We have several alumni who are current professors and others who are in postdocs or STEM positions with plans to enter the professoriate later in their careers or serve as adjunct faculty.

Here is a short list:

Dr. Oliver Meyers (UMBC), Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mississippi State University

Dr. Alycia Marshall (UMCP), Associate Professor of Mathematics, Anne Arundel Community College

Dr. Stacey Williams (UMB), Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Notre Dame

Dr. Jesus Caban (UMBC), Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, UMBC, Researcher – NIH

Dr. Lorrie Frasure, Assistant Professor, Political Science, UCLA

Dr. Christopher Whitt (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Political Science, Augustana College

Dr. Calandra Tate (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Mathematics, College of Staten Island, CUNY

Dr. Cyntrica Eaton (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Norfolk State University

Dr. B. Michelle Harris (UMCP), Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences, UDC

Dr. Kholiswa Laird (UMBC), Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry, University of Rochester

Dr. Latese Briggs (UMBC), Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry,  MIT/Harvard Broad Institute on Genomics

Dr. Robert Alexander (UMBC), Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Sylvester Mosley (UMBC), ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow, FDA

Dr. Dawn Ward (UMBC), Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Stevenson College

Dr. T. Sean Vasitis (UMB), Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Dr. Jocelyn Reader (UMB), Postdoctoral Fellow, Greenbaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School and Medicine, Adjunct Professor at University of Maryland University College

Dr. Marishka Brown (UMB), Postdoctoral Fellow, Respiratory Neurobiology, University of Pennsylvania

Alumni of the Dissertation House are listed here:

http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/alumni/

This page contains many first placement positions and will continue to be updated.

The Dissertation House at the University of Maryland College Park is in full swing. Dr. Carter has already given mini-lectures on public speaking and your role with your advisor and Dr. Noah Collins, Staff Psychologist from the Counseling Center discussed balance.  Here is Dr. Carter’s synopsis of Dr. Collins’ talk (reprinted from our online challenge page.)

“Dr. Noah Collins from the Counseling Services Center is here talking about having balance when writing your dissertation. He gave a humorous presentation on his approach to writing his dissertation. He said that he is a morning person. He says if I have to work in the evening, the rewards have to go WAY UP if I am going to work at night. His discussion presented the two sides of self that argue with each other about the way to write your dissertation. One side is the drill-sergeant who wants to focus mainly on working on the dissertation, the other fanciful person who does not really want to work on the dissertation. He said one does not have to win at the expense of the other. When fanciful side wins, the drill-Sargent calls you lazy, wasteful, slacker, etc. When the drill-sergeant side wins, the fanciful side loses and feels depressed and sad. He suggests that when the fanciful side does not want to work, you should negotiate, otherwise the fanciful side will go on strike by shutting down, by playing solitaire, or by depression.”

Tomorrow is the last day for the participants at College Park.  Two of the participants, Nikki and Alexis, have continued to use the tag #TeamGetItDone throughout the week. The students are working hard and their time and effort are having an effect … they are getting it done!

The Dissertation House at the University of Maryland College Park is in full swing. Dr. Carter has already given mini-lectures on public speaking and your role with your advisor and Dr. Noah Collins, Staff Psychologist from the Counseling Center discussed balance.  Here is Dr. Carter’s synopsis of Dr. Collins’ talk (reprinted from our online challenge page.)

“Dr. Noah Collins from the Counseling Services Center is here talking about having balance when writing your dissertation. He gave a humorous presentation on his approach to writing his dissertation. He said that he is a morning person. He says if I have to work in the evening, the rewards have to go WAY UP if I am going to work at night. His discussion presented the two sides of self that argue with each other about the way to write your dissertation. One side is the drill-sergeant who wants to focus mainly on working on the dissertation, the other fanciful person who does not really want to work on the dissertation. He said one does not have to win at the expense of the other. When fanciful side wins, the drill-Sargent calls you lazy, wasteful, slacker, etc. When the drill-sergeant side wins, the fanciful side loses and feels depressed and sad. He suggests that when the fanciful side does not want to work, you should negotiate, otherwise the fanciful side will go on strike by shutting down, by playing solitaire, or by depression.”

Tomorrow is the last day for the participants at College Park.  Two of the participants, Nikki and Alexis, have continued to use the tag #TeamGetItDone throughout the week. The students are working hard and their time and effort are having an effect … they are getting it done!

150 years ago this past April, the United States began its most trying and desperate hour. In the wake of the secession of eight Southern States from the Union, government and military leaders in the North understood that, in order to preserve the Union, the South would have to be invaded. President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for 90 days. His call for volunteers caused four more states to secede, including Virginia. He believed that one great victory in battle would end the war. That victory did not come, but the ground chosen for that battle would take a prominent place in the annals of the history of the United States of America.

July 21, 2011 marks the sesquicentennial of the First Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas, and the Special Collections Department of the Albin O. Kuhn Library has information regarding this and many other Civil War topics. Whether you are a researcher, historian, or a Civil War enthusiast, Special Collections has many resources that can guide you through an historic event as if you were there yourself.

Battlefield from the Hill on the Road leading to Manassas Junction, Bull's Run click here for image

The first 3 months of The War Between the States saw only skirmishes between small units of the combatants' armies. However, on July 21, 1861, the two unproven and untried armies met in battle on a grand scale for the first time. The Union Army was ordered to march on the Confederate capitol of Richmond, VA, while the Confederate army took up defensive positions just 25 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. along the Bull Run Creek in the town of Manassas, VA. Manassas was an important railroad junction which the Union Army needed to capture to facilitate the successful invasion of the South.

In order to bypass the enemy's defenses, the Union commander, General Irvin McDowell, decided to attempt to cross the creek at an undefended spot to the north west of the Confederate positions. The ford near Sudley Springs provided access for the Union troops to breach the defenses and engage the enemy.

Sudley Springs, Bull Run click here for image

The battle contained some famous exploits, including those of Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson, who earned his illustrious moniker because his brigade stood their ground like a “stonewall.” The man who allegedly gave him that nickname was Southern General Bernard Bee, who was mortally wounded not long after. His friend, Colonel Francis Bartow, was also killed nearby. Today there are monuments marking these spots.

First Bull's Run from spot where Bee & Barto[w] Fell click here for image

Jackson made his stand along a ridge not far from the Henry House, around which occurred much of the fighting. The house was very badly damaged and the tenant, 85 year old widow Judith Henry, was killed. Afterwards the Henry house was demolished and rebuilt. It is interesting to compare our photo of the house with the modern one. Click here to search for images of the house today.


Henry House, Bull Run click here for image

In 1865, a monument was erected by Union veterans to honor the dead of the First Battle at Bull Run, and Special Collections has the very moment captured on film. Today the monument stands just behind the Henry House, and it can be seen in our photo of the house, which means our photo must have been taken after 1865.


Dedication of monument on Bull Run battle-field click here for image

Special Collections has an extensive photograph collection for historians and researchers to utilize, with more being added every day. Check out our Civil War Digital Collection: http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/civil_war.php. In fact, all the resources used for this post came from Special Collections and the Albin O. Kuhn Library. Come to the Special Collections Department and let history be your guide!

by Robert Bennett, Intern, Special Collections

Bibliography

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume I. Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Buel, eds. Castle. Secaucus: 1982.

First Bull Run: An Overview. US Army Center of Military History. 30 June 2011. Retrieved on 19 July 2011 from http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/1st%20Bull%20Run/Overview.htm.

Risley, Ford. The Civil War: Primary Documents on Events from 1860 to 1865. Greenwood Press. Westport: 2004.

The Civil War Archive: The History of the Civil War in Documents. Henry Steele Commager, Ed. Revised and Expanded by Erik Bruun. Black Dog & Leventhal. New York: 2000.

All articles published in Cambridge Journals in 2009 and 2010 are free to access for 6 weeks, from 15th July until 30th August 2011.

No registration is required. Simply go to http://journals.cambridge.org

For more information, see http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displaySpecialPage?pageId=2964