Zachary J. Roberts ’99 was appointed executive vice president of research and development at Allogene Therapeutics. He was previously chief medical officer of Instil Bio. He completed clinical and postgraduate training at Massachusetts General…

Passings

Elizabeth R. (Rittenhouse) Nusz ’55

Elizabeth R. (Rittenhouse) Nusz ’55 died at her home in Starkville, Miss., on Sept. 22. She was 89. A native of Baltimore, she was Kappa Delta’s Alpha Rho chapter president and met her future husband, Dave Nusz, at Maryland. A lover of learning, she…

10s

Chris Mielke M.A. ’10

Chris Mielke M.A. ’10 is executive director of the Beverly Heritage Center in Beverly, W.V. He recently opened an escape room in the Randolph County Jail building from 1841. A previous puzzle was Prohibition-themed, while the current one is Civil War…

20s

Isabelle Lareau ’22

Isabelle Lareau ’22 is among the first Peace Corps Response volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. The Persian studies major will serve as an education volunteer in Timor-Leste.