Logan Hawker

Degree: B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Mechanicsville, VA
Plans: Flight test engineer, Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, MD

“UMBC encourages exploration of all types and learning that gives students valuable experience beyond the classroom. At UMBC, you have so many job opportunities all around you.”

Logan Hawker ‘22, mechanical engineering, chose UMBC because she wanted to feel supported both in the classroom and on the softball field. She knew it would be a challenge to pursue an engineering degree as a D1 athlete, but thanks to careful time management and guidance from mentors, she has balanced her courses, her practice and game schedules, and several other meaningful opportunities, on and off campus. 

Hawker worked with Jamie Gurganus ‘04, M.S. ‘11, Ph.D. ‘20, faculty in mechanical engineering and associate director of engineering education initiatives, as the head teaching fellow for UMBC’s introduction to engineering design course. As a teaching fellow, Hawker held office hours for students in the course, answering questions and offering additional support. Hawker also oversaw the mechanical engineering 3D printing lab.

Off campus, Hawker served as an F-18 flight test engineer intern for the Navy at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. She developed flight test plans and briefed pilots, then monitored test flight data from a control room. She will work there full-time as a flight test engineer after graduation.

Rehman Liaqat ’22, political science, has received the inaugural Campus Compact Mid-Atlantic (CCMA) Civic Fellowship. He is one of 13 students chosen from institutions across Maryland, Delaware, and Washington D.C. This honor follows Liaqat’s recent recognition as a 2022 finalist for the prestigious Truman Scholarship.

The CCMA Civic Fellows program develops student leaders who are “engaged global citizens, actively contributing to the creation of equitable, healthy, sustainable, and socially just communities.” CCMA will provide Liaqat with learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional, and civic growth. This includes conversations with regional and national experts focused on leadership development and advancing equity through civic and community engagement in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Crossing bridges

Liaqat came to the United States from Pakistan when he was eleven. He spent his teen years in Wicomico County Public Schools in Salisbury on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. His time was split between school and working at OC Quickstop, one of three family-owned gas stations. In a predominantly white public high school, Liquat felt like he didn’t quite fit.

In retrospect, not fitting in gave him insight into managing two cultures, two countries, and many different social worlds. So when a group of Pakistani women moved into his apartment complex, Liaqat’s mother encouraged him to serve as a cultural tutor of sorts. Two times a week he would review how to fill out school forms for their children, apply for other resources, and access services.

”I found value in the knowledge I had acquired transitioning into living and working in Salisbury,” says Liaqat. These skills became a tool to help the Pakistani women feel empowered as members of the community.

This project caught the attention of Liaqat’s English teacher, who nominated him for a Light of Literacy Youth Luminary award hosted by the Friends of the Wicomico County Public Libraries. At the award ceremony, he connected with local leaders who invited him to volunteer on political campaigns. He didn’t know at the time how all of these experiences would shape his path. 

Transformative mediation

When Liaqat began researching colleges he wasn’t sure what his future would look like, but he did have a clear example of the impact he wanted to have from his grandfather. His grandfather leads community-oriented mediation sessions through restorative practices among local villagers in Chak Pindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The villagers depend on his grandfather’s mediation skills, Liaqat explains, because often they cannot depend on the legal system, due to cost and corruption.

“When I was eight I began to sit next to him as he mediated. It showed me, at an early age, the dire need in our community for advocacy and well-being, especially when the systems in place become undependable,” says Liaqat. “Reflecting back, sitting next to him and observing his mediation depicts, to me, the power of meaningful public service. This work can completely transform the lives of people left vulnerable by the system and by society.”

His experiences in Maryland and in Pakistan revealed to him the importance of representation and community action. He ardently worked to convince his parents that attending UMBC—a diverse community rich with new opportunities for his future—was the best decision for him. He would be the first-ever member of his family, across generations, to move out of the family home to go to college. 

It wasn’t just moving out, but moving away across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, 2.5 hours from Salisbury. Over the past four years, Liaqat has driven back home every weekend to work at his family’s gas station. He’s also remained involved with his communities, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Beyond my comfort zone

“My family is very traditional,” says Liaqat. “They are very proud of me and what I have accomplished.” At the same time, he says he is very proud of himself for “going out of my comfort zone to become the person I want to be.”

Liaqat, who will be entering Georgetown University in the fall, thanks his mentors for guiding him toward increasingly challenging growth opportunities throughout his four years. During his first week on campus, he reached out to four faculty and staff members for guidance and resources. He was surprised by the immediate and heartfelt responses he received from them all, and their willingness to answer all of his questions without hesitation. 

Lori Hardesty, associate director of applied learning and community engagement at UMBC’s Shriver Center, connected Liaqat with an applied learning experience. “She was the first person to ‘see me’ at UMBC,” shares Liaqat. “I still remember sitting in her office four years ago when she said, “What matters is that you are here now and you have the opportunity to make a difference every day.’’ 

Liaqat also remembers being inspired by the words of Sargent Shriver, the center’s namesake, who said, “Serve, serve, serve… because, in the end, it will be the servants who save us all.” Shriver’s meaningful contributions to society have become an inspiration for a journey of lifelong service, says Liaqat. 

Over the years, Liaqat has served as a peer mentor and peer facilitator for the Shriver First-Year Experience course and as a workshop facilitator for UMBC’s Community Read program. Through the Shriver Center, he has also helped support Baltimore City students by participating in the Choice Program’s annual Jam and Slam event and College Night program. 

“As a son of Pakistani immigrants who was the first to pursue higher education in the U.S., I was expected to pursue a path that was determined for me,” says Liaqat. “However, as I became a member of UMBC’s Shriver Living Learning Community, I felt more confident embracing a path of my own design.”

Broader perspective

With the support of the Shriver Center, Liaqat felt more comfortable seeking out mentors and exploring UMBC’s social change resources. He remembers fondly walking into the Center for Democracy and Civic Life intent on creating a UMBC football team. 

There he met Center Director David Hoffman, Ph.D. ’13, language, literacy, and culture (LLC), and Assistant Director Romy Hübler ’09, modern languages and linguistics, M.A. ’11, intercultural communication, Ph.D. ’15, LLC. “They didn’t know who I was and I had no idea if the center would listen to all of my ideas,” says Liaqat. 

For weeks Hoffman and Hübler sat with him as he shared his passionate ideas. “They never deterred me,” says Liaqat. Instead, they walked him through the process of seeing different points of view and the intentionality of the decision of university leadership to invest in a broad range of sports rather than putting significant funds toward a football team. This process informed his work in student and community organizations for the rest of his time at UMBC.

“Rehman arrived at UMBC with a thirst for learning, a desire to make a difference, and big ideas,” says Hübler. “Over the past four years, we have spent many hours talking about his commitment to addressing social issues and approaches he could take to doing so. It has been a wonderful experience seeing him build relationships, empower his peers, and strengthen our community.” 

Beyond theory

In a political science course, William Blake, associate professor and associate chair of political science, brought to life constitutional law for Liaqat. He enrolled in all of Blakes’s human and civil rights classes, discovering a passion for understanding the power of a constitution to impact lives. He joined UMBC’s Moot Court team and eventually became its president, with Blake as the organization’s faculty advisor. 

“Rehman is one of those rare students whose passion, curiosity, and analytical skills make him a force to be reckoned with,” says Blake. “He is an impressive student leader, and it has been a pleasure to have a chance to teach him and work with him on the UMBC Moot Court team.” 

Liaqat also worked closely with Carolyn Forestiere, professor of political science, as executive president of the department’s council of majors. “Rehman has been a guiding force in our Council of Majors over the past several years,” Forestiere says. She notes that Liaqat has been instrumental in very important ways, including co-leading an effort to develop a diversity, inclusion, and equity initiative that would impact the department’s syllabi and curricula.

“His professionalism and passion for promoting positive change are fundamental elements of his character,” says Forestiere. “He leaves a legacy of sincere compassion and engaged activism that I hope students emulate for years to come.”

Growing confidence, growing impact

Through mentorship and new experiences, Liaqat’s confidence grew. He learned to navigate diverse political environments as a legal intern at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, Maryland’s State’s Attorney’s Office, and at Pakistan’s Supreme Court and Ministry of Human Rights. He is now the co-founder of a human rights legal aid organization in Pakistan, which has been asked to expand its reach by local leaders. And he has pursued an accelerated master’s degree in public policy at UMBC alongside his undergraduate degree.

Liaqat arrived at UMBC in 2018 full of excitement, but also uncertainty. “Coming to UMBC meant my family would be far away. I was a college kid who had a lot of ambitions to do more, but had never gone beyond my home environment,” says Liaqat. He says his mentors gave him the self-assurance to grow in new directions while still remaining part of his family’s life and culture. 

Now, Liaqat is graduating as a CCMA Civic Fellow who will soon begin a joint master’s of public policy and juris doctor program at the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Liaqat says he was told “UMBC is a magical place” during orientation, and this proved to be true. He has had meaningful, enriching civic engagement experiences throughout his undergraduate years. “UMBC’s magic is real, genuine, and more alive than ever,” he says, “because of the commitment and devoted service by every member of its community.”

He hopes to take a piece of this magic with him well after graduation. The first step will be living out his Civic Fellowship’s driving mission: to create equitable, healthy, sustainable, and socially just communities. He says, “I want to show future generations of Pakistani students all that is possible.”

Vandana Janeja and Christine Mallinson have received a two-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study deepfakes, focusing on audio clips. Deepfakes are images, videos, and sounds that are developed using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, but that are designed to appear as authentic, real-life recordings. They can be highly deceiving for audiences, impacting public opinion and behavior.

Through their NSF Early-Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award, Janeja and Mallinson will study and evaluate listener perceptions of audio deepfakes that have been created with varying degrees of linguistic complexity. This study will include training sessions to help listeners discern audio deepfakes. Informed by training and linguistic labels, this project will develop data science algorithms that can help people discern audio deepfakes. More broadly, their project will establish a new pathway for collaborative public-impact research across the social sciences and computing. 

UMBC was engaging in multi-disciplinary work between computing and the social sciences when NSF started this initiative. “We can’t solve big societal issues with an AI algorithm alone,” explains Janeja, professor and chair of information systems. She notes that collaboration between researchers in computing and sociolinguistics is essential to address complex, real-world problems that involve both technology and communication.

Evaluating listener perceptions

Deepfakes can contribute to the rapid spread of misinformation. The threat of deepfakes on social media has received some visibility, but they can appear in other contexts as well.

Janeja highlights an example, recently covered in The New York Times, of a situation when an employee at a well-known investment banking company flagged that a person on the other end of a call sounded like their voice was being digitally altered. After the call, the company found that the person on the call was a leader from a media company posing as a different leader at another firm.

With this type of scenario in mind, the research team will develop training sessions to help listeners improve their ability to recognize audio deepfakes with varying degrees of linguistic complexity, says Janeja, principal investigator (PI) on the grant. They will then evaluate the efficacy of those training sessions to help the listeners protect themselves against deception by audio deepfakes. Using linguistic features, the research team will also create data science algorithms to augment the information that a listener is presented with. 

The resulting tools will empower listeners to evaluate the accuracy and authenticity of information they see online, explains Mallinson, professor of language, literacy, and culture (LLC), and director of UMBC’s Center for Social Science Scholarship, who is also co-PI on the award. Participants will receive sociolinguistic training to help them develop a more finely-tuned ear for distinguishing linguistic details, and they will draw upon that information as they evaluate deepfakes.

Open-access tools

Mallinson’s work focuses on language as a socially and culturally embedded phenomenon. She explains that the linguistic complexity of audio deepfakes makes it challenging for listeners to distinguish them from natural speech and identify them as inauthentic misinformation. At the same time, linguistic training and tools can help address these challenges. By working together, experts in computing and linguistics can disentangle this complexity.

The EAGER grant is “high risk, high reward,” she says. It involves approaching a challenging phenomenon in an entirely new way, and building bridges across disciplines. Students studying both data science and the social sciences will develop the skills to identify audio deepfakes, which is uncommon, Mallinson explains. Success would mean helping people protect themselves against deception by deepfakes and increasing the equitability of AI technology.

Janeja and Mallinson’s project team will include UMBC data science scholars as well as Sara Khanjani, Ph.D. ‘24, information systems, and Lavon Davis, incoming LLC Ph.D. student. Khanjani also completed initial research informing the grant, along with Gabrielle Watson ‘21, information systems. That work explored college students’ audio deepfake perceptions. 

Khanjani looks forward to creating tutorials that can better prepare people to spot deepfakes. The team’s series of online educational modules will be openly accessible to the public, to help them improve their critical listening and discernment skills. 

Ultimately, Mallinson says, this interdisciplinary research in sociolinguistics and data science will better prepare people to navigate emerging communication issues in today’s technologically complex world. 

Mallinson and Janeja hope that in establishing an innovative pathway for collaborative research that fully integrates sociolinguistics, human-centered analytics, and data science, the study will also lay the groundwork for future analyses of deepfakes in ways that are broadly relevant to all of these fields.

For the past year, UMBC’s Timothy Nohe, professor of visual arts, has served as a Fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE), the preeminent national program for cultivating leaders in higher education.

Since its inception in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program has strengthened institutions in American higher education by identifying and preparing more than 2,000 faculty, staff, and administrators for senior positions in college and university leadership through its distinctive and intensive nominator-driven, cohort-based mentorship model. More than 80 percent of past Fellows have gone on to serve as chief executive officers, chief academic officers, other cabinet-level positions, or deans following their fellowship.

The program combines leadership retreats, interactive learning opportunities, visits to campuses and other higher education-related organizations, and an extended placement at another higher education institution. This combination of elements works to condense what would otherwise be years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year.

Already a campus leader

Nohe was recognized as a campus leader even before his ACE Fellowship, having served as president of the faculty senate and as founding director of the Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA).

“Long a leader in shared governance and arts research, Tim Nohe is admired across UMBC for his accomplishments and particularly for his values,” says Provost Philip Rous. “He has extended UMBC’s tradition of strong faculty leaders participating in this prestigious national program. And as a practicing artist, he has brought an important, distinctive perspective to his ACE fellowship cohort.”

Residency at Franklin & Marshall

Nohe was one of only thirty-eight ACE Fellows selected from across the nation in 2020, through a rigorous nomination and review process.

Because of the pandemic, his entire fellowship cohort was delayed by one year, but he used that time to expand his understanding of issues in higher education. When the program relaunched for 2021–22, ACE matched Nohe with Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania as the site for his fellowship experience.

During the placement, Fellows observe and work with the host institution’s president and other senior officers, attend decision-making meetings, and focus on issues of interest. Fellows also conduct projects of pressing concern for their home institution, with the goal of implementing their findings when they return after their fellowship year.

Nohe explored issues around faculty governance, internationalization, diversity, equity and inclusion, and leadership while at Franklin & Marshall. He appreciates the combination of autonomy and open door access to senior leaders and faculty that he experienced there.

“At Franklin & Marshall, I’ve gained perspectives on enabling students to secure their futures, exploring topics from wellness to maintaining college access and affordability,” he notes. “As Fellows, we learn to see the broad national landscape.”

At the same time, Nohe was able to share experiences and insight, developed over years at UMBC, with campus leaders and Franklin & Marshall.

Returning to UMBC with new-found insight

At the conclusion of the fellowship year, ACE Fellows return to their home institutions with new knowledge and skills. They also join a robust network of peers across the country and abroad—current and emerging higher ed leaders who are committed to tackling challenges in the field.

In pursuing this fellowship, Nohe says, “It was important to me to obtain a broader overview that would make me a stronger leader on campus.” He had already begun to see “a broader picture of higher ed” through founding and leading CIRCA at UMBC. But, he says, “I wanted to position myself to foster higher education in a very challenging time.” The ACE Fellowship gave him the broader perspective he was seeking.

Nohe cites his background in the arts as an important facet of his ACE Fellowship experience. “Artists have superpowers to reach across disciplines, and I’ve been really grateful as a past director of CIRCA to see that happen—how much synergy is developed,” he says. “In my work as an ACE Fellow, I’ve seen higher education leaders taking an interest in breaking down academic silos.”

“UMBC cares about the broader good of higher education,” Nohe shares, “and clearly Franklin & Marshall believes in it as well.” Now, he looks forward to returning to the UMBC community with new skills that can help lead the university on its path forward.

​​UMBC has grown in so many ways thanks to the leadership of President Freeman Hrabowski and the drive of our RetriEVER Empowered community near and far. Writers Charis Lawson ’20 and Anna Lee ’22 walk us through some key points of Retriever pride from the last three decades.

1. We focus on inclusive excellence for ALL students.

The establishment of scholarship programs like Meyerhoff, Sherman, Linehan, Sondheim, Humanities, and Center for Women in Technology Scholars has helped talented students from all backgrounds realize their fullest potential. And at the same time, UMBC has made it a priority from early on to provide similar high-level experiences and support for all students—a commitment to truly inclusive excellence. 

As a new member of the University Innovation Alliance, we are using a data-driven approach to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes based on race and ethnicity.

In 1997, after a rigorous process, UMBC wins approval to launch its Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

2. We exemplify GRIT on and off the court.

At UMBC, we’re used to surprising outsiders with our grit. When the rest of the nation was shocked by the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball upset, Retrievers took special pleasure in celebrating the victory against number 1 seed University of Virginia. We’re used to overcoming the odds on the court… and, in court, as well. In 2021, the UMBC Mock Trial faced off against Yale in the American Mock Trial Association National Championship, taking home the number 1 spot. But as President Hrabowski always says, “Success is never final.” What will Retrievers do next to surprise the world? 

In 2009, the UMBC Chess team captured the national record for the most wins (five) in the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship, also known as the “World Series of College Chess.”

3. We provide space and support for entrepreneurial seeds to take root.

UMBC is home to inquiring minds looking to make a difference. When entrepreneurial students wanted to turn their class project for a community-driven coffee shop into a reality, the university partnered to open OCA Mocha. And just across Pig Pen Pond you’ll find collaborations with more than 130 companies at our research and tech park, bwtech, including quite a few run by alumni!

A $2 million Kauffman Grant for Entrepreneurship opened the door for the creation of an entrepreneurship minor in 2011 that has already served over 650 students.

In 2020, bwtech@UMBC, the state’s first university research park, wins a $1.3M grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to create the Maryland New Venture Fellowship for Cybersecurity. Over the last three decades, bwtech@UMBC has brought more than 1,800 jobs to Baltimore County and generated 4,500 direct and indirect jobs and $700 million in labor income and business sales for the state, according to an assessment by the Sage Policy Group in 2019.

​​4. Our Retriever alumni are CHANGING the world.

“An organization is more than buildings and rooms. Rather it is the people who animate its mission and purpose,” says Michael Hassett, M.P.P. ’17, Ph.D. ’19. Hassett is living the UMBC mission every day in his work as a budget analyst who also runs a non-profit to spread literacy in Tonga. And the same is true of so many of UMBC’s alumni, who are proudly spreading their Retriever spirit everywhere they go. In politics, the arts, healthcare, higher education, philanthropy, and the sciences, Retrievers are leading the way. And their stories are creating new paths for students to follow in their footsteps.

In 2016, UMBC’s 50th anniversary brought thousands of Retrievers back to campus, including members of our “Founding Four,” who are working on a book about UMBC’s formative years.

5. We <3 our surrounding communities.

UMBC strives to create reciprocal and equitable partnerships with neighboring communities. The Shriver Center and The Choice Program are hubs for community engagement, addressing critical social challenges by bridging campus and community through engaged scholarship and applied learning. And through programs like the Baltimore Field School—made possible by a $125,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—UMBC is strengthening community engagement with projects aimed at social justice issues and collaborations with partners in Baltimore.

PARTNERING WITH BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOLS

• In the last five years, the proportion of Sherman Scholar alumni who teach in Baltimore City schools in their first year increased from 13% to 58%.
• In partnership with UMBC, Mary Rodman Elementary saw PARCC scores increase by 14.6% in just one year. Over two years, Lakeland Elementary/Middle School’s scores improved by 11.7%. 
• Through Reach Together Tutoring Program nearly 100 UMBC students have provided 7,146 hours of tutoring to 355 2nd-8th grade students in the past semester.

In 2020, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching honored UMBC with its distinguished Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, acknowledging our deep commitment to strengthening the bonds between campus and community. 

6. We believe in PUBLIC research for PUBLIC good.

In February 2022, UMBC reached Research 1 status, the nation’s highest level of research performance. Driven by a desire to better understand the world, faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students study everything from quantum computing and spider silk, to public history engagement and building a “toolbox for global thinking.” These projects and so many more allow UMBC to touch countless neighborhoods, universities, and organizations and to strengthen local, national, and global communities. 

In 2020, after years in development, a UMBC-designed satellite—the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP)—was launched into space. The satellite’s sensors are collecting new kinds of information about clouds and tiny particles in Earth’s atmosphere, such as wildfire smoke, desert dust, and human-generated pollutants. 

7. We’re growing by LEAPS and BOUNDS.

What started as a scrappy campus inside Hilltop Circle has now gone global. At the Catonsville campus, new and renovated buildings such as the Center for Well-Being, the Retriever Activities Center, the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, and the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building have brought new excitement to Retriever life. Since 1992, we’ve grown from 59 to 76 buildings! Just down I-95 in Rockville, UMBC’s programs at the Universities at Shady Grove speak to specific areas of job growth in and around the region. Add to that our growing numbers online and around the world, and the Retriever reach continues to grow.

In 2021, UMBC welcomed its largest undergrad class in history in Fall 2021, with students representing 96 countries.

In his final months at UMBC, Freeman Hrabowski has been hitting the road visiting alumni and friends in a variety of cities as part of the RetriEVER Grateful Tour. Sharing a moment in his office this March, Hrabowski talked a bit about what the tour and his last semester as president have been like and what excites him about the future of UMBC.

UMBC Magazine: You were just in Annapolis for the first stop of the RetriEVER Grateful Tour last night, with quite a few more stops around the country to come, and you’ve also been sharing the UMBC story with state legislators. What has it been like reconnecting with these folks in your final months as president?

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III

Freeman Hrabowski: It’s been like a special dream. People have been so wonderful. I was seeing people from the Founding Four [the first four years of UMBC graduates], and there were also alumni who are working in state government, including Adrienne Jones [’76, psychology], the speaker of the House of Delegates, and Delegate Mark Chang [’99, psychology], and Senator Charles Sydnor, III [M.P.R. ’00]… and so many other friends and colleagues. And we belonged there. We belonged in Annapolis, telling our story so that people know how UMBC matters in Maryland, and in the country.

UMBC Magazine: You’re also seeing quite a few honors from pretty amazing organizations recently, from your induction into the National Academy of Engineering to the exciting awarding of Carnegie Research 1 status. What a time for all of us!

Hrabowski: It is wonderful, and the point I really want to make is that whenever an award comes to me, it is really for UMBC and the contribution that the university is making to society. It’s really about the body of work of the university. And what it shows is that, as we anticipate the arrival of a wonderful new leader, the people of UMBC know who we are. We know our values. We are so proud of this R1 status. Especially because we have continued to focus on the importance of students, undergrad and grad, and of teaching and learning. And, make no mistake, this new classification speaks volumes about the strength of our research across the disciplines, from the humanities to the sciences.

UMBC Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit about what lies ahead for you? What are you most excited about? Do you have a bucket list?

Hrabowski: I am very excited about working with national agencies, foundations, and universities on those issues of particular interest to me, including academic success of students, of all students, addressing the issue of underrepresentation in STEM, and the importance of enlightened leadership in higher education. And so, I will be working even more closely with Harvard’s leadership programs. I’ll be in that space and working with universities.

So, I don’t have a bucket list. You never know if you’re gonna get a chance to retire—that’s life, right? So you need to just do it. When I leave, you can say ‘He felt so good about his life.’ I have been loved. I have loved deeply, and I love UMBC. So, the bucket list is finished. The cake is baked, and this is about the icing on the cake. This is the time when members of the UMBC community, and our alumni, and our supporters are reflecting on just how far we’ve come in 55 years. And it’s been my honor to have spent 35 of those years with UMBC. I am a blessed man, and that is the truth.

Learn more about the RetriEVER Grateful Tour and upcoming events to celebrate Dr.  Hrabowski’s leadership.

By Susan Thornton Hobby

The first question on the Jacqueline C. Hrabowski Endowment scholarship application is “How did you develop such a passion for service?”

Jackie Hrabowski answers that one easily: Her parents.

Growing up in rural Virginia, Hrabowski remembers her parents constantly serving others. For years, young Jackie accompanied her parents as they filled out forms, calculated taxes, built brick walls, or repaired houses for her parents’ combined 28 siblings or for the rest of the town. As a teenager, she once pouted, “Why does it always have to be us that helps everyone?”

Her father answered simply, “Because we can.”

“Those are the role models that I saw,” Hrabowski said. “You grow up with that in your DNA. And that’s been the thing that has moved me forward throughout my entire life.”

Hrabowski is a former vice president of community involvement at T. Rowe Price, a passionate advocate for child welfare, and the wife of Freeman. She has been mentoring the recipients of her endowment’s scholarship for 20 years. Because she can.

One of Hrabowski’s mentees, Nia Hampton ’13, media and communications studies, struggled with expectations at the internship that Hrabowski found for her. After Hampton’s rough first day with the company, Hrabowski responded by buying Hampton clothes, getting her hair done, and counseling her on professional behavior.

Now a freelance journalist, multimedia artist, and still a self-proclaimed “rebel,” Hampton recently texted Hrabowski, thanking her for her support. 

“Mrs. Hrabowski was really good at connecting me with people who could see me and understand me. I kinda knew I would be something she may not know what to do with,” Hampton said, but Hrabowski didn’t give up, instead connecting Hampton to UMBC Vice Provost and mentor Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88, healthy science and policy. To help mentees toward success, Hampton said, “sometimes it takes all kinds of people.”

Thomas Southerland ’22, economics, met Hrabowski at the scholarship recipients’ cohort dinner she gave at Baltimore’s Center Club.

“She was very supportive and very wise,” he said, and he and many of the scholars took notes while they chatted with their mentor. The connections he made will serve him well in his career in finance after graduation, he said.

You Can’t Be What You Can’t See

Hrabowski excelled at math, even beating her future husband Freeman on their calculus test scores. But she majored in psychology at Hampton University, because a role model, a Fisk University graduate who taught Sunday School at her church, was also a psychology major.

She often quotes the saying posted in her husband’s office: “You Can’t Be What You Can’t See.”

“Role modeling means having to see actual images of what it looks like to be what you want to be,” said Hrabowski, who taught educational psychology and early childhood education at UMBC in the 1980s. “You can sit and talk until you’re blue in the face about what you need to do and how you need to behave. Words alone aren’t enough. They’ve got to see it.”

Alicia Wilson ’04, political science, Hrabowski’s first mentee, agrees.

“Jackie was one of the first Black women I’d ever met in corporate America at the highest level,” said Wilson, now the vice president for economic development at Johns Hopkins University and Health System. “She’s a wonderful mentor—she imparts her knowledge and her experience in a spirit of love and caring and support.”

Jackie Hrabowski and Alicia Wilson in 2017, courtesy of Jay Baker.

Now Wilson is mentoring seven Retrievers, making sure she “meets students where they are,” at the UMBC dining hall or outside their dorms.

Wilson, and so many others, clearly learned lessons from Hrabowski.

“You use the talents that you have, not so much for your own purpose, but to make life better for others,” Hrabowski said. “Because when you do that, your universe expands in a positive way as well.”

Read more about the Hrabowskis’ philosophy of mentorship in the Equation of Change.

By: Susan Thornton Hobby     Illustrations by: Marissa Clayton ’21

At the start of second grade, Freeman Hrabowski’s textbook, wrapped neatly in brown paper, arrived on his desk. His teacher warned the class to keep the book covers in place. But little Freeman was always curious. He peeled off a strip of paper, then another scrap, and another, until he could see the battered cover and a stamp inside, showing that the book had been used by children in the White school nearby.

Freeman marched up to his teacher’s desk. “Why’d they give us their hand-me-down books?” he asked. His teacher’s face, Hrabowski remembered, showed both embarrassment and anger.

“What do you tell a child who’s been told by the world that the child is second class?” Hrabowski recalled. 

“She said, ‘You just remember this: You are a child of God. You are first class. The book may not be new, but the knowledge is worth getting. Just get the knowledge and you will be okay.’ So that wonderful teacher was telling me to believe in myself.”

While the hand-me-down books outraged Hrabowski, his teacher’s advice was treasured and passed along to those he has mentored: Believe in yourself. Hrabowski’s legacy is defined by mentoring, both by the parents and educators who guided him and by his hundreds of mentees. Hrabowski’s mentees are legion, whether they arrive from UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, or as the student body president, or just students he’s met on his walks around campus who then ask for his guidance.

It’s simple math. Hrabowski mentors hundreds. Those hundreds mentor thousands. Those thousands mentor hundreds of thousands. The result is Hrabowski’s exponential equation of change.

During the pandemic, Kafui Dzirasa ’01, M8, chemical engineering, texted Hrabowski, the mentor he calls Doc. “I said, ‘Your mentees are literally leading the coronavirus response, one as the U.S. surgeon general [Jerome Adams ’97, M4, biochemistry & molecular biology and psychology]. And the other one’s making a vaccine [Kizzmekia Corbett ’08, M16, biological sciences and sociology]. Your mentoring is literally going to save millions of lives. The end. That’s mentoring.’”

A Nickel and The Hard Truth 

Hrabowski’s first mentors were his parents, a college-educated pair of teachers who supported and challenged him. “From my daddy, my father, I learned the importance of remaining calm in challenging times and giving yourself the time to think through the best approach to use in attacking a problem,” Hrabowski said. “From my mother, the importance of connecting right and left brain thinking… In both cases, they were teaching me how to learn, and think, and approach the world.”

By the time he reached high school, Hrabowski was always the one who tried to solve the math problems his principal would write on the chalkboard. He would bring his solutions to the principal’s office and earn a nickel to spend on Tootsie Rolls if they were right. If his equations weren’t correct, his principal would chastise him for carelessness. Both the nickels and the hard truths stuck with him, Hrabowski said, and he uses that tough love to mentor others.    

“I’m first working with my mentees to build trust so that the mentee knows I care deeply,” Hrabowski said. “Then if I say something that is not comfortable, or something that maybe she doesn’t want to hear, I’m saying it out of love. I’m, perhaps, saying what others are thinking and won’t say. And I believe that effective mentors want to help students and their mentees to develop tough skin, to want to get constructive and honest feedback, because we can all improve.”

Kate Tracy, M.A. ’01, Ph.D. ’03, psychology, shadowed Hrabowski and was mentored by him as an American Council on Education Fellow. Hrabowski introduced her, connected her, and guided her for the 2019 to 2020 academic year. Never before, she laughed, had she given out a complete box of 500 business cards. 

“As a mentor, Freeman is continuously available…he has an amazing amount of energy and he has an incredibly generous heart,” said Tracy, who serves as a professor in the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and advises the University System of Maryland on COVID-19.

Hrabowski can offer hard truths, she said, because he demonstrates how deeply he cares. He often quotes Emily Dickinson: “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” He recently gave her a “truth bomb,” Tracy said, and she thought, “he’s saying this for my own good, and if he’s willing to say it, I need to hear it.”

She was touched, Tracy said, when later in the day Hrabowski texted her, telling her how proud he was of her, and how hard it must have been to hear what he had to say.

“When you build a trusting relationship and you put relationships at the center of it, people can hear the hard truth because they know you’re doing it for their greatest good and because you believe in them,” Tracy said.

Chelsea Pinnix ’99, M7, biochemistry and molecular biology, said she learned the primacy of honesty from Hrabowski.

“It’s important to be vulnerable to your mentee,” said Pinnix, who is now the residency program director and associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Anderson Cancer Center. “Being honest about the mistakes you’ve made, about things that you wish you’d done differently. They are learning from your mistakes, but they’re also recognizing that you have these vulnerabilities and that you make mistakes. So then it’s okay for them to make mistakes, too.”

Telling Yourself a Story

Hrabowski’s early life bolstered his eager mind. When young Hrabowski received straight A’s, the entire congregation of his Birmingham church would rise for a 4.0 standing ovation. Starting at age 15, Hrabowski followed the advice of a mentor and started greeting himself in the mirror as “Dr. Hrabowski.”

At monthly family meetings for the Meyerhoff Scholars, Hrabowski instituted both ovations for good grades and the advice to address yourself in the mirror as your goal self. Have high expectations, Hrabowski said, and students will rise to them.

Dzirasa, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University who was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine, thought the mirror exercise was “weird,” he said, laughing. “And yet, we did it. It wasn’t until I became a psychiatrist that I was like, wow, there’s an incredible power to self-reinforcement. Despite all the adversity that comes later, if you tell yourself a story, you will believe it.”

The Meyerhoff story began when Robert Embry, former Baltimore City councilman and longtime president of the Abell Foundation, which works to improve the quality of life in Baltimore, met Hrabowski as a young dean at Coppin State College. Embry was impressed by Hrabowski’s intellect, energy, and high expectations.

Embry eventually connected Hrabowski with philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, who wanted to help Black science scholars. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program emerged. Years later, Hrabowski recruited Embry to join the board at UMBC.

“It didn’t take much,” Embry said. “Anything I could do to help him and to be identified with him and his success.”

The Meyerhoff Scholars Program, with its nationally recognized success in increasing diversity in the sciences, is one of the places Hrabowski practices what he preaches about mentorship.  

In the Meyerhoff Program, Pinnix learned Hrabowski’s “superpower,” she said. “He has this profound ability to inspire. And he’s able to convince people of the things that they can accomplish before they even recognize that they can.”

“Focus, focus, focus,” Annica Wayman’99, M6, mechanical engineering, remembers Hrabowski often saying to Meyerhoff Scholars. Offered a Meyerhoff Scholarship on the spot after she introduced Hrabowski at her high school, Wayman later earned her doctorate at Georgia Tech. She worked for nearly a decade at USAID before returning to UMBC in 2018 as the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences’ associate dean for Shady Grove affairs. As she leads programs like the Translational Life Science Technology bachelor’s degree, Wayman now mentors students herself, offering them support and hard truth, and telling them to focus, focus, focus.

Master the Self

In 1987, Michael Hooker, then the president of UMBC, recruited Hrabowski to the campus and became his mentor. Hrabowski said he learned a piece of wisdom from Hooker: “The hardest task any human being has is to master self.”

Many mentees need to hear that message, Hrabowski said.

Dzirasa, now a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a neuroscientist researching how genetics interact with environmental stress to affect the brain’s functioning, recalled when he was at his lowest.

After breezing through undergrad as an engineer at UMBC, he arrived at Duke Medical School thinking he didn’t need to memorize things. Or study. He began to fail classes. Then someone stole his identity and charged $40,000 to his credit. He went to see an advisor, who told him he wasn’t used to being a small fish in a big pond. 

Feeling restless and despondent, Dzirasa started driving. He hit the Virginia state line. Then Maryland’s. Dzirasa ended up on Hrabowski’s porch, weeping and ready to drop out of medical school. Hrabowski comforted him, told him whatever choice he made would be okay. But maybe, Dzirasa recalls Doc telling him, he could drive back to Duke and try one more time.

A good mentor, Dzirasa said, dusts you off and urges you to persist, then keeps after you. Hrabowski, Dzirasa said with a laugh, loves to commend him, but then say, “you know…” and proceed to critique a portion of his performance.

Now Dzirasa returns to UMBC once a month as part of his appointment at Duke, to mentor students and to recruit Meyerhoff Scholars for his research lab.

“I basically give those kids all of myself, and in a hoodie and sweatpants,” Dzirasa said. “I look exactly like them, I talk exactly like them, I sat in exactly their chair, and I was probably more trouble than they are. It makes people’s dreams so tangible.”

Touching Eternity

Hrabowski remembers what Walter Sondheim, the Baltimore businessman and public servant, used to tell him: “Live life seriously, but don’t take it seriously.”

He thinks of that advice often. “His point was, it’s never quite as bad as you think it is, and don’t ever think you’re quite as important as people want to make you seem.… The human experience is that we leave, and others replace us, and if we’re lucky, we are connected to those people.”

Connections are vital to Hrabowski, and he still mentors current students. Sometimes though, students end up teaching the president.

Landry Digeon, M.A. ’09, intercultural communications, Ph.D. ’20, language, literacy, and culture, remembers meeting Hrabowski at the campus television studio, where he worked on videos Hrabowski was taping. The president wanted to learn Digeon’s native French. “Push me,” he told Digeon three times, before Digeon decided to take him up on it in 2014.

Ever since, Hrabowski has studied French with Digeon, who admires Hrabowski’s humility to be tutored by a student. They speak in French nearly every day, about poetry and culture, sometimes arguing about the different countries’ values.

“I learn more from him than he has learned from me,” Digeon said. “When he has a goal, he doesn’t let go. And I learn by watching how to treat people—you can be a great man, a  renowned man, and be kind. And I’ve changed Freeman’s mind occasionally. I want to be like that—open-minded.”

When Hrabowski turns in his homework, usually late at night, the president ends his emails with, “Bonne nuit, mon professeur.”

The perfect conjugation of French verbs and his connections to scientists and leaders around the world aren’t the only benefits mentorship offers Hrabowski.

“There’s a great gratification when you see people evolving, and developing, and doing well, and seeing how they overcome challenges. It inspires me to want to be better,” Hrabowski said.

Wayman believes inspiring mentorship is the first element in the equation of change.

“Saving the world is first transforming the thinking of people, to think critically, to be more open-minded,” Wayman said.

 Hrabowski, who still receives notes from people his mother taught 70 years ago, often remembers what his mother said in her dying days: “Teachers touch eternity through their students.”   

“Those of us in education, we live through our students,” Hrabowski said. “We live through the people we help because we are paying it forward. We live through them and their actions.”

Read more about Jackie Hrabowski’s approach to mentorship in Because She Can.

It all starts with a seed—a source of hope.

Or in this particular case, a handful of seeds in the form of alumna Tamera Davis’ second grade students at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School. The class is fidgety but tuned in. As they jump into a rhyming exercise, Betsy Sherman joins them in a game of call and response at the front of the classroom.

A former teacher herself, Sherman feels right at home at Lakeland. In a hallway with cut-out paper letters reading “Education = Opportunity,” she smiles and waves to a line of students in puffy winter coats. As she sees kids studying in an alcove, she can’t help but peek over their shoulders in curiosity.

Earlier this winter, the Sherman Family Foundation donated $21 million to create the Betsy & George Sherman Center, which will expand and integrate UMBC’s work in teacher preparation, school partnerships, and applied research focused on early childhood education and improving learning outcomes for Baltimore students. 

The gift—the largest in UMBC’s history—has the potential to transform both UMBC and generations of local students. The Lakeland partnership has clearly already transformed Sherman.

“You just never know how that one moment you spend with a child impacts their lives. You may never know,” says Sherman, who with her late husband, George, began partnering with UMBC in 2006 to create the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program and other related initiatives. “And so you really need to be aware that your influence can be long lasting.”

Philanthropy of this sort is not about flash or money. It’s about the long game, driven by love and hope. UMBC has, for years, stood as a fertile planting ground for very personal, values-driven giving. It’s a vision shared by Freeman and Jackie Hrabowski and close UMBC partners who have connected over the idea that change is possible—and a belief in the promise one seed can hold.

Driven By Love

For Freeman and Jackie Hrabowski, the seeds of philanthropy were planted very early in childhood. He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of two teachers; she in rural Virginia, the daughter of two first-generation college students. Both recount stories of how their families helped their communities through work in schools and churches, and how that example stuck with them throughout their lives and careers.

“I think that my foundation for fundraising and philanthropy comes from the strong belief in the power of education to transform lives,” says Freeman, who has been known to sit on the floor with elementary school children to talk excitedly about math. “Jackie and I both understand, as the children of teachers, how important teachers were in our own development.”

Later in life, as Hrabowski matured into his role as president of UMBC, he and his wife became friends with George and Betsy Sherman—folks with similar interests and hopes. As their friendship grew, so did their vision of how they might change the face of education in Baltimore. 

“As you build relationships, you build trust,” says Mrs. Hrabowski, who thinks of Betsy Sherman and her late husband as family. “You share lots of time together talking about your differences, your perspectives, and how to make it all work. It’s all about the realities of where we are and what we can do together to make a difference.”

Because “people tend to give to people,” as both Hrabowskis say, it’s not surprising that so many major philanthropic endeavors at UMBC have felt so personal in nature. Dr. Hrabowski’s relationship with Robert Meyerhoff—and a shared vision for making science more accessible to students of color—turned into a more than 30-year endeavor that has since changed the face of science and technology through the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. 

“I threw the ball, but he ran for the touchdown,” Meyerhoff said of Hrabowski recently. “He made the most of it. He is a wonderful man.” 

Similarly, a relationship with Earl and Darielle Linehan that began with Mr. Linehan’s serving on and chairing UMBC’s Board of Visitors revealed a deep desire to provide talented artists with an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Today, more than 300 Linehan Artists Scholar alumni are out in the world influencing dance, music, theatre, and other creative disciplines. 

At the core of these partnerships—like so many others nurtured by Hrabowski—is a shared desire to help others thrive. 

“When my parents and Jackie and Freeman get together, they talk about changing the world,” says Dave Sherman, noting his parents’ great love of Baltimore. “My mom and dad…not only would they provide resources, but they would provide passion. They would provide involvement…but it really all goes back to the people. And my parents wouldn’t support something that they didn’t believe would have the ability to grow.”

Watching It Grow

From her vantage point as a UMBC alumna, a mentee of Jackie Hrabowski, and vice president for economic development at Johns Hopkins University and Health System, Alicia Wilson ’04, political science, knows a good long-term investment when she sees it.

Wilson has felt the personal investment the Hrabowskis have made in her ever since she was a student. Recently, when she was sick, the pair brought Wilson a homemade pot of chicken soup, she says. At night. During a snowstorm.

Beyond her own experiences, Wilson understands how personal philanthropic commitment shows up in the community—and what a lasting effect it can make, both structurally and emotionally, for all involved. A program like the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars is able to put enthusiastic and well-equipped teachers in front of underserved students who will thrive with the extra attention. The effort adds up over time, creating a pipeline of opportunity for kids all over Baltimore.

“If you think about the ripple effect of your impact, it’s really through people and it’s through what we invest in,” says Wilson. “And so, as you think about the impact of the philanthropy that takes place at UMBC, you can point to so many scientific advances, public health, social advances that really started at a school in Catonsville. And really the testimony is in the people.”

For Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation and a partner in the work at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, what sets these projects apart is the way UMBC engages at all levels, looking at the long-term potential of collaborative effort. “When we first began the discussion with Freeman about his vision for Lakeland and all of our UMBC partnerships, it was never about one element, it was always about the whole picture—the impact and results. In Lakeland’s case, what did the partnership mean to the school, students, teachers, parents, and the surrounding community,” says Evers-Manly. 

“UMBC is a great neighbor,” she continues. “Some people will pick just one thing, like scholarships, and that’s it. But UMBC will say, ‘We’re going to work with families. We’re going to work with teachers. And, oh, by the way, we’re coming to you. You don’t have to come up the hill to UMBC. And we’ll find strategic partners to be a part of this.’ UMBC has the magnetism to help bring those key players into the room. What is equally impressive, is that you have both Freeman and Jackie who are so committed to the university, the greater community, and our nation. They do this in so many ways, both professionally and personally.” 

The success of a partnership can be measured in many ways—and UMBC loves to measure and study regularly to make sure their programs are working. The Sherman Scholars program now partners with 10 schools to promote academic achievement through professional development for teachers and intensive tutoring for students. For example, more than 90 UMBC students, including Sherman Scholars and others, provide evidence-based math tutoring for over 350 elementary and middle school students in several schools across Baltimore. Early data show this approach is working.

But much of what drives these programs goes beyond data.

“This isn’t academic. . . It is a heart move,” says Wilson. “And thank God their hearts are pure and good and filled with love for young people. . . and the belief in the fact that young people, regardless of their background, can achieve.”

A Seed Sustained

When Hrabowski was still interim president of UMBC, then Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer asked what he might do to support him and UMBC. Looking out over campus from the roof of the Administration Building, Hrabowski made what was probably an unexpected request.

“He…asked what he could do, noting that he didn’t have a lot of money to throw around. I said ‘Give me trees!’” Hrabowski writes in The Empowered University, noting that Schaefer quickly followed up by calling the Department of Natural Resources and having trees planted all over the young campus grounds.

Overnight, the campus was visually changed. Thirty years later, stands of mature trees provide sanctuary for wildlife and green space for all. 

Thinking back on his years at UMBC, Hrabowski reminds us: “It’s not about me. It’s about us.” None of UMBC’s successes happen without the community, he emphasizes. UMBC is strong because we have put in the work, grown our endowment from practically nothing to more than $125 million, and proven ourselves year after year. UMBC will remain strong because of our shared commitment to inclusive excellence.

In his final months as president, Hrabowski has sealed his legacy yet again with the founding of a named scholarship that will increase access and affordability for undergraduate students with financial need and a commitment to community service. And while he has promised never to stop planting for UMBC, it’s up to the rest of us to nurture the trees he’s so faithfully tended.

“The seeds that he planted so long ago are now mighty trees,” says Wilson. “But, the goal isn’t that we just get to sit under the shade of the trees. We also have to go and plant some trees and build upon that legacy.”

By Margaret Moffett

​​For La Jerne Terry Cornish, Ph.D. ’05, language, literacy, and culture, an already remarkable day was about to become unforgettable. There she stood in front of a big crowd at UMBC, accepting the 2019 Outstanding Alumna in the Humanities award. Even better, she was getting the chance to chronicle her journey from high school English teacher to college professor to provost and vice president of Ithaca College in New York. 

“I’ve spent the last 21 years trying to be the change I wanted to see,” she told the audience—channeling the wisdom of her role model, who just happened to be sitting behind her on the stage.

Her speech complete, Cornish had returned to her chair when the role model in question leaned toward her. “You’re going to be a college president someday,” he whispered, his eyes no doubt twinkling with delight.  “If you say so,” Cornish responded with a nervous laugh, bewildered by his faith in her.

Fast forward three years to March 2022, when Cornish was named Ithaca College’s 10th president. Dr. Freeman Hrabowski was right. Again. 

At the 2019 Alumni Award ceremony, from left to right: Dr. Hrabowski, Dean Kimberly Moffitt, La Jerne Terry Cornish, and former president of the Alumni Association, John Becker ’01. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

As Hrabowski prepares for his retirement as UMBC’s president, mentees like Cornish are reminding the higher education community of one of his legacies. No, not UMBC’s transformation from a young state university to U.S. News & World Report’s No. 1 “Up and Coming University” in the nation. That one’s been well documented. And no, not how he helped UMBC become a powerhouse in STEM education and the alma mater for thousands of engineers and scientists of color. That also has prompted some chatter. 

This legacy involves his impact on other chancellors and presidents, along with those who aspire to these roles. In his 30 years as UMBC president, Hrabowski has counseled scores of his peers, including Sylvia Burwell, president of American University; Paula Johnson, president of Wellesley College; and Wendy Raymond, president of Haverford College. He also has taught for 18 years at the week-long Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, which provides a crash course in higher education leadership. And he has mentored countless college and university heads—officially, unofficially, and sometimes without him even knowing it.

James Clements ’85, M.S. ’91, Ph.D. ’93, serves as president of Clemson University. Photo courtesy of Clemson University.

Hrabowski gave Cornish his cell phone number—along with the promise that she could use it at any time—within weeks of her appointment as interim president at Ithaca in August 2021. She hasn’t needed to use it. But knowing that it’s in her phone gives her a sense of comfort.  “He has always been a relational president,” she said. “That’s the one thing about him that stands out for me. I want to be that kind of relational leader—dare I say that kind of servant leader, because that’s what I see in him.”

“I would not be a president if not for him,” said James P. Clements ’85, computer science, M.S. ’91, Ph.D. ’93, operations analysis, who has led Clemson University since 2013. “I have modeled my career after him.” 

Had Hrabowski been a fly on the wall during those conversations, he would have brushed aside the accolades, then launched into a speech-slash-sermon about how everyone is capable of greatness, how it’s about the students, not the leader. “He would say that he isn’t that rare,” Cornish said. “He would say that there are other people who, given the opportunity and access, could accomplish just as much as he has and more.”

His imagined protestations notwithstanding, though, it does raise an interesting question: Can a college president learn to lead like Freeman Hrabowski? Are such talents innate or are they teachable?

Said Clements bluntly: “He’s special. Everybody who interacts with him knows it.”

“There is only one Freeman and you can’t be him or become him,” said James Honan, senior lecturer in the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “But when you hear him speak, when he answers your questions, when you watch his role modeling, you can incorporate some practices into your leadership that will help you make your institution better.”

No. 1: Take care of yourself.
No. 2: Be authentic.
No. 3: Own your mistakes.

College and university presidents come to Hrabowski so often for advice that the words come tripping off his tongue when he’s asked to recreate what he tells them. In his mind, they’re just things he has learned over the years—sometimes by watching others, sometimes through trial and error. Part of it, he believes, came from his time as a child leader in the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama. One of his role models then was a preacher renowned for his ability to galvanize support and inspire a revolution: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“I was very fortunate to have experiences that gave me the chance to lead,” said Hrabowski, who was arrested for his participation in the Children’s Crusade march at age 12. “Each of us is a product of our childhood and young experiences, and those experiences shape who we are, what we like, what we don’t like, how we adjust to change, how we address challenges, how we act in the storm.” 

Hrabowski practices what he preaches to the leaders he advises. He follows rule No. 1—taking care of himself—by meditating via the Calm app every day with his wife, Jacqueline Coleman Hrabowski. No. 2, being authentic, just comes naturally to him. And he may take No. 3, owning his mistakes, more seriously than any college president in the world.

Consider, for instance, this story from 2018—26 years into Hrabowski’s tenure as president. At an event honoring several high academic achievers, it seems he spent a little too much time bragging about UMBC’s first Rhodes Scholar, Naomi Mburu ’18, M26, chemical engineering, who is now at Oxford University working on heat transfer applications for nuclear fusion reactors. The others on stage felt slighted by his fawning words for Mburu.

Mburu with Dr. Gymama Slaughter in her lab at UMBC in 2018. Marlayna Demond ’11.

How does he know this? Because Mburu came to his office and told him so, an act that required her to summon both justice and mercy. Hrabowski was alarmed by her words, which he recognized were true the moment he heard her speak them. He had indeed failed to give enough attention to all the scholars on stage. “I’ve always taken great pride in working to let every person know how much I appreciate them, that they matter,” he said. “And there I was, without even realizing it, not holding up to my own standard.”

So he called each one, apologized, and asked to hear their stories. According to Hrabowski: “It was a lesson for me: Don’t allow my excitement about one person to take away from helping each [honoree] feel her best.”

That may be Hrabowski’s lesson learned. But the larger one for leaders of higher education institutions is the importance of being open to constructive feedback and criticism, especially if it comes from a student. Leaders who reflect on their failures more than their successes are the ones who experience real growth, said Honan. 

“Leadership is a practice,” he said. “It doesn’t always work out. One makes mistakes. There are failures. And I think Freeman can help people see that through his own self-reflection in a very powerful way. And when it comes from a distinguished president, that’s even more powerful.” 

Perhaps he took Mburu’s feedback more seriously because she was a student. When Clements was a young faculty member at nearby Towson University, he would often find himself at events where Hrabowski was speaking. It was clear that students were his priority, Clements said. “I listened to his words. I watched his heart. And I saw how he cared so much about making a difference in people’s lives,” he said. “He is driven by helping other people succeed by giving them a better life, by giving them a better path.” 

Hrabowski has but one non-negotiable tenet for leading a college or university: Students come first. “I don’t think there’s any role we have as educators that’s more important than connecting meaningfully to our students and to each other,” he said. “We prepare them not simply to work on biochemistry but to decide who they are, what’s important to them. What are their habits of mind? How do they think about different issues? How do they approach problems? How do they think about the world? About their place in the world?”

Teachable Moments

Over the years, though, Hrabowski has found himself dealing with the less romantic side of higher education, as college presidents invariably do. Those situations also create teachable moments for his peers—including one that became a case study for Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

During a state funding crisis in the 1990s, leaders at UMBC and other state-run universities in Maryland had to find creative ways to offset the losses. Hrabowski turned to the then little-known UMBC Board of Visitors, a sleepy advisory committee that met sporadically and whose membership had dwindled to just three. He revitalized the board by appointing 20 prominent leaders in Baltimore, each of whom received a firsthand look at the momentum building at the university. They also got a close-up look at the young, dynamic president who was promising great things for UMBC and its students. 

The board—dubbed “Friends of Freeman” by Sheldon Caplis, then the vice president of Institutional Advancement—became a link to millions in private dollars, which helped refill the coffers during brutal times financially. “You’ve got to build relationships, and it’s even more critical when you don’t come from a private school with wealthy trustees or wealthy alumni when you’re really building from the ground up,” said Caplis, who taught alongside Hrabowski at Harvard’s Institute for Management and Leadership in Education for several years. Caplis said that as the pair recounted the “Friends of Freeman” story to the group, much head shaking and laughter would ensue—as though it were some magic trick that only Freeman Hrabowski could pull off. 

“These were new presidents, so a lot of them didn’t have any fundraising experience,” Caplis said. “So they really wanted to know, ‘Well, how do you interact?’” 

Again, it raises the question of whether you can teach someone to lead like Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. But at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter whether it’s nature or nurture, this amalgam of personality traits allowed him to reinvent UMBC and go down in history as one of higher education’s best leaders. Forums like the new presidents seminar are simply a way to “peel back the onion a little bit,” said Greg Simmons, M.P.P. ’04, the current vice president of Institutional Advancement and Hrabowski’s most recent teaching partner at the Harvard seminar. The same goes for college presidents like Cornish, Clements, and others who are fortunate enough to receive his mentoring.

“They don’t have to be Freeman,” Simmons said. “They’ve just got to know how to work with other people in a really effective, genuine, human kind of way. That’s Freeman’s real gift.” 

Clements said he has met people across the country who consider Hrabowski their mentor. And that, he said, has a multiplying effect that defies calculation.

“We’re trying to make a difference like he did,” Clements said. “It amplifies his impact because of how he’s helped so many other leaders and how he’s shown us how to lead. It allows us to change more lives based on what we saw him do. It goes way beyond UMBC.”