Winter 2026

Explorations

January 15, 2026

Engineers Use AI on Popular Video Game to Improve Autonomous Vehicles

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

Olympics’ Teen Track Star Signs With UMD; Historic Season for Men’s Soccer

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

Wrestler Trains With Men While Dominating Women in Independent Tournaments

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

After Conquering Cancer, Men’s Basketball Transfer Shoots for More Wins on the Court

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

Art Professor Depicts Different Sides of Baltimore in New Audiovisual Installation

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

UMD’s Golf Course Doubles as Sustainable Living Classroom

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

Spelling Champ, Basketball Record-Holder Juggles Skills

Campus Life

January 15, 2026

Student Entrepreneurs Win $250K in xFoundry Competition to Develop Tech That Detects Guns, Tracks Suspects in Schools

News

January 15, 2026

UMD Hits All-time High in U.S. News Rankings

News

January 15, 2026

Support to Benefit Professors, Postdocs, Students

News

January 15, 2026

Series of Commitments Adds to Legacy of Giving at UMD

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

90s

Aisha Braveboy ’97

Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy ’97 was named to Washingtonian magazine’s 2025 list of Most Powerful Women. The former Prince George’s state’s attorney was sworn in on Juneteenth on the UMD campus and is focused on public safety and her…

90s

Nick Tressler ’96

Nick Tressler ’96 was appointed chief financial officer at Vistagen, a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Most recently, he served as CFO of DYNEX Technologies, and before that, at American Gene Technologies and Senseonics Holdings. He also…

10s

Melissa Thevenot ’12

Melissa Thevenot ’12, a lawyer in the Corporate and Gaming Department in the Atlantic City office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck was elevated to shareholder. She earned her law degree from Washington University.

00s

Marguerite Weese ’04

Marguerite Weese ’04 was promoted to chief wealth strategist at Wilmington Trust. She previously served as COO of Wilmington Trust Emerald Family Office & Advisory and as national director of Family Legacy Strategies She holds a J.D. and LL.M. in…

00s

Ana Schwarz ’09

Ana Schwarz ’09, a partner at Rubin Rudman, was listed among the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Family Lawyers in America for her expertise in high-net worth divorce, trusts and estate planning, and probate litigation. Schwarz is a co-chair of Rubin Rudman's…

10s

Krystal Bailey Dixon ’12, M.S. ’14

Krystal Bailey Dixon ’12, M.S. ’14 joined BCR Cyber, a provider of comprehensive cybersecurity training and job placement services, as its controller. Her 20-plus years of accounting and financial experience includes roles at KPMG and Howard University.

70s

Bob Becker ’70

Bob Becker ’70, at age 80, broke the record in July as the oldest finisher of the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, a race through Death Valley, Calif., called the "toughest footrace in the world" by National Geographic magazine. The course includes 14,000 feet…

Catherine Elizabeth Nerantzis poses with horse

Passings

Catherine Elizabeth Nerantzis M.A. ’88

Catherine Elizabeth Nerantzis M.A. ’88 died on Nov. 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C., after battling pancreatic cancer for 18 months. She was 55. Nerantzis was raised in Lima, Ohio, and graduated from Georgetown University and UMD, where she completed a…