Albin Owings Kuhn (January 31, 1916 – March 24, 2010) was a prominent figure in the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

system during the mid-twentieth century. He became the first chancellor of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Campuses in 1965, and is most notable for being the first chancellor of the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

during its planning and early stages of operation. The main library, Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery at

UMBC The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

is named after Kuhn.

Background

Albin Owings Kuhn was born on January 31, 1916, on a 215-acre farm in

Woodbine, Maryland Woodbine is an unincorporated rural community in Howard and Carroll counties, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Baltimorean metropolitan area. It is located southeast of Frederick, west of Baltimore, north of Washington, D.C., and east ...

, in Carroll County. He attended elementary and high school in nearby

Lisbon, Maryland Lisbon is a census-designated place located in western Howard County in the state of Maryland, United States, located roughly between Baltimore and Frederick and north of Washington, D.C. It is contained in an area of roughly one square mile. Li ...

. In 1934, he attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

majoring in

Agricultural Education Agricultural education is the teaching of agriculture, natural resources, and land management. At higher levels, agricultural education is primarily undertaken to prepare students for employment in the agricultural sector. Classes taught in an ...

. Kuhn completed his bachelor's degree in 1938, and then subsequently completed his master's degree in

Agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

and

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

from College Park. At the

, Kuhn began teaching agronomy in 1940. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. From 1940 to 1946, Kuhn served in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, training personnel for amphibious landings. Upon returning to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, he led the Department of Agronomy at the

from 1948 to 1955. At the same time in 1948, he completed his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

Plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

and

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

University of Maryland administration

Albin O. Kuhn became the university executive vice president for the College Park campus in 1958, instrumenting the planning of increasing the enrollment from 10,000 to 20,000 students. In 1965, he was named Chancellor of Baltimore Campuses, which then included the

University of Maryland, Baltimore The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1807, it comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, social work and nursing in the United States ...

, and the planning of the new campus for the

in 1966. In addition, he became the first leader of the new campus from its founding up until 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhn, Albin Owings 1916 births 2010 deaths Presidents of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County People from Woodbine, Maryland University of Maryland, College Park faculty University of Maryland, College Park alumni

Background

University of Maryland administration

See also

References