Letters to the editor
From the president
As we begin a new year and a new semester, I look back on my tenure so far as president of the University of Maryland and see a tremendous amount of progress—progress that is setting the stage for us to continue to address the grand challenges of our time and serve the public good.
The new Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland is leading the way on responsible and ethical AI use, and will support research projects such as expanding accessibility and sustainability and opposing inequality.
Our Institute for Health Computing, in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland Medical System, recently celebrated its second anniversary, and is working to identify biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, better predict stroke and cardiac risks, and create enhanced, immersive training for medical personnel.
And this fall marked the 10th consecutive year that we have been in the top 10 of The Princeton Review and Entrepreneurship magazine’s list of the best schools for undergraduate entrepreneurship education, a testament to how our students go on to create life-changing companies and jumpstart our region’s economy.
So it’s no wonder that this fall also marked new heights in rankings. According to U.S. News & World Report, the University of Maryland now stands at No. 44 among national universities—a 20-spot leap since 2020 and our best-ever showing—and No. 17 among public schools, its highest placement in more than a decade.
As you read the fantastic stories in this issue of Terp and see how we are educating students on philanthropy, innovation and social change; developing technology to prevent food waste; fighting the ravages of disease and age; and helping to turn a site of historical tragedy into one of present-day healing, I hope you see how we are continuing to lead fearlessly forward and taking advantage of a moment made for Maryland.
Sincerely,
Darryll J. Pines
President, University of Maryland
Glenn L. Martin Professor of Aerospace Engineering
‘Connie’ Breaks a Story: Her Own
Trailblazing journalist Connie Chung ’69 battled misogyny and racism to reach the pinnacle of TV news. In a new self-titled memoir, she shares what it took to get there.
It’s wonderful to see women journalists highlighted and recognized for their achievements. Kudos to Connie Chung for her tenacity and resilience building her illustrious career. It would have been nice to mention another UMD trailblazer, Catherine “Cassie” Mackin ’60. She was the first woman to solely anchor “NBC Sunday Nightly News” in 1976, the first woman floor reporter at the Democratic and national presidential conventions in 1972, and a co-anchor of the Emmy award-winning NBC team covering the presidential conventions in 1976. She also won an Emmy for an ABC “20/20” special report on drunk driving. The Philip Merrill College of Journalism Catherine P. Mackin Endowed Fund was established following her death in 1982 along with a collection of her papers in the UMD Archives.
Kaaren Ruth ’86, Potomac, Md.
I was so pleased to see the article by Karen Shih on Connie Chung. It is women like Connie that blazed the trail for other women, like me, to pursue professions that were dominated by men. I was one of very few women to graduate from the University of Maryland dental school in 1982. I started dental school at Temple, and one of my earliest memories there was on the first day of lab when we were mixing alginate (used for making impressions). The instructor came over to me and said, “It is just like mixing a cake.” I was startled, but not surprised. I answered (although not true), “I have never made a cake.” He left me alone then. The environment was much more welcoming at Maryland.
Kim Haskell ’74, Tall Timbers, Md.
Connie is one of the reasons Maryland got on my radar early on in my college search. I wanted to be like Connie as a broadcast journalism major.
Melanie (Lee) Francis ’07, Los Angeles (via LinkedIn)
Students and Faculty Mark 20 Years of Excavating and Documenting Little-Known Ruins Near Pompeii
As a descendant of Italians on both sides of my family and a Terrapin, it fills me with pride to see these students preserving a historical site in Italy. Bravo ... and Go Terps!
Charles Rotondo ’98, Pennington, N.J.
Welcome to the Hotel Influenza
A groundbreaking UMD researcher investigating how respiratory infections spread asks volunteers to check in—and get sick for science.
Inspired by the headline of the Fall 2024 cover story, former Terp writer Maggie Haslam sent in a letter reworking the lyrics to the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” We couldn’t resist sharing her ode to Dr. Don Milton’s research in Baltimore:
Off Pulaski Highway,
Harbor breeze in my hair.
A neon Domino Sugar sign,
Rising up through the air.
Up ahead in the distance,
I saw a shimmering light.
My nose got stuffy and my throat grew sore,
I had to stop for the night.
There he stood in the doorway,
In a mask so blue.
“My name is Milton,” he said softly,
“It seems you might have the flu.”
Then he took my temperature,
And he showed me the way.
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say-ay,
Welcome to the Hotel Influenza.
Bring your body aches,
And your fever shakes.
We’re transmissible at the Hotel Influenza!
It isn’t monkeypox,
So here’s a Kleenex box.
Editor’s note: Milton responded that the project
underwent extensive ethical review from
university and federal officials—in contrast to
the Hotel California, you can check out anytime
you like, and you can always leave.