The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
land-grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
in
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known ...
. Founded in 1856, UMD is the
flagship institution
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...
of the
University System of Maryland
The University System of Maryland (USM) is a public higher education system in the U.S. state of Maryland. The system is composed of the eleven campuses at College Park, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Princess Anne, Towson, Salisbury, Bowie, Fr ...
. It is also the largest university in both the state and the
Washington metropolitan area
The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...
, with more than 41,000 students representing all fifty states and 123 countries, and a global alumni network of over 388,000.
Together, its 12 schools and colleges offer over 200 degree-granting programs, including 92 undergraduate majors, 107
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. programs, and 83
doctoral programs. UMD is a member of the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
and competes in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
.
The University of Maryland's proximity to the nation's capital has resulted in many research partnerships with the
federal government; faculty receive research funding and institutional support from many agencies, such as the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
, the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
, the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
, and the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
. It is
classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity"
and is labeled a "
Public Ivy
"Public Ivy" is a term that refers to prestigious public colleges and universities in the United States that provide a collegiate experience similar to those in the Ivy League.Richard Moll in his book ''Public Ivys: A Guide to America's best pub ...
", denoting a quality of education comparable to the private
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
. UMD is ranked among the top 100 universities both nationally and globally by several indices, including its perennially top-ranked criminology and criminal justice department.
In 2016, the University of Maryland, College Park and 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 ...
formalized their strategic partnership after their collaboration successfully created more innovative medical, scientific, and educational programs,
as well as greater research grants and joint faculty appointments than either campus has been able to accomplish on its own.
According to the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
, the university spent a combined $1.1 billion on research and development in 2020, ranking it 16th overall in the nation and 10th among all public institutions. As of 2021, the operating budget of the University of Maryland is approximately $2.2 billion.
History
Early history
![Charles Benedict Calvert - photo portrait seated](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Charles_Benedict_Calvert_-_photo_portrait_seated.jpg)
On March 6, 1856, the forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College. Two years later,
Charles Benedict Calvert
Charles Benedict Calvert (August 23, 1808 – May 12, 1864) was an American politician who was a U.S. Representative from the sixth district of Maryland, serving one term from 1861 to 1863. He was an early backer of the inventors of the ...
(1808–1864), a future
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
(Congressman) from the sixth congressional district of Maryland, 1861–1863, during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
and descendant of the first
Lord Baltimores, colonial proprietors of the
Province of Maryland in 1634, purchased of the
Riversdale Mansion estate nearby today's
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known ...
. Later that year, Calvert founded the school and was the acting president from 1859 to 1860. On October 5, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College.
The school became a
land grant college
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
Signed by Abraha ...
in February 1864.
Civil War
![UMD Morrill Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/UMD_Morrill_Hall.JPG)
During the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
,
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
soldiers under Brigadier General
Bradley Tyler Johnson
Bradley Tyler Johnson (September 29, 1829 – October 5, 1903) was an American lawyer, soldier, and writer. Although his home state of Maryland remained in the Union during the American Civil War, Johnson owned and traded slaves, and accord ...
moved past the college on July 12, 1864, as part of Jubal Early's raid on
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
By the end of the war, financial problems forced the administrators to sell off of land, and the continuing decline in enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. The campus was used as a boys' preparatory school for the next two years.
Following the Civil War, in February 1866, the Maryland legislature assumed half ownership of the school. The college thus became, in part, a state institution. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In 1868, the former Confederate admiral
Franklin Buchanan
Franklin Buchanan (September 17, 1800 – May 11, 1874) was an officer in the United States Navy who became the only full admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He also commanded the ironclad CSS ''Virginia''.
Early lif ...
was appointed President of the school. In his tenure of just over a year, he reorganized it, established a system of strict economy in its business transactions, applied some of its revenues for the paying off of its debts, raised its standards, and attracted patrons through his influence: enrollment grew to 80 at the time of his resignation, and the school soon paid off its debt. In 1873,
Samuel Jones, a former Confederate Major General, became president of the college.
Twenty years later, the federally-funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. During the same period, state laws granted the college regulatory powers in several areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the forestry board.
Morrill Hall Morrill Hall may refer to (all are buildings named for Justin Smith Morrill):
*Morrill Hall (Cornell University), the building at Cornell University
*Morrill Hall, a campus building located at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
*Morri ...
(the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.
The Great Fire of 1912
![MAC fire 1912](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/MAC_fire_1912.jpg)
On November 29, 1912, a fire destroyed the barracks where the school housed the students, all the school's records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only
Morrill Hall Morrill Hall may refer to (all are buildings named for Justin Smith Morrill):
*Morrill Hall (Cornell University), the building at Cornell University
*Morrill Hall, a campus building located at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
*Morri ...
untouched. There were no injuries or fatalities, and all but two students returned to the university and insisted on classes continuing.
Students were housed by families in neighboring towns until the school could rebuild the housing, although a new administration building was not built until the 1940s.
A large brick and concrete compass inlaid in the ground designates the former center of campus as it existed in 1912.
Modern history
![Univ of Maryland campus 1938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Univ_of_Maryland_campus_1938.jpg)
The state took control of the school in 1916 and renamed it Maryland State College. That year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9, 1920, the college became part of the existing
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 ...
, replacing
St. John's College, Annapolis
St. John's College is a private liberal arts college with dual campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. St. John's is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States as the successor institution of Kin ...
as the university's undergraduate campus. In the same year, the graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees and the university's enrollment reached 500 students. In 1925 the university was accredited by the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
.
By the time the first black students enrolled at the university in 1951, enrollment had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women. Prior to 1951, many black students in Maryland were enrolled at the
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
In 1957, President
Wilson H. Elkins pushed to increase the university's academic standards. His efforts resulted in creating one of the first Academic Probation Plans. The first year the plan went into effect, 1,550 students (18% of the total student body) faced expulsion.
On October 19, 1957,
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended her first and only college football game at the University of Maryland after expressing interest in seeing a typically American sport during her first tour of the United States. The
Maryland Terrapins
The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...
beat the
North Carolina Tar Heels 21 to 7 in the historical game now referred to as "The Queen's Game".
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
established a chapter at UMD in 1964. In 1969, the university was elected to the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
. The school continued to grow, and by the fall of 1985 reached an enrollment of 38,679.
Like many colleges during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, the university was the site of student protests and had curfews enforced by the
National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
.
In a massive restructuring of the state's higher education system in 1988, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed
University of Maryland System (later changed to the University System of Maryland in 1997). It was formally named the University of Maryland, College Park. All five campuses in the former network were designated distinct campuses in the new system. However, in 1997 the
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...
passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park, to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus' role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland.
The other University System of Maryland institutions with the name "University of Maryland" are not satellite campuses of the University of Maryland, College Park. 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 ...
, is the only other school permitted to confer certain degrees from the "University of Maryland".
In 1994, the
National Archives at College Park completed construction and opened on a parcel of land adjoining campus donated by the University of Maryland, after lobbying by President
William Kirwan and congressional leaders to foster academic collaboration between the institutions.
21st century
In 2004, the university began constructing the "M Square Research Park," which includes facilities affiliated with the
U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
,
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
, and the new National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, affiliated with The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA). In May 2010, ground was broken on a new $128-million, Physical Science Complex, including an advanced quantum science laboratory.
Wallace Loh
Wallace Dao-kui Loh ( zh, c=陸道逵, p=Lù Dàokuí; born 1946) was the president of the University of Maryland, College Park, a position assumed November 1, 2010. He retired from the presidency on June 30, 2020 and was succeeded by Darryll ...
became president of the university in 2010.
The university's "Great Expectations" campaign from 2006 to 2012 exceeded $1 billion in private donations.
The university suffered multiple
data breaches in 2014. The first resulted in the loss of over 300,000 student and faculty records. A second
data breach occurred several months later. The second breach was investigated by the FBI and Secret Service and found to be done by David Helkowski. Despite the attribution, no charges were filed. As a result of the data breaches, the university offered free credit protection for five years to the students and faculty affected.
In 2012, the University of Maryland, College Park and 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 ...
united under the MPowering the State initiative to leverage the strengths of both institutions. The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership Act of 2016 officially formalized this partnership.
The University of Maryland's University District Plan, developed in 2011 under President Wallace Loh and the College Park City Council, seeks to make the City of College Park a top 20
college town by 2020 by improving housing and development, transportation, public safety, local pre-K–12 education, and supporting sustainability projects. As of 2018, the university is involved with over 30 projects and 1.5 million square feet of development as part of its Greater College Park Initiative, worth over $1 billion in public-private investments. The university's vision is to revitalize the campus to foster a dynamic and innovative academic environment, as well as to collaborate with the surrounding neighborhoods and local government to create a vibrant downtown community for students and faculty.
In October 2017, the university received a record-breaking donation of $219.5 million from the
A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, ranking among the country's largest philanthropic gifts to a public university.
As of February 12, 2020, it has been announced that
Darryll J. Pines will be the 34th President of the University of Maryland College Park, effective July 1, 2020. Darryll J. Pines is the dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering and the Nariman Farvardin Professor of Aerospace Engineering since January 2009.
Darryll J. Pines has been with the University of Maryland College Park for 25 years since he arrived in 1995 and started as an assistant professor.
In 2021, the university announced it had achieved its record goal of $1.5 billion raised in donations since 2018 as part of its "Fearless Ideas: The Campaign for Maryland" for investments in faculty, students, research, scholarships, and capital projects.
Academics
Profile
The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in thirteen colleges and schools:
*
A. James Clark School of Engineering
*
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
The College of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources (CANR) is one of the six colleges of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.
CANR was founded in January 2005 after the release of revised university statuses in Dece ...
*
College of Arts and Humanities
** School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
**
School of Music
*
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
*
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
* College of Education
*
College of Information Studies
*
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1947 and was named after newspaper editor Philip Merrill in 2001. The school has about 550 undergr ...
*
Robert H. Smith School of Business
*
School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
*
School of Public Health (formerly the College of Health & Human Performance)
*
School of Public Policy
* Office of Undergraduate Studies
* The Graduate School
Undergraduate education is centered on both a student's chosen academic program and the selection of core coursework to fulfill general education requirements.
Programs
![UMD stairway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/UMD_stairway.JPG)
The university hosts "living-learning" programs that allow students with similar academic interests to live in the same residential community take specialized courses and perform research in those areas of expertise. An example is the Honors College, which is geared towards undergraduate students meeting high academic requirements and consists of several of the university's honors programs. The Honors College welcomes students into a community of faculty and undergraduates. The Honors College offers seven living and learning programs: Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students, Design Cultures and Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Honors Humanities, Gemstone, Integrated Life Sciences, and University Honors.
* Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES), started in 2013, is directed by Michel Cukier and run by faculty and graduate students. ACES students are housed in Prince Frederick Hall and take a 14-credit, two-year curriculum that educates future leaders in the field of cybersecurity. ACES also offers a complementary two-year minor in cybersecurity.
* Design Cultures and Creativity (DCC), started in 2009, is directed by artist Jason Farman and run by faculty and
graduate students. The DCC program encourages students to explore the relationship between emerging media, society, and creative practices. DCC students are housed in Prince Frederick residence hall together and take a 16 credit, two year interdisciplinary curriculum which culminates in a capstone.
* Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP) is a living and learning program for Honors College first- and second-year students, helping build entrepreneurial mindsets, skill sets, and relationships to develop solutions to today's problems. Through learning, courses, seminars, workshops, competitions, and volunteerism, students receive an education in entrepreneurship and innovation. Collaborating with faculty and mentors who have launched new ventures, all student teams develop an innovative idea and write a product plan.
* Honors Humanities is the honors program for beginning undergraduates interested in the humanities and creative arts. The selective two-year living-learning program combines a small
liberal arts college environment with the resources of a large
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
.
* Gemstone is a multidisciplinary four-year research program for select undergraduate honors students of all majors. Under the guidance of faculty mentors and Gemstone staff, teams of students design, direct, and conduct research, exploring the interdependence of science and technology with society.
* Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) is the honors program for students interested in all aspects of biological research and biomedicine. The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences has partnered with the Honors College to create the ILS program, which offers nationally recognized innovations in the multidisciplinary training of life science and pre-medical students. The objective of the ILS experience is to prepare students for success in graduate, medical, dental, or other professional schools.
* University Honors (UH) is the largest living-learning program in the Honors College and allows students the greatest independence in shaping their education. University Honors students are placed into a close-knit community of the university's faculty and other undergraduates, committed to acquiring a broad and balanced education. Students choose from over 130 seminars exploring interdisciplinary topics in three broad areas: Contemporary Issues and Challenges, Arts and Sciences in Today's World, and Using the World as a Classroom.
* The College Park Scholars programs are two-year living-learning programs for first- and second-year students. Students are selected to enroll in one of 12 thematic programs: Arts; Business, Society, and the Economy; Environment, Technology, and Economy; Global Public Health; International Studies; Life Sciences; Media, Self, and Society; Public Leadership; Science and Global Change; Science, Discovery, and the Universe; Science, Technology, and Society. Students live in dormitories in the Cambridge Community on North Campus.
![UMD mall view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/UMD_mall_view.JPG)
The nation's first living-learning entrepreneurship program,
Hinman CEOs, is geared toward students who are interested in starting their own business. Students from all academic disciplines live together and are provided the resources to explore business ventures.
The
QUEST (Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams) Honors Fellows Program engages undergraduate students from business, engineering, and computer, mathematical, and physical sciences. QUEST Students participate in courses focused on cross-functional collaboration, innovation, quality management, and teamwork. The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) has also been long considered an outstanding engineering division of the university since its inception in 1908.
Other living-learning programs include:
CIVICUS
CIVICUS is an international non-profit organisation, which describes itself as “a global alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world." Founded in 1993, the organisation today counts more than 8500 memb ...
, a two-year program in the
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences based on the five principles of civil society; Global Communities, a program that immerses students in a diverse culture (students from all over the world live in a community), and the Language House, which allows students pursuing language courses to live and practice with other students learning the same language.
The
Mock Trial Team engages in
intercollegiate mock trial competition. The team, which first began competing in 1990, has won
five national championships (2008, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1992), which ranks the most of any university, and was also the national runner-up in 1992 and 1993.
Faculty
The university's faculty has included four
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
laureates. The earliest recipient,
Juan Ramón Jiménez
Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...
, was a Spanish language and literature professor and won the 1956 prize for literature. Four decades later, physics professor
William Daniel Phillips
William Daniel Phillips (born November 5, 1948) is an American physicist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1997, with Steven Chu and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji.
Biography
Phillips was born to William Cornelius Phillips of Juniata, Pennsylvan ...
won the prize in physics for his contributions to
laser cooling
Laser cooling includes a number of techniques in which atoms, molecules, and small mechanical systems are cooled, often approaching temperatures near absolute zero. Laser cooling techniques rely on the fact that when an object (usually an atom) a ...
, a technique to slow the movement of gaseous atoms, in 1997. In 2005, professor emeritus of economics and public policy
Thomas Schelling
Thomas Crombie Schelling (April 14, 1921 – December 13, 2016) was an American economist and professor of foreign policy, national security, nuclear strategy, and arms control at the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland, College ...
was awarded the prize in economics for his contributions to
game theory. In 2006, adjunct professor of physics and senior astrophysicist at
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
John C. Mather
John Cromwell Mather (born August 7, 1946, Roanoke, Virginia) is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) with George Smoot.
This work helped ...
was awarded the prize in physics alongside
George Smoot
George Fitzgerald Smoot III (born February 20, 1945) is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, Nobel laureate, and the 2nd contestant to win the $1 million prize on '' Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?''. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics i ...
for their work in the discovery of blackbody form and
anisotropy
Anisotropy () is the property of a material which allows it to change or assume different properties in different directions, as opposed to isotropy. It can be defined as a difference, when measured along different axes, in a material's physic ...
of the
cosmic microwave background radiation
In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all space ...
. In addition, two University of Maryland alumni are Nobel Prize laureates;
Herbert Hauptman
Herbert Aaron Hauptman (February 14, 1917 – October 23, 2011) was an American mathematician and Nobel laureate. He pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the whole field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in d ...
won the 1985 prize in chemistry, and
Raymond Davis Jr.
Raymond Davis Jr. (October 14, 1914 – May 31, 2006) was an American chemist and physicist. He is best known as the leader of the Homestake experiment in the 1960s-1980s, which was the first experiment to detect neutrinos emitted from the Sun; ...
won the 2002 prize in physics.
The university has many notable academics. Professor of mathematics,
Sergei Novikov won the
Fields Medal in 1970, followed by alumnus
Charles Fefferman
Charles Louis Fefferman (born April 18, 1949) is an American mathematician at Princeton University, where he is currently the Herbert E. Jones, Jr. '43 University Professor of Mathematics. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1978 for his contri ...
in 1978. Alumnus
George Dantzig
George Bernard Dantzig (; November 8, 1914 – May 13, 2005) was an American mathematical scientist who made contributions to industrial engineering, operations research, computer science, economics, and statistics.
Dantzig is known for his ...
won the 1975
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
for his work in the field of linear programming. Professor of physics
Michael Fisher
Michael Ellis Fisher (3 September 1931 – 26 November 2021) was an English physicist, as well as chemist and mathematician, known for his many seminal contributions
to statistical physics, including but not restricted to the theory of phase t ...
won the
Wolf Prize
The Wolf Prize is an international award granted in Israel, that has been presented most years since 1978 to living scientists and artists for ''"achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people ... irrespective of nati ...
in 1980 (together with
Kenneth G. Wilson
Kenneth Geddes "Ken" Wilson (June 8, 1936 – June 15, 2013) was an American theoretical physicist and a pioneer in leveraging computers for studying particle physics. He was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on phase ...
and
Leo Kadanoff
Leo Philip Kadanoff (January 14, 1937 – October 26, 2015) was an American physicist. He was a professor of physics (emeritus from 2004) at the University of Chicago and a former President of the American Physical Society (APS). He contributed t ...
) and the
IUPAP
The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP ) is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the ...
Boltzmann Medal
The Boltzmann Medal (or Boltzmann Award) is a prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann. The Boltzmann Medal is awarded once every three years ...
in 1983.
James A. Yorke, a Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics and Physics and chair of the Mathematics Department, won the 2003
Japan Prize for his work in
chaotic systems
Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics focused on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, and were once thought to have ...
. In 2013, professor of Physics
Sylvester James Gates
Sylvester James Gates Jr. (born December 15, 1950), known as S. James Gates Jr. or Jim Gates, is an American theoretical physicist who works on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He currently holds the Clark Leadership Chair i ...
was awarded the
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
.
Research
UMD is
classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
In FY 2020, the university spent about 1.103 billion dollars in total R&D expenditures, ranking it 16th in the nation.
On October 14, 2004, the university added in an attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C.,
Capital Beltway
The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase " inside ...
, formerly known as "M Square," and now known as the "Discovery District".
![Glenn L](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Glenn_L._Martin_Institute_of_Technology_at_UMCP%2C_2007.jpg)
Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
, the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
, the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
, and the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
. These relationships have created numerous research opportunities for the university, including:
* Taking the lead in the nationwide research initiative into the transmission and prevention of human and
avian influenza
Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds. .
* Creating a new research center to study the behavioral and social foundations of terrorism with funding from the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
* Launching the joint
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
-University of Maryland ''
Deep Impact'' spacecraft in early January 2005.
![UMD Hornbake Library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/UMD_Hornbake_Library.JPG)
The
University of Maryland Libraries provide access to scholarly information resources required to meet the missions of the university.
The University of Maryland is an international center for the study of language, hosting the largest community of language scientists in North America, including more than 200 faculty, researchers, and graduate students, who collectively comprise the Maryland Language Science Center under the leadership of Professor
Colin Phillips
Colin Phillips is a British psycholinguist who is the director of the Maryland Language Science Center at the University of Maryland. He is an elected fellow of the Linguistic Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of ...
. Since 2008 the university has hosted an NSF-IGERT interdisciplinary graduate training program that has catalyzed broader integrative efforts in language science, with 50 participating students and contributions from 50 faculty. The University of Maryland is also home to two key 'migrator' centers that connect basic research to critical national needs in education and national security: the Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL) and the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC).
The
Center for American Politics and Citizenship
The Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) is a non-partisan Government and Politics research center at the University of Maryland, College Park
The Center's stated mission is that it "provides citizens and policy-makers with research ...
provides citizens and policy-makers with research on issues related to the United States' political institutions, processes, and policies. CAPC is a non-partisan, non-profit research institution within the Department of Government and Politics in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
The
Space Systems Laboratory
Space Systems Laboratory is a name commonly used by university laboratories engaged in the research of technologies used for human activities in space.
Examples include:
* Drexel Space Systems Laboratory at the Drexel University in Philadelphia, ...
researches human-robotic interaction for
astronautics
Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field.
The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astron ...
applications and includes the only
neutral buoyancy
Neutral buoyancy occurs when an object's average density is equal to the density of the fluid in which it is immersed, resulting in the buoyant force balancing the force of gravity that would otherwise cause the object to sink (if the body's densi ...
facility at a university.
The Joint Quantum Institute conducts theoretical and experimental quantum and atomic physics research. The institute was founded in 2006 as a collaboration between the University of Maryland and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
(NIST).
The Center for Technology and Systems Management (CTSM) aims to advance the state of technology and systems analysis for the benefit of people and the environment. The focus is on enhancing safety, efficiency, and effectiveness by performing reliability, risk, uncertainty, or decision analysis studies.
The
Joint Global Change Research Institute
The Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI) was formed in 2001 by the University of Maryland, College Park and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The institute focuses on multidisciplinary approaches of climate change
I ...
was formed in 2001 by the University of Maryland and the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The institute focuses on multidisciplinary approaches to climate change research.
The
Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering
The Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) is a university research facility focused on risk assessment, management, and mitigation for electronic products and systems. CALCE is the largest electronic products and systems research ...
(CALCE) was formed in 1985 at the University of Maryland. CALCE is dedicated to providing a knowledge and resource base to support the development of electronic components, products, and systems.
The
(START) launched in 2005 as one of the
Centers of Excellence supported by the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
in the United States. START is focused on the scientific study of the causes and consequences of terrorism in the United States and worldwide.
Admissions
Undergraduate
Admission to Maryland is rated "most selective" by ''
U.S. News & World Report''. For the Class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), Maryland received 50,146 applications and accepted 26,072 (52.0%). Of those accepted, 6,035 enrolled, a
yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 23.1%.
Maryland's freshman
retention rate
The term "retention rate" is used in a variety of fields, including marketing, investing, education, in the workplace and in clinical trials. Maintaining retention in each of these fields often results in a positive outcome for the overall organiz ...
is 95.5%, with 88.3% going on to graduate within six years.
Of the 34% of the incoming freshman class who submitted
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1340-1490.
Of the 9% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted
ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 30 and 34.
The University of Maryland, College Park is a college-sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 58 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 69 freshman students were
National Merit Scholars.
In 2020, the university announced it was joining the
Common App
The Common Application (more commonly known as the Common App) is an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to over 1,000 member colleges and universities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as we ...
. Beginning with the 2017-18 admissions cycle, the University of Maryland uses the application provided by The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success, joining over 130 top public and private universities using the platform to streamline the college application process. Starting in August 2018, the University of Maryland began waiving the college application fee for U.S. military veterans and current service members. According to ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in 2017, the University of Maryland has become more selective with admissions in recent decades as it has risen in prestige, at the time being the ninth most selective public flagship university in the nation. From 2026, 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 ...
will make gender X option available on forms and documents alongside male and female options for student enrollment - as announced in May 2022.
Rankings
The university is tied for 55th in the 2022 ''
U.S. News & World Report'' rankings of "National Universities" across the United States, and it is ranked tied for 19th nationally among public universities.
The ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities'' ranked Maryland as 43rd in the world in 2015. The 2017–2018 ''
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
'' placed Maryland 69th worldwide. The 2016/17 ''
QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
'' ranked Maryland 131st worldwide.
The university was ranked among
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
' 25 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges for the tenth consecutive year in 2020. The University of Maryland is ranked among
Teach for America's Top 20 Colleges and Universities, contributing the greatest number of graduating seniors to its 2017 teaching corps.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
''Kiplinger's Personal Finance'' ( ) is an American personal finance magazine published by Kiplinger since 1947. It claims to be the first American personal finance magazine and to deliver "sound, unbiased advice in clear, concise language". It ...
ranked the University 10th for in-state students and 16th for out-of-state students in its 2019 Best College Value ranking.
Money Magazine
''Money'' is an American personal finance brand and website owned by Ad Practitioners LLC and formerly also a monthly magazine, first published by Time Inc. (1972–2018) and later by Meredith Corporation (2018–2019). Its articles cover the ...
ranked the university 1st in the state of Maryland for public colleges in its 2019 Best College for Your Money ranking.
For the fourth consecutive year in 2015, the university was ranked 1st in the U.S. for the number of
Boren Scholarship
The National Security Education Program (NSEP) was a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government initiative to enhance the national security of the U.S. by increasing the national capacity to understand and interact effectively ...
recipients – with nine students receiving awards for intensive international language study. The university is ranked as a Top Producing Institution of
Fulbright U.S. Students and Scholars for the 2017–2018 academic year by the
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
's
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
In 2017, the University of Maryland was ranked among the top 50 universities in the 2018
Best Global Universities Rankings by ''U.S. News & World Report'' based on its high academic research performance and global reputation.
In 2021, the university was ranked among the top 10 universities in ''
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
''s annual survey of the Top Schools for Innovation & Entrepreneurship; this was the sixth consecutive such ranking. The Master of Engineering in Robotics program and the Graduate Certificate in Engineering program within the A. James Clark School of Engineering received endorsements from the
Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM), also known as ARM Institute, is a consortium created in 2017 through a Department of Defense grant won by Carnegie Mellon University. ARM is structured as a public-private partnership and the Manufacturing ...
Institute.
Campus
![Mckeldin Mall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Mckeldin_Mall.jpg)
The university's campus is noted for its red-brick
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
buildings and its large central lawn, named
McKeldin Mall and nicknamed "The Mall", which is the largest academic mall in 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 territori ...
. White
columns decorate many
buildings, with around 770 columns on campus. Spanning the university's are 7,500 documented trees and garden plantings, leading the
American Public Gardens Association
The American Public Gardens Association, formerly the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, is an association of public-garden institutions and professionals primarily in the United States and Canada. Over the last six decades, ...
to designate the campus the
University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Garden in 2008.
[UM University Visitors Network, Arboretum and Botanical Garden](_blank)
The designation has allowed the university to showcase species and gardens, including native plantings. There are arboretum tours, such as the centralized Tree Walking Tour, which is based around McKeldin Mall and features 56 specimen trees.
There are also nearly of
urban forest
An urban forest is a forest, or a collection of trees, that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense, it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. As opposed to a forest park, whose ec ...
on campus
and the
Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities ...
has named the university to its 'Tree Campus USA' list. The recreational Paint Branch Trail, part of the
Anacostia Tributary Trails
The Anacostia Tributary Trail System (ATTS) is a unified and signed system of stream valley trails joining trails along the Anacostia tributaries of Northwest Branch, Northeast Branch, Indian Creek and Paint Branch with a trail along the Anac ...
system, cuts through campus, as does the
Paint Branch
Paint Branch is a tributaryU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 stream of the Anacostia River that flows Southeastwards through Montgomery County and Prince ...
stream, a tributary of the
Northeast Branch Anacostia River
Northeast Branch Anacostia River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 free-flowing stream in Prince George's County, Maryland. It is a tributary of the Anac ...
.
McKeldin Mall serves as the center of campus. On the east and west of McKeldin Mall lie the Thomas V. Miller, Jr. Administration Building and
McKeldin Library
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...
. Academic buildings surround McKeldin Mall on the north and south ends. They are the homes to many departments in the
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. West of McKeldin Mall is the North Hill Community, and south of McKeldin Mall lies
Morrill Hall Morrill Hall may refer to (all are buildings named for Justin Smith Morrill):
*Morrill Hall (Cornell University), the building at Cornell University
*Morrill Hall, a campus building located at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
*Morri ...
and the Morrill Quad, which was the original center of campus. South of the Morrill Quad are the South Hill and South Campus Commons Communities, and the Southwest Mall and the
Robert H. Smith School of Business to the southwest. Running parallel to McKeldin Mall to the north is Campus Drive, the main thoroughfare through campus.
The
Adele H. Stamp Student Union sits along Campus Drive near the center of campus. It serves as a
transit center
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...
for the campus, where
Shuttle-UM (the university's bus service) and municipal buses pick up and drop off passengers. Hornbake Plaza, home to
Hornbake Library
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an o ...
and several buildings housing academic departments, also lies on Campus Drive, east of Stamp. Stamp serves as a center that includes a food court, bowling alley, book store, and spaces made available for major events, such as first-year orientation and career fairs.
![Path on the left hand side of McKeldin mall in winter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Path_on_the_left_hand_side_of_McKeldin_mall_in_winter.JPG)
Outside the Stamp Student Union on Campus Drive is the Jim Henson Statue and Memorial Garden, in honor of the late
Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
, a Maryland alumnus. A likeness of Henson is seated on a park bench, facing arguably his most famous creation,
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...
. To the north and northwest of Stamp and Hornbake Plaza are the North Campus communities,
Maryland Stadium
SECU Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. It is the home of Maryland Terrapins football and men's lacrosse teams, which compete in the Big Ten Conference. The facility was ...
, the Eppley Recreation Center (the main gym on campus), the
XFINITY Center, and the Wooded Hillock, a forest next to the XFINITY Center; Stadium Drive runs between the more southern Maryland Stadium and the rest of these. The
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is a performing arts complex on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. The facility, which opened in 2001, houses six performance venues; the UM School of Music; and the UMD School of The ...
sits west of Maryland Stadium.
![UMD M Circle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/UMD_M_Circle.JPG)
Another thoroughfare, Regents Drive, runs perpendicular to McKeldin Mall and is home to the
Memorial Chapel and the Campus Farms. Regents Drive crosses Campus Drive at the campus hallmark,
"M" Circle, which is a traffic circle with a large "M" formed by flowers in its center. The northeast quadrant of campus, formed by Campus and Regent Drives, is home to many of
natural sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
and
applied sciences departments.
The university is also divided by
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...
, known locally as "Baltimore Avenue." While most of the campus lies to the west of Baltimore Avenue, fixtures such as Fraternity Row and the Leonardtown Communities lie to the east. Sitting on the western edge of Baltimore Avenue are the Visitors' Center, also known as The Dairy, The Reckord Armory, and
The Rossborough Inn, which, built during the years 1798 to 1812, is the oldest building on campus (and is older than the university itself). There are five regularly used entrances to campus; the main entrance, off of Baltimore Avenue and onto Campus Drive, is referred to as North Gate and features the Gatehouse, an ornate gateway honoring the university's founders. The , 18-hole
University of Maryland Golf Course
The University of Maryland Golf Course in College Park, Maryland, is the home of the Maryland Terrapins men's and women's golf teams. The semi-private championship course was designed in 1955 by George Cobb (golf), George Cobb, the course has bee ...
sits at the northern edge of campus, as does
the Observatory. The campus is also home to one of the
root servers, responsible for operating the
Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned t ...
(DNS).
Sustainability
![UMD McKeldin sundial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/UMD_McKeldin_sundial.JPG)
The four-person Office of Sustainability was created in the summer of 2007 after University President
Dan Mote became a charter signatory of the American College and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) with the goal of campus climate neutrality. The Climate Action Plan Work Group completed an inventory of campus emissions from 2002 to 2007 and finalized a Climate Action Plan in August 2009. According to the university's Climate Action Plan, Maryland aims to become carbon neutral by 2050. All new constructions and major renovations must satisfy
LEED-Silver certification requirements. The office has promoted several initiatives, including an increase in the campus recycling rate from 17% in 2003 to 89% in 2014. In 2008, the recycling rate rose from 37% to a 54% due in part to the "Feed the Turtle" program for home football games.
Although recycling rates have increased across campus, not every bin is able to be recycled due to high contamination rates on some parts of campus. For example, as of 2017, the Stamp Student Union had 54% contamination rates in their recycling bins, which means over half of the waste in the recycling bins at Stamp had to be thrown into the trash.
Power Shift
Power Shift is an annual youth summit which has been held in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other Power Shift Conferences are also being organised by members of the International Youth Climate Movement ...
, a national youth climate activism summit, was held at the University of Maryland in November 2007 with 6,000 individuals in attendance.
The university's first
Leed Gold
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
building, Knight Hall, opened in April 2010 as the new home for the
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1947 and was named after newspaper editor Philip Merrill in 2001. The school has about 550 undergr ...
. The university added
solar panels in the spring of 2010 to the roof of "The Diner" dining hall in North Campus, and plans to add solar panels to the roof of
Cole Field House
The Jones-Hill House is an indoor collegiate sports training complex located on of land on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Jones-Hill House is situated in the center of the campu ...
, as well as additional campus buildings. The university's announced state-of-the-art Physical Sciences Complex (set to be completed in July 2013) will meet
LEED-Silver certification requirements.
In 2008, the Office of Sustainability started the Sustainability Advisors program, where teachers invited a peer educator to lecture on sustainability concepts.
The Office of Sustainability began an initiative called "The Chesapeake Project" in 2009, in which professors integrate sustainability education into pre-existing classes across every discipline.
[Campus Sustainability · University of Maryland](_blank)
. Sustainability.umd.edu (May 23, 2013). Retrieved on August 17, 2013. Participating professors attend a two-day workshop in late May to learn about environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
All participants receive a $500 stipend. By the end of summer, workshop participants submit a revised course plan for at least one course offered the following academic year. Since the inaugural workshop in 2009, 71 professors have participated in the program, implementing sustainability education into over 80 courses across all 12 colleges at the school.
In 2003,
bioretention
Bioretention is the process in which contaminants and sedimentation are removed from stormwater runoff. The main objective of the bioretention cell is to attenuate peak runoff as well as to remove stormwater runoff pollutants.
Construction of ...
facilities were installed on the campus with collaboration from the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources. Since then, research has continued on the effectiveness of these bioretention sites in controlling water flow and filtering pollutants. A prime example is the research of Professor Allen Davis in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which has examined and improved upon the removal of contaminants with
rain garden
Rain gardens, also called bioretention facilities, are one of a variety of practices designed to increase rain runoff reabsorption by the soil. They can also be used to treat polluted stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are designed landscape sites t ...
s.
In 2010, the University System of Maryland and the Department of General Services began three twenty-year projects. The three projects included: a solar project in
Mount St. Mary's University, a wind project in
Western Maryland
upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city
Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland Panhandle, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washington, Allegany, and Garre ...
, and another wind project in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
. The first of these projects, the solar project, is a 16-megawatt project. The first wind project is 10 megawatts, and the second is 55 megawatts.
The projects will allow the university to receive 15 percent of its purchased energy from these renewable energy resources. Also, in 2010, Ellicott Dining Hall installed solar panels which would provide up to 30 percent of the energy for heating its water. The university installed 20 panels with three solar storage tanks, pumps, temperature sensors, and controls. The system will increasingly provide more of the dining hall's water needs.
In 2011, Maryland's team won the Solar Decathlon, a competition put on by the
U.S. Department of Energy.
The team designed and built a solar-powered home with a split butterfly roof in a project called "WaterShed." The house was "inspired and guided by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, interconnecting the house with its landscape and leading its dwellers toward a more sustainable lifestyle." Over 200 students contributed to the project. Maryland's design beat out submissions from 20 other universities from all over the world, including China, New Zealand, Belgium, and Canada.
In the 2017 Solar Decathlon, the University of Maryland's team won 1st place in the U.S. and 2nd place worldwide.
The 100% solar powered house, named "resilient Adaptive Climate Technology" (reACT), was largely inspired by the environmentally conscious traditions of the
Nanticoke people
The Nanticoke people are a Native American Algonquian people, whose traditional homelands are in Chesapeake Bay and Delaware. Today they live in the Northeastern United States and Canada, especially Delaware; in Ontario; and in Oklahoma.
Th ...
and other local Native American tribes in Maryland, such as
water reuse
Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include: ...
, home gardening, and
composting.
Maryland also promotes the use of reusable to-go containers at the dining hall, or OZZI containers, since the official launching of the program in August 2011. Students pay a $5 fee to initially use the container, but receive a coin when they return it to the dispenser. With the coin, the use of the container is cost-free.
In January 2011, Maryland installed occupancy sensors in nearly 300 general-purpose classrooms.
These occupancy sensors automatically turn off the lights after 30 minutes if there is no motion in a room. The project is estimated to cut energy consumption by 30 percent and save the university $100,000 annually.
In 2012, the University Sustainability fund granted $130,000 to projects that promote sustainability.
The money was generated from an $8 mandatory sustainability fee, a fee that will increase to $12 by 2014. Mark Stewart, Project Manager at the Office of Sustainability, expects the fund to grow to $300,000 by 2013.
On May 2, 2012, the Wellness Coalition hosted its first Farmers Market at Maryland, a weekly tradition that supplies produce from farms in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Its first day saw over 1,000 visitors.
In October 2013, the university's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) became its first college to form its own Sustainability Task Force. In April 2014, the Task Force produced BSOS's Sustainability Plan to advance campus sustainability and complement the university's Climate Action Plan to help the university become a national model of a green university. It is the first plan of its kind at the college level at the university and was designed to serve as a guide for other colleges to join BSOS in this effort to improve the sustainability of the campus and community as a whole. In September 2014 the BSOS Sustainability Task Force expanded to include a student Sustainability Task Force. The student Task Force is an interdisciplinary team focused on addressing sustainability problems on campus.
In August 2015, compost bins were placed in two residence halls and, after a successful year, were placed in nine other halls in August 2016. As of 2017, the University of Maryland increased its compost collection by nearly 450% since 2010. While efforts have been made to add composting collection sites on campus in academic buildings and residence halls, many have been removed due to high contamination rates. Some Greek life houses and on-campus apartment buildings used to have composting, but in 2017 and 2018, many had to be removed since they were causing more harm than good.
In 2021, President Pines pledged that the University of Maryland would achieve
carbon neutrality
Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
by
Earth Day 2025, 25 years sooner than the goal announced in 2009.
Student life
Residential life
![UMD brick entryway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/UMD_brick_entryway.JPG)
There are two main residential areas on campus, North Campus and South Campus, further divided into seven residential communities. North Campus is made up of Cambridge Community (which consists of five residence halls and houses the College Park Scholars program), Denton Community (which currently consists of four halls, including Oakland hall, which opened in the fall semester of 2011), and Ellicott Community (consisting of three halls). The new Heritage community features two new halls for students (Pyon-Chen Hall and Johnson-Whittle Hall) and a new dining hall. Pyon-Chen opened in 2021 and Johnson-Whittle opened in 2022.
South Campus includes the North Hill Community, made up of nine
Georgian-style
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...
halls and Prince Frederick hall (which opened in the fall semester of 2014) immediately west of
McKeldin Mall, South Hill Community, made up of fourteen small residence halls for upper-level students, Leonardtown Community, which offers apartment-style living and is further divided into Old Leonardtown (consisting of six buildings) and New Leonardtown (also composed of six buildings), the South Campus Commons Community, which consists of seven apartment-style buildings (the seventh and most recent building being opened in January 2010), and the Courtyards, a garden-style apartment community in north campus consisting of seven buildings.
The South Campus Commons Community and Courtyards, while built on campus, are managed by a private company, Capstone On-Campus Management, as part of a public-private partnership between the company and the University of Maryland.
The university does not have family housing. As of 2011, some students with families have advocated for the addition of family housing.
Residential life is overseen by the Department of Resident Life, which consists of staff members and departments. For instance,
resident assistants
A resident assistant (RA), also known by a variety of other names, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and university, universities, mental health and substance abuse residential facilities, or simila ...
, who are full-time undergraduates facilitating the student interaction and development of floors within their assigned floor, building, or community, are supervised by
resident directors. The Department of Resident Life offers its residents and other students many programs, including the Math Success Program, Academic Success Program, Common Ground Dialogue Program, and many Living and Learning programs.
Dining
There are four dining halls on campus: the North Campus Dining Hall ("The Diner") is between the Ellicott Community, the South Campus Dining Hall is near the South Hill and South Campus Commons communities, the 251 North Dining Hall is in the Denton Community, and Yahentamitsi Dining Hall is in the Heritage Community. As of the fall of 2016, the University of Maryland Dining Services changed its dining plan from a pay-a-la-carte to an all-you-can-eat style dining experience. A
food court in the Stamp Student Union provides many dining options for the university community. The
Maryland Food Collective, popularly known as the Co-Op, is a worker-owned
collective that has been providing a wide array of vegan and vegetarian food options, along with local, organic, and fair-trade fruits and vegetables since 1975, until its closing in 2019. The university's new dining hall on north campus, Yahentamitsi, which means "a place to go eat" in the
Algonquin language spoken by the
Piscataway people
The Piscataway or Piscatawa , are Native Americans. They spoke Algonquian Piscataway, a dialect of Nanticoke. One of their neighboring tribes, with whom they merged after a massive decline of population following two centuries of interaction ...
, is the first building on campus named in honor of Indigenous people.
Transportation
![College Park Station 91121](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/College_Park_Station_91121.jpg)
The university is accessible through
the three airports in the greater
Washington metropolitan area
The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...
:
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...
,
Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fa ...
, and
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Interna ...
. A small public airport in College Park,
College Park Airport
College Park Airport is a public airport located in the City of College Park, in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It is the world's oldest continuously operated airport. The airport is located south of Paint Branch and Lake A ...
, lies nearly adjacent to campus, but operations are limited to the Washington metropolitan area. The College Park Airport is the world's oldest continually operating airport and the site of many significant aviation firsts.
A free shuttle service, known as
Shuttle–UM, is available for UMD students, faculty, staff, and some residents of College Park and Greenbelt. The university is served by an off-campus stop on the
Washington Metro Green Line and
Yellow Line called
College Park – University of Maryland. The station is also served by the
Camden Line of the
MARC Train
MARC (Maryland Area Rail Commuter) is a commuter rail system in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and operated under contract by Alstom and Amtrak on track owned b ...
, which runs between
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 ...
and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. A Shuttle-UM bus (Route 104) arrives at the station every five minutes during the fall and spring semesters (every ten minutes during the summer) to bring visitors to campus (stopping in front of the
Stamp Student Union
The Adele H. Stamp Student Union, commonly referred to as "Stamp", is the student activity center on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. First constructed in 1954 (with additions in 1962 and 1971), the building was renamed ...
).
Metrobus and
Prince George's County
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...
TheBus bus services also stop on campus. Since 2012, TheBus services for Route1Ride (Route 17) are free of charge to all University of Maryland students and staff, providing service on Route 1 from the Washington, D.C. border to the
IKEA in College Park, with a stop at the College Park – University of Maryland Metro station. There is an additional service called Nite Ride, which is a curb-to-curb service offered every night from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. The service is designed to serve the areas of campus that are not on the evening service routes.
Over 21,000 parking spaces are on campus, in parking lots and garages.
There are 16 electric vehicle charging stations on campus in 7 locations that are free and open to the public, with plans to add more stations.
Zipcar
Zipcar is an American car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition ...
service is also available on campus for all UMD students, faculty, and staff.
The university has attempted to make the campus more bike-friendly by installing covered bike parking and bike lockers on campus, introducing a bike-sharing program, and plans to add more bike lanes on campus. As of Spring 2011, the university has encouraged cycling on campus by installing covered bike storage outside of the newly built Oakland dorm as well as security lockers in the Mowatt Lane Garage. In addition to increased storage options, the university runs the Campus Bike Shop where students can get their bikes repaired and learn how to maintain them on their own. Since 2014, the University of Maryland has been named a gold-level "Bicycle Friendly University" by the
League of American Bicyclists
The League of American Bicyclists (LAB), officially the League of American Wheelmen, is a membership organization that promotes cycling for fun, fitness and transportation through advocacy and education.
A Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizat ...
.
As of Fall 2019, electric scooter stations were placed around campus to facilitate the introduction of an electric
scooter,
e-bike, and manual
bike sharing
A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.
The programmes themselves include bot ...
system on campus. Over the semester, private scooter companies introduced and slowly increased the number of scooters and bikes available for rental on campus. All the bikes and scooters for pay-by-the-minute rental are only available between 5:00 am and 9:00 pm each day. Over the Fall 2019 semester, personal scooters have also drastically increased on campus.
Under the administration of former President
C. Daniel Mote Jr., the university was the primary source of opposition in Prince George's County to the installation of one or more
light-rail stops on campus as a part of the proposed
Maryland Transit Administration
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Baltimore-Washingt ...
's
Purple Line out of concern for student safety and to protect sensitive lab equipment. This sentiment was similar to previous transit positions taken by the university in the 1980s, specifically when the administration rejected Metro's first proposal of having the College Park–University of Maryland station run underground through campus connecting to
Adele H. Stamp Student Union, and strongly opposed their second proposal to put the stop right next to campus in downtown College Park on Route 1, with the reasoning to protect student and resident safety.
In 2017, former Maryland Governor and Prince George's County Executive
Parris Glendening
Parris Nelson Glendening (born June 11, 1942) is an American politician and academic who served as the 59th Governor of Maryland from January 18, 1995, to January 15, 2003. Previously, he was the County Executive of Prince George's County, Mary ...
admitted the university's decision to have the Metro station as far away from campus as possible (1.6 miles) was a "disaster" and racially biased, primarily due to administrators and community residents saying they did not want crime or undesirable people coming to campus on the
Green Line from the poorer neighborhoods of Washington.
Under President Wallace Loh's vision in 2011, the administration recognized the transit mistakes of the past and embraced having the Purple Line on campus as it would drastically increase transportation access for students and faculty, while encouraging more walkable transit-oriented developments in downtown College Park.
The Purple Line route, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022, will have five stops on and around the university's campus: M Square, the College Park Metro station, the main entrance to the campus on Route 1, near Stamp Student Union on Campus Drive, and on the other edge of campus on Adelphi Road, along with a parallel running bike path.
''The Diamondback''
![UMD Stamp co-op, food court beams](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/UMD_Stamp_co-op%2C_food_court_beams.jpg)
''The Diamondback'' is an independent
student newspaper. It was founded in 1910 as ''The Triangle'' and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the
Diamondback terrapin
The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin (''Malaclemys terrapin'') is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the Northeastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Mal ...
, which became the school mascot in 1933. The newspaper is published daily, Monday through Friday, during the spring and fall semesters, with a print circulation of 17,000 and annual advertising revenues of over $1 million. It has four sections: News, Opinion, Sports, and Diversions.
For the 2008–2009 school year, ''The Diamondback'' earned a Mark of Excellence award from the
Society of Professional Journalists, placing second nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and first in its region in the same category. Three years earlier the newspaper had finished third place nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and first in its region.
Notable journalists who have been with the paper include
David Simon
David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08).
He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...
of
HBO's ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'' and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Homicide: Life on the Street''; disgraced
Jayson Blair
Jayson Thomas Blair (born March 23, 1976) is an American former journalist who worked for ''The New York Times''. He resigned from the newspaper in May 2003 in the wake of the discovery of fabrication and plagiarism in his stories.
Blair publi ...
, who was editor-in-chief in 1996 (he did not graduate, instead taking a job with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'');
Norman Chad
Norman A. Chad (born 1958) is an American sportswriter, poker player and syndicated columnist who is seen on the sports channel ESPN. He also was an occasional guest host on the ESPN show ''Pardon the Interruption'' and has appeared as both ho ...
, who was editor-in-chief in 1978; cartoonists
Jeff Kinney
Jeffrey Patrick Kinney (born February 19, 1971) is an American author and cartoonist, best known for the children's book series ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid''. He also created the child-oriented website '' Poptropica''.
Early life
Jeff Kinney was bor ...
, who created the ''
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' is an American children’s book series and media franchise created by author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series follows Greg Heffley, a middle-schooler who illustrates his daily life in a diary (although he const ...
'' fiction series and whose ''Igdoof'' strip appeared in ''The Diamondback'';
Aaron McGruder, who first published his cartoon ''
The Boondocks
Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas.
Boondocks may also refer to:
* The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band
* ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder
** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...
'' in ''The Diamondback''; and
Frank Cho
Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho, (born 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series ''Liberty Meadows'', as well as for books such as ''Shanna the She-Devil'', ''Mighty Avengers'' and ''Hulk'' for ...
, who began his career with the popular ''University Squared'' for ''The Diamondback''.
WMUC-FM
WMUC-FM (90.5 FM) is the university's non-commercial radio station, staffed by UMD students and volunteers. WMUC is a
freeform radio
Free-form, or free-form radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercia ...
station broadcast at 10 watts. Its broadcasts can be heard throughout the
Washington metropolitan area
The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...
. Notable WMUC alumni include
Connie Chung
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von B ...
,
Bonnie Bernstein
Bonnie Lynn Bernstein (born August 16, 1970) is an American sports journalist and executive. She has been named one of the most accomplished female sportscasters in history by the American Sportscasters Association. Bernstein is Vice President, Co ...
,
Peter Rosenberg
Peter Elliot Rosenberg (born July 23, 1979)Chris Richards''Washington Post'', May 31, 2013. is an American radio disc jockey, television show host, and professional wrestling personality, who is signed to WWE where he is a one-time WWE 24/7 C ...
and
Aaron McGruder.
WMUC Sports
WMUC Sports is the online sports division of WMUC-FM that provides live broadcasts for over 10 Division I University of Maryland sports, including the Terrapin football and basketball teams.
Greek life
Approximately 15% of men and 20% of women in Maryland's undergraduate student body are involved in
Greek life. Many of the fraternities and sororities at the school are on Fraternity Row and the Graham Cracker, which are controlled by the university. Fraternity Row is the background of several
recently produced films.
All social Greek organizations are governed by one of five groups: the Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC), the Panhellenic Association (PHA), the Pan-Hellenic Council, the United Greek Council, or the Professional Fraternal Association. The United Greek Council governs all cultural Greek organizations. These councils assist in the creation and governance of chapter by-laws, risk management plans, and philanthropic activities, with support from the Department of Fraternity and Sorority Life (DFSL).
Each year, every Greek organization must fulfill certain requirements, including doing a service and conducting a program/event related to community service, diversity, or alumni and faculty outreach.
A cappella groups
UMD hosts ten student-run
a cappella groups on campus, several of which regularly compete in the
International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). The most prominent of these groups is the mixed ensemble Faux Paz, who placed 3rd at ICCA finals in New York City in 2016 and 1st in the 2021 virtual tournament. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked Faux Paz at #10 out of all ICCA-competing groups.
Athletics
![Comcast Center interior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Comcast_Center_interior.jpg)
The university sponsors varsity athletic teams in 20 men's and women's sports. The teams, named the "Terrapins," represent Maryland in
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
Division I competition. Maryland became a founding member of the
Atlantic Coast Conference in 1952 but left to join the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
on July 1, 2014. As of 2017, Maryland's athletic teams have been awarded 44 national championships by the NCAA,
USILA The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the vars ...
,
AIAW
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...
, and
NCA. In 2008 and 2010, ''
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
'' named the University of Maryland's athletic facilities the best in the nation. The Terrapins nickname (often shortened to "Terps") was coined by former university president, football coach, and athletic director
H. C. "Curly" Byrd in 1932. The mascot is a
diamondback terrapin
The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin (''Malaclemys terrapin'') is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the Northeastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Mal ...
named ''Testudo'', which is
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "tortoise." Since the early 20th century, the school athletic colors have been some combination of those on the
Maryland state flag
The flag of the state of Maryland is the 17th-century heraldic banner of arms of Cecil, 2nd Baron Baltimore. It consists of the arms of his father George, 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), quartered with those of his grandmother, heiress of th ...
: red, white, black, and gold. Maryland is the only NCAA Division I school to have four official school colors.
Men's basketball
Men's basketball is the most popular sport at the university.
[ Long-time head coach ]Lefty Driesell
Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (born December 25, 1931) is a retired American college basketball coach. He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four different NCAA Division I schools, Driesell led the programs of Davidson College, ...
began the now nationwide tradition of " Midnight Madness" in 1971. Beginning in 1989, alumnus Gary Williams
Gary Bruce Williams (born March 4, 1945) is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. I ...
revived the program, which was struggling in the wake of Len Bias
Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player who attended the University of Maryland. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. Two days after being selec ...
's death and NCAA rules infractions. Williams led Maryland basketball to national prominence with two Final Four appearances, and in 2002, a national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
. On February 7, 2006, Williams won his 349th game to surpass Driesell and became Maryland's all-time leader among basketball coaches. In May 2011, Williams retired as head coach, which allowed for the entrance of the new head coach, Mark Turgeon
Mark Leo Turgeon (born February 5, 1965) is an American college basketball coach. Turgeon served as the head men's basketball coach at Jacksonville State University from 1998 to 2000, Wichita State University from 2000 to 2007, Texas A&M Univ ...
. The court at XFINITY Center was named in honor of the beloved coach, Gary Williams. Maryland football is also popular at the university.[''University of Maryland College Prowler Off the Record'']
, p. 84–86, 2005, . The Terrapins were awarded the national championship by the wire services in 1953, and in 1951, by several retroactive selectors.
Women's basketball
Women's basketball has become one of the most celebrated sports on campus, due to significant success in the Brenda Frese era. After experiencing a period of national prominence under head coach, Chris Weller in the 1980s, including a pair of trips to the Final Four in 1982 and 1989, the Maryland Terrapins reached their full potential in 2006, winning the NCAA national championship. In the ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
, Maryland was regularly a threat to win regular season and conference tournament championships, doing so on five and ten occasions, respectively. Since joining the Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
in the 2014–2015 season, Maryland has featured in every Big Ten Tournament Championship game (as of 2021), winning five titles, and has won six of seven regular season championships.
Men's lacrosse
Maryland men's lacrosse remains one of the sport's top programs since its beginnings as a squad in 1865. The team most recently won the national championship in 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
, completing an undefeated season, the first since Virginia in 2006, and the first to go undefeated across 18 games. The team has won ten USILA The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the vars ...
and NCAA national championships since its promotion to varsity status in 1924 and is a regular fixture in the NCAA tournament.
Women's lacrosse
The Maryland women's lacrosse team has won 15 national championships, the most of any program in the nation. The team has produced the National Player of the Year/Tewaaraton Award
The Tewaaraton Award is an annual award for the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players, since 2001. It is the lacrosse equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. The award is presented by The Tewaaraton Foundation and ...
winner eight times, more than any other collegiate program. The Terrapins have also made the most NCAA tournament appearances, won the most tournament games, and made the most NCAA championship game appearances of any program. They most recently won the NCAA championship in 2019.
Men's soccer
The men's soccer team has won four NCAA Division I College Cup national championships, most recently in 2018. Under the guidance of head coach Sasho Cirovski, the soccer team has reached nine Final Fours and won three College Cups since 1997. The soccer team has developed a large, devoted fan base among students and the local community. The attendance record at Ludwig Field was set in 2015 when 8,449 fans saw Maryland win over top-ranked UCLA in extra time. The annual total attendance increased dramatically from 12,710 in 1995 to 35,631 in 2008.
Field hockey
The Maryland women's field hockey team is among the most accomplished field hockey programs in the country, and have won a total of eight NCAA national championships and 13 conference championships (10 in the ACC and 5 in the Big Ten).
Band During Sports
The Mighty Sound of Maryland marching band attends all home football games and provides pre-game performances. During basketball season, the marching band becomes the University of Maryland Pep Band, which provides music in the stands at men's and women's home games and during tournament play.
On July 1, 2012, the university cut seven varsity teams: men's cross country, men's indoor track, men's swimming and diving, men's tennis, women's acrobatics and tumbling, women's swimming and diving, and women's water polo. The men's outdoor track team had been scheduled to be cut, but the team raised $888,000 of a target amount of $940,000, sufficient to avoid elimination.
Mascot
In 1932, Curley Byrd
Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd (February 12, 1889 – October 2, 1970) was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician. Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905, and ...
—who served as the university's football and baseball coach, athletic director, and president—proposed adopting the diamondback terrapin
The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin (''Malaclemys terrapin'') is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the Northeastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Mal ...
as a mascot. The first statue of Testudo cast in bronze was donated by the Class of 1933 and displayed on Baltimore Avenue
The Baltimore Pike was an auto trail connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Today, parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 1 (US 1), US 13, and a small portion of Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41). A section of the road ...
in front of Ritchie Coliseum
Ritchie Coliseum is a multipurpose athletics facility and music venue at the University of Maryland. It served as the home arena for the Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team from 1931 to 1955, and for its gymnastics, wrestling, and volleyball ...
. However, the 300-pound sculpture was subjected to vandalism by visiting college athletic teams. One such incident occurred in 1947 when students from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
stole the bronze statue and moved it to their campus. Maryland students traveled to 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 ...
to retrieve it, laying siege to the house where it was hidden. Over 200 city police responded to quell the riot. In 1949, University President Byrd was awakened by a phone call from a University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
fraternity requesting Testudo be removed from their lawn. Testudo was later filled with 700 pounds of cement and fastened to his pedestal to prevent future removals, but students at rival schools continued to vandalize it. It was moved to Maryland Stadium
SECU Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. It is the home of Maryland Terrapins football and men's lacrosse teams, which compete in the Big Ten Conference. The facility was ...
in 1951. In the 1960s, Testudo was moved back to a central spot in front of McKeldin Library.
In 1992 a duplicate statue was placed at Maryland Stadium, where the football team touches it for good luck as they pass by before games. Additional Testudo statues now sit outside of the Gossett Team House near the stadium; XFINITY Center, the school's basketball arena; the Riggs Alumni Center; in the lobby of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union; and on the courtyard of Van Munching Hall. In 1994, the Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...
approved legislation to name the diamondback terrapin (''malaclemys terrapin terrapin'') as the official state reptile and the legally codified mascot of the University of Maryland. Beginning in the 2000s, the university promoted the slogan "Fear the Turtle" as a rallying cry for school pride.
The statue's nose is polished by passers-by that have rubbed it for good luck. Around finals week, students start giving offerings to Testudo in the hope of good grades. In 2013, the Testudo statue caught fire because of an ill-advised mixture of offerings and a lit candle. Local news channels reported about this event and it trended on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. During the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, campus guidelines included instructions to not rub the statue's nose unless using disinfectant wipes before and after to clean it.
Notable alumni
File:Steny Hoyer, official photo as Whip.jpg, Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...
and U.S. Representative
File:Larry David at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival 2.jpg, Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
, co-creator of '' Seinfeld'' and creator of '' Curb Your Enthusiasm''
File:Ed Snider by Michael Alan Goldberg (cropped).jpg, Ed Snider
Edward Malcolm Snider (January 6, 1933 – April 11, 2016) was an American business executive. He was the chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Ho ...
, Chairman of Comcast Spectacor
Comcast Spectacor is a Philadelphia-based American sports and entertainment company. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, the Phi ...
and owner of the Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
File:Carl bernstein 2007.jpg, Carl Bernstein
Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original n ...
, investigative journalist and author known for reporting on the Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
File:Sergey Brin cropped.jpg, Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhailovich Brin (russian: link=no, Сергей Михайлович Брин; born August 21, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist, and internet entrepreneur, who co-founded Google with Larry Page. Brin was th ...
, co-founder of Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
File:Jim Henson (1989) headshot.jpg, Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
, creator of The Muppets characters
File:Tim Kurkjian.jpg, Tim Kurkjian
Tim Kurkjian (; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's '' Baseball Tonight'' and ''SportsCenter''. He is also a contributor to '' ESPN The Magazine'' and ''ESPN.com''.
On December 7, 2021, Kurkjian was named ...
, baseball analyst on ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
File:Scott Van Pelt.jpg, Scott Van Pelt
Scott Van Pelt (born ) is an American sportscaster and sports talk show host. He co-anchored the 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' on ESPN, served as the co-host of '' SVP & Russillo'' alongside Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio, and hosts various ...
, sportscaster on ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
File:Kevin Plank headshot 2018.png, Kevin Plank
Kevin Audette Plank (born August 13, 1972) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Plank is the founder and executive chairman of Under Armour, a manufacturer of sportswear, footwear and accessories, based in Baltimore, Maryland ...
, founder of Under Armour
Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European head ...
File:Robin Quivers April 2007 (cropped).jpg, Robin Quivers
Robin Ophelia Quivers (born August 8, 1952) is an American radio personality, author, and actress, best known for being the long-running co-host of ''The Howard Stern Show''.
Early life
Quivers was born on August 8, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryla ...
, co-host of ''The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
''
File:Gayle King of CBS 2019.jpg, Gayle King
Gayle King (born December 28, 1954) is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, '' CBS Mornings'', and before that its predecessor ''CBS This Morning''. She is ...
, broadcast journalist for CBS News
File:Eric Swalwell 114th official photo.jpg, Eric Swalwell
Eric Michael Swalwell (born November 16, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 15th congressional district since 2013. His district covers most of eastern Alameda County and part of centr ...
, U.S. Representative
File:Boomer Esiason at Super Bowl XLI pre-game show in Miami.jpg, Boomer Esiason
Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was selected in the ...
, sports analyst and former NFL quarterback
File:Carly Fiorina 2017 CPAC by Gage Skidmore.jpg, Carly Fiorina
Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (''née'' Sneed; born September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). As chief executive officer of HP from 1999 to 2005, Fiorina was ...
, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP)
File:ConnieChungByPhilKonstantin.jpg, Connie Chung
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von B ...
, journalist
Notable alumni include House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer; Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
co-founder Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhailovich Brin (russian: link=no, Сергей Михайлович Брин; born August 21, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist, and internet entrepreneur, who co-founded Google with Larry Page. Brin was th ...
; The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
creator Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
; ''The Wire'' creator David Simon
David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08).
He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...
, as well as Seinfeld co-creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
. Former NFL Quarterback Norman "Boomer" Esiason. Prominent alumni in business include Ed Snider
Edward Malcolm Snider (January 6, 1933 – April 11, 2016) was an American business executive. He was the chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Ho ...
, Chairman of Comcast Spectacor
Comcast Spectacor is a Philadelphia-based American sports and entertainment company. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, the Phi ...
and owner of the Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
; Jim Walton (journalist)
Jim Walton (born 1958) is the former president of CNN Worldwide. He joined CNN in 1981, one year after the network was founded.
He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1981. He started his career at CNN as a VJ, an entry-le ...
, former president and CEO of CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
; Kevin Plank
Kevin Audette Plank (born August 13, 1972) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Plank is the founder and executive chairman of Under Armour, a manufacturer of sportswear, footwear and accessories, based in Baltimore, Maryland ...
, founder and executive chairman of the athletic apparel company Under Armour
Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European head ...
; Leonard Kevin "Len" Bias, a first team All-American college basketball forward; Chris Kubasik, former President of Lockheed Martin; Carly Fiorina
Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (''née'' Sneed; born September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). As chief executive officer of HP from 1999 to 2005, Fiorina was ...
, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; and telecommunications entrepreneur Brian Hinman.
Journalist and news director Ed Godfrey
Milton Edwin “Ed” Godfrey, Jr (February 4, 1931 – June 18, 2019) was an American television journalist, an innovative, award-winning, multi-market television news producer and news director who also served as a director-at-large and presid ...
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and Journalism. Television personality Connie Chung
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von B ...
; E! News reporter Giuliana Rancic
Giuliana Rancic (; ; born August 17, 1974) is an Italian-American entertainment reporter and television personality. She is a co-anchor of ''E! News'' and resides in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Early life
Rancic was born in Naples, Italy and immigra ...
graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1947 and was named after newspaper editor Philip Merrill in 2001. The school has about 550 undergr ...
. ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
reporters Bonnie Bernstein
Bonnie Lynn Bernstein (born August 16, 1970) is an American sports journalist and executive. She has been named one of the most accomplished female sportscasters in history by the American Sportscasters Association. Bernstein is Vice President, Co ...
and Tim Kurkjian
Tim Kurkjian (; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's '' Baseball Tonight'' and ''SportsCenter''. He is also a contributor to '' ESPN The Magazine'' and ''ESPN.com''.
On December 7, 2021, Kurkjian was named ...
graduated from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1947 and was named after newspaper editor Philip Merrill in 2001. The school has about 550 undergr ...
, as did Peter Rosenberg
Peter Elliot Rosenberg (born July 23, 1979)Chris Richards''Washington Post'', May 31, 2013. is an American radio disc jockey, television show host, and professional wrestling personality, who is signed to WWE where he is a one-time WWE 24/7 C ...
. Scott Van Pelt
Scott Van Pelt (born ) is an American sportscaster and sports talk show host. He co-anchored the 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' on ESPN, served as the co-host of '' SVP & Russillo'' alongside Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio, and hosts various ...
, also of ESPN, attended the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism but finished a few credits short of graduation.
Journalist Carl Bernstein
Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original n ...
, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for his coverage of the Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
, attended the university but did not graduate. Mark Rosenker
Mark Victor Rosenker (December 8, 1946 – September 26, 2020) was an American aviation official who served as the 11th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) from August 2006 through August 2008. He was nominated by Preside ...
, Former Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and now CBS NEWS Transportation Safety Analyst, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in radio and television. Kiran Chetry
Kiran Carrie Chetry ( ne, किरण क्षेत्री, born August 26, 1974) is a former American television broadcast journalist who, until 2011, was a cable news anchor for CNN's ''American Morning''. From 2001 to 2007 she reported ...
, co-host of CNN's '' American Morning'', graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism. Jean Worthley of Maryland Public Television
Maryland Public Television (MPT) is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member state network for the U.S. state of Maryland. It operates under the auspices of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, an agency of the Maryland state gover ...
hosted Hodgepodge Lodge and co-hosted On Nature's Trail after enrolling in the Graduate School of Education. TV and media critic David Zurawik of ''The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...
'' graduated with a doctorate in American Studies.
Heidi Collins
Heidi Collins (born Heidi Elmquist; June 1, 1967) is an American correspondent and news anchor for KMSP-TV Fox 9 News in Minneapolis – Saint Paul prior to her departure on July 29, 2013. She formerly worked for CNN.
Life and career
Collins wa ...
of ''CNN Newsroom
''CNN Newsroom'' (also simply known as ''Newsroom'') is an American news programming block that airs on CNN.
Broadcasting for 43 hours each week, ''Newsroom'' features live and taped news reports, in addition to analysis from experts on the iss ...
'' graduated with a Bachelor of Science. Former Maryland governor Harry R. Hughes also attended. Gayle King
Gayle King (born December 28, 1954) is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, '' CBS Mornings'', and before that its predecessor ''CBS This Morning''. She is ...
, editor-at-large for ''O, The Oprah Magazine
''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications.
Overview
It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...
'', graduated from Maryland with a degree in psychology. Television show host Bruce DePuyt, host of News Talk on NewsChannel8, graduated from Phillip Merrill College of Journalism.
Attendees within the fields of science and mathematics are Nobel laureates Raymond Davis Jr.
Raymond Davis Jr. (October 14, 1914 – May 31, 2006) was an American chemist and physicist. He is best known as the leader of the Homestake experiment in the 1960s-1980s, which was the first experiment to detect neutrinos emitted from the Sun; ...
, 2002 winner in Physics; Herbert Hauptman
Herbert Aaron Hauptman (February 14, 1917 – October 23, 2011) was an American mathematician and Nobel laureate. He pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the whole field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in d ...
, 1985 winner in Chemistry, and Fields Medal winner Charles Fefferman
Charles Louis Fefferman (born April 18, 1949) is an American mathematician at Princeton University, where he is currently the Herbert E. Jones, Jr. '43 University Professor of Mathematics. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1978 for his contri ...
. Other alumni include George Dantzig
George Bernard Dantzig (; November 8, 1914 – May 13, 2005) was an American mathematical scientist who made contributions to industrial engineering, operations research, computer science, economics, and statistics.
Dantzig is known for his ...
, considered the father of linear programming; late NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
astronaut Judith Resnik
Judith Arlene Resnik (April 5, 1949 – January 28, 1986) was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. She was the fourth woman, ...
, who died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, ''Challenge ...
during the launch of mission STS-51-L; engineer James S. Albus
James Sacra Albus (May 4, 1935 – April 17, 2011) was an American engineer, Senior NIST Fellow and founder and former chief of the Intelligent Systems Division of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards an ...
, founder of a division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
Administrator Michael D. Griffin
Michael Douglas Griffin (born November 1, 1949) is an American physicist and aerospace engineer who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering from 2018 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy of Technology for the Str ...
; Sara Hallager, curator of birds at the Smithsonian's National Zoo; and Kevin Greenaugh, first African American to receive a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland.
Several donors have distinguished themselves for their sizable gifts to the university. Businessman Robert H. Smith, who graduated from the university in 1950 with a degree in accounting, has given over $45 million to the business school that now bears his name and to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, which bears his wife's name.[Robert H. Smith School of Business to Share in University of Maryland Gifts Totaling $60 Million](_blank)
Construction entrepreneur A. James Clark
Alfred James Clark (December 2, 1927 – March 20, 2015) was an American engineer, businessman and philanthropist. He was chairman and CEO of Clark Enterprises, Inc., headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company's largest subsidiary is Clar ...
, who graduated with an engineering degree in 1950, has also donated over $45 million to the college of engineering, which also bears his name. Another engineering donor, Jeong H. Kim, earned his Ph.D. from the university in 1991 and gave $5 million for the construction of a state-of-the-art engineering building. Philip Merrill
Philip Merrill (April 28, 1934 – June 10, 2006) was an American diplomat, publisher, banker, and philanthropist.
Career
Born Philip Merrill Levine, he was a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School. At Cornell, he was manag ...
, a media figure, donated $10 million to the College of Journalism. Robert E. Fischell, physicist, inventor, and holder of more than 200 U.S. and foreign medical patents["Industry Pioneer – Robert Fischell,"](_blank)
Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry – August 2004. Accessed February 22, 2007. donated $30 million to the A. James Clark School of Engineering, establishing the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Brendan Iribe
Brendan Trexler Iribe (; born August 12, 1979) is an American game programmer, entrepreneur and the original CEO and co-founder of Oculus VR, Inc. and Scaleform. He is the managing partner at BIG Ventures, an early-stage venture fund.
Early l ...
, a co-founder of Oculus VR
Reality Labs is a business of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.) that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon ...
, donated $31 million to the university in 2014 towards a new computer science building and scholarships.
In addition, the university has a number of executive trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...
s who are elected and have a diverse array of professional backgrounds.
Filmography
The university's campus has been featured in numerous films, television shows, and music videos, including:
* ''Young Sheldon
''Young Sheldon'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a spin-off prequel to ''The Big Bang Theory'' and begins with the ...
'' (2021)
*''Veep
''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep' ...
'' (2014)
*'' Savage U'' (2012)
* Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...
("All I Do" and "The Spotlight") (2011, 2012)
* '' Naked Science'' ''( Earth's Invisible Shield)'' (2008)
* '' National Treasure: Book of Secrets'' (2007)
* ''CEO Exchange
CEO Exchange is a television program featuring conversations between the host and two CEO guests, often from related industries. It is hosted by Jeff Greenfield of CNN. The show was distributed by WTTW to public television stations. It aired fro ...
'' (2006)
* '' Naked Science'' ''(Earth's Core
The internal structure of Earth is the solid portion of the Earth, excluding its atmosphere and hydrosphere. The structure consists of an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous asthenosphere and solid mantle, a liquid outer core whose ...
)'' (2005)
*'' Tragedy to Triumph: The Maryland Terrapin Odyssey'' (2003)
* ''Species II
''Species II'' is a 1998 American science fiction horror thriller film directed by Peter Medak. The film is a sequel to ''Species'' (1995) and the second installment in the ''Species'' series. The film stars Michael Madsen, Natasha Henstridge, ...
'' (1998)
* ''Antiques Roadshow
''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...
(''College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known ...
'')'' (1997)
* Hootie & the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band w ...
(" Only Wanna Be with You") (1995)
* ''Life 101
''Life 101'' is a 1995 direct-to-video comedy-drama film, starring Corey Haim, Keith Coogan and Ami Dolenz.
Plot summary
A college freshman Ramsy experiences love for the first time in the 1960s when he asks out Joy.
Cast
* Corey Haim as Ra ...
'' (1995)
* ''The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
'' ("Lazarus") (1993)
* ''St. Elmo's Fire
St. Elmo's fire — also called Witchfire or Witch's Fire — is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast, spire, chimney, or animal hornHeidorn, K., Weather Element ...
'' (1985)
* ''The House on Sorority Row
''The House on Sorority Row'' (also known as ''House of Evil'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1982 American slasher film written and directed by Mark Rosman, produced by John G. Clark, and starring Eileen Davidson and Kathryn McNeil. The plot follo ...
'' (1983)
See also
* Shuping Yang commencement speech controversy
* Monroe H. Martin Prize
Notes
References
External links
*
*
Maryland Athletics website
*
Fear the Turtle Project collection
at the University of Maryland Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maryland, College Park, University of
College Park, University of Maryland
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 M ...
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 M ...
Flagship universities in the United States
Land-grant universities and colleges
University of Maryland College
Educational institutions established in 1856
1856 establishments in Maryland