For tech-savvy individuals like Eric Stokan, artificial intelligence, programming languages, and open-source software are powerful tools that can turn once-impossible ideas into reality. Researchers can use human language processing to analyze historical documents or legal texts. Through collaborative platforms, global organizations can collaborate quickly without incurring travel costs. In the social sciences, open-source tools provide students with unique opportunities to work with experts developing projects that address community needs. However, to take full advantage of these revolutionary technologies, these tools often require advanced computing skills or access to expensive software, which can limit their impact and exclude those without the necessary resources or training.

Stokan, director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3), is committed to removing these barriers for faculty and students in computational social science, which uses computers, data, and algorithms to study human behavior and social systems. His research lies at the intersection of urban policy, economic development, and computational social science, with a focus on how local governments make policy decisions and how those decisions impact equity, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. 

The University System of Maryland (USM) William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation has awarded Stokan the Elkins Professorship for Academic Transformation to address this gap with his project “Computational Social Science and Generative AI: Scalable, Modular Training for Teaching, Research, and Public Impact.”

The Elkins Professorship is named after Wilson H. Elkins, a former Rhodes Scholar and president of the University of Maryland, College Park from 1954 to 1978. This prestigious award is for faculty within USM who are working on innovative projects focused on the use of generative AI to advance academic transformation, foster improvements in access, affordability, quality of outcomes, and/or stewardship of people’s time, money, and other scarce resources.

“The professorship will allow me, through the Center for Social Science Scholarship, to first assist faculty and students in understanding how to leverage advances in computing and AI to address new research questions and scale their research in ways that were unfathomable during Dr. Elkins tenure,” says Stokan, associate professor of political science, who earned one of three $10,000 awards. He will use the funding to complete Computational Public Administration—his first book written with R, a free programming language used for statistical computing and graphics—about computational social science methods focused on addressing public policy and administration topics, such as climate change and economic development. 

The funding will also support the design and implementation of five hands-on training modules and workshops tailored for faculty, students, and community organizations. Participants will learn to use generative AI large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT and R. The goal is to help participants answer novel and important research questions, develop marketable technical skills, to work more effectively with data, and better communicate the results of their analyses with the broader community.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Elkins Professorship, in honor of the late Wilson H. Elkins, who was a transformational leader, administrator, and educator,” says Stokan. “This award is important to me because it not only provides support but also affirms my commitment to accommodating learners at all levels of experience in computational social sciences, promoting accessibility, equity, and methodological transparency.”

Initial support for the project came from the UMBC’s Faculty Development Center, the AOK Library’s Digital Scholarship Services, iHARP/Data Science Scholars, and the Institute for Public Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The workshops will be offered through CS3 in collaboration with CGC-SCIPE, the UMBC Division of Information Technology, and ScaleS. A lecture series component, which will include external speakers, is being co-sponsored with the Department of English, the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health, and the Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communications. 

Register for the fall semester’s workshop series on AI, LLMs, and computational methods.

For tech-savvy individuals like Eric Stokan, artificial intelligence, programming languages, and open-source software are powerful tools that can turn once-impossible ideas into reality. Researchers can use human language processing to analyze historical documents or legal texts. Through collaborative platforms, global organizations can collaborate quickly without incurring travel costs. In the social sciences, open-source tools provide students with unique opportunities to work with experts developing projects that address community needs. However, to take full advantage of these revolutionary technologies, these tools often require advanced computing skills or access to expensive software, which can limit their impact and exclude those without the necessary resources or training.

Stokan, director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3), is committed to removing these barriers for faculty and students in computational social science, which uses computers, data, and algorithms to study human behavior and social systems. His research lies at the intersection of urban policy, economic development, and computational social science, with a focus on how local governments make policy decisions and how those decisions impact equity, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. 

The University System of Maryland (USM) William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation has awarded Stokan the Elkins Professorship for Academic Transformation to address this gap with his project “Computational Social Science and Generative AI: Scalable, Modular Training for Teaching, Research, and Public Impact.”

The Elkins Professorship is named after Wilson H. Elkins, a former Rhodes Scholar and president of the University of Maryland, College Park from 1954 to 1978. This prestigious award is for faculty within USM who are working on innovative projects focused on the use of generative AI to advance academic transformation, foster improvements in access, affordability, quality of outcomes, and/or stewardship of people’s time, money, and other scarce resources.

“The professorship will allow me, through the Center for Social Science Scholarship, to first assist faculty and students in understanding how to leverage advances in computing and AI to address new research questions and scale their research in ways that were unfathomable during Dr. Elkins tenure,” says Stokan, associate professor of political science, who earned one of three $10,000 awards. He will use the funding to complete Computational Public Administration—his first book written with R, a free programming language used for statistical computing and graphics—about computational social science methods focused on addressing public policy and administration topics, such as climate change and economic development. 

The funding will also support the design and implementation of five hands-on training modules and workshops tailored for faculty, students, and community organizations. Participants will learn to use generative AI large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT and R. The goal is to help participants answer novel and important research questions, develop marketable technical skills, to work more effectively with data, and better communicate the results of their analyses with the broader community.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Elkins Professorship, in honor of the late Wilson H. Elkins, who was a transformational leader, administrator, and educator,” says Stokan. “This award is important to me because it not only provides support but also affirms my commitment to accommodating learners at all levels of experience in computational social sciences, promoting accessibility, equity, and methodological transparency.”

Initial support for the project came from the UMBC’s Faculty Development Center, the AOK Library’s Digital Scholarship Services, iHARP/Data Science Scholars, and the Institute for Public Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The workshops will be offered through CS3 in collaboration with CGC-SCIPE, the UMBC Division of Information Technology, and ScaleS. A lecture series component, which will include external speakers, is being co-sponsored with the Department of English, the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health, and the Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communications. 

Register for the fall semester’s workshop series on AI, LLMs, and computational methods.

The west wing of George and Betsy Sherman Hall is open to students and staff again after 18 months undergoing extensive renovations and modernizations. While the renovation on the building’s east wing (adjacent to Academic Row) begins in earnest this semester, west wing residents are settling into their colorful and versatile office set ups and classroom spaces.

Walking into the Sherman Hall atrium, a floating staircase dominates the entryway, but if you take a right and a left and walk past a few brightly colored sitting areas, you’ll find the new offices of Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) and Academic Transition Programs. It’s no longer just the offices of ATP, it’s now also home to the Individualized Study Program (INDS) and the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) as well.

Relocation inspires collaboration

With this exciting new phase for campus, comes disruptions to some normal operations. Laila Shishineh, a new resident in Sherman Hall’s office suites, and the assistant vice provost and assistant dean for UAA, understands the disruption better than most. Shishineh and her team were relocated two years ago because of the renovations to temporary offices that were shared with them by the Academic Success Center. Now as they settle into their new office space—shared with two offices who await their new space in the east wing—Shishineh celebrates the infrastructural improvements and also the new opportunities for collaboration that weren’t possible before.

Under a plan developed by Shishineh alongside Facilities Management, ATP, UIA, and INDS, the new suite space in Sherman Hall’s west wing will be shared by these offices, with hoteling space available for days when employees overlap. This collaboration of 17 people allows flexibility for people to work in the office some days and work from home on other days.

This physical proximity to other departments allows for unique opportunities of collaboration between them. “It’s so nice to have a suite space,” says Shishineh. ”People get to build new relationships and support each other in different ways as opposed to just being ‘doors in a hallway’ somewhere on campus.”

As a former resident assistant in college, Shishineh thought of creating an office-mate agreement, based on the concept of a roommate agreement. Across the three departments, people were paired up based on schedule, personalities, and types of roles. A meet and greet was held so everyone could get to know their officemate, and outline an agreement. The agreements include everything from what days each person is working in the office or from home, to how much shelf space they each get.

Student-centered design

The new physical structure of Sherman Hall not only allows for more collaboration among the faculty and staff working there, but also for students. A noticeable difference in the layout is the student-centered design: with plenty of collaborative spaces including lounges, conference/study rooms, vending machines, and TVs broadcasting events happening on campus.

“I hope it becomes a place where students come not just for classes, but to hangout, study, and congregate,” says Shishineh. Improvements have also been made to make wayfinding easier in Sherman Hall, since the two wings make some things difficult to find. New signage, room numbering, general space layouts and color-coding help everyone more easily find their way to the other occupied offices in the west wing, including the George and Betsy Sherman Center, which is home to the umbrella of programs that help train up teachers in urban schools that will transform lives in the communities they serve.

A feature to look forward to is the courtyard between the east and west wings of Sherman Hall. This multi-tiered green space with new ramps and stairs will provide gathering places and outdoor classroom opportunities at each level when the entire renovation is complete.

Construction and cost, with a mind for sustainability

At the beginning of the project, UMBC evaluated tearing down Sherman Hall and rebuilding it, versus a significant renovation. It was determined that the structure was still very solid and the cost of a new structure could be as much as 40 percent of the cost of a building, says Stacy Brian, the Facilities Management project manager for the renovation. By renovating instead of starting new, money was saved on excavation, underground utilities to serve the building, new foundations, new steel structure, new stair and elevator shafts and new floor slabs, and more.

But to complete the job, Sherman Hall needed to be gutted down to the bones of the building, with only concrete floor slabs and steel structure remaining. Just about everything else is brand new, says Brian: New elevators, HVAC systems, plumbing, electrical, walls, ceilings, roof, fire alarm and protection systems, finishes, IT/AV, etc.

Besides the bottom-line cost, there were more considerations for taking on the renovation. Believe it or not, but “tearing this building down completely in the heart of campus would also have been much more disruptive than what we are experiencing now,” says Brian.

The campus utility tunnel wraps all around Sherman Hall, so a significant amount of money would have been spent on protecting the tunnel so that heating, cooling, and power across all of campus wouldn’t be disrupted.

There were also considerations regarding the environmental sustainability of the project. “It was definitely ‘greener’ (more sustainable) to use as much existing structure as possible to save those items from the landfill, the generation of more embedded carbon, etc.,” says Brian.

Additionally, Sherman Hall is now much more energy efficient, greatly reducing not only UMBC’s carbon footprint but also saving money on utilities. These savings can provide UMBC the opportunity to spend that money on other important upgrades across the campus. Some of the new features include much larger windows, which bring more daylight into the rooms. Students, staff, and faculty can all benefit from more daylight for their mental health and general well-being.

“This project has been a shining example of how all of the different departments from many different UMBC divisions can come together and accomplish a very difficult task,” says John Zahor, assistant vice president for Facilities Management.

From sharing offices, providing earbuds to get through the noise of construction, and putting up with all the other disruptions necessary for a project like this, Zahor says that the building’s returning occupants have remained open and flexible, and that’s made all the difference.  Zahor says without the cooperation of many folks across campus, an already difficult task would have been impossible. Thanks to Craig Goodwin, the director of design and construction, Molly Power, UMBC’s campus planner in charge of the temporary space planning and Elyse Clegg, manager of facilities support services, and Joe Washington, moving/logistics coordinator and the student workforce supervisor,  “This was a job well done,” says Zahor.

“We hope to be done by the beginning of the 2027 spring semester to give this wonderful building back to the campus community without fences and temporary signs, ready for full use,” says Zahor.

As a high schooler, Emily Brown ’14, M.S. ’14, computer science, dreamed of a future in STEM. Searching for a community to support her aspirations, she found the Center for Women and Technology at UMBC. Brown became a CWIT Scholar and ended up earning her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees one semester apart. After graduation, she was hired at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. This October, Brown will receive the 2025 UMBC Outstanding Alumna Award. In this Q&A, she shares how her time at UMBC—and the support she found there—helped get her to where she is today.

Q: What brought you to UMBC?

A: Initially, I was looking into other schools, but UMBC kept making its way back to the top of my list because I was looking for schools that explicitly had programs and communities for women in engineering.

Eventually, I applied for the CWIT (Center for Women and Technology) Scholars Program. As I kept coming back to UMBC for tours and meetings, I figured out this was a community that I really wanted to be a part of. At the time, Dr. Penny Rheingans was the director of the CWIT program, and hearing her talk about the program and what it would offer made UMBC one of my top two school choices. The in-state nature of UMBC meant that I would come out of school debt-free, with the kind of support that I wanted as a woman in STEM.

Q: What did you enjoy about the computer science program?  

A: I graduated from my master’s degree in the winter. I have a picture of myself and the four other people who graduated with a computer science master’s that December, and I had taken classes with all of them. At my undergraduate graduation in May, there were nine women who graduated from the computer science program. I knew all nine, which is exactly what I had attended UMBC for—to be part of a community of other women in STEM, it meant a lot to me.

Right: Emily Brown along with fellow CWIT Scholars pose to spell out CWIT.

Q: You graduated with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in the same year. How did you decide to pursue that and is there any advice you would give another student who may consider doing the same?

A: I wasn’t sure at first that I wanted to do computer science after graduation, but by my junior year I decided to stick to a computer science career. I realized then I could either graduate early or I could start taking graduate classes with the combined B.S./M.S. program. After finishing my undergraduate degree that May, I took summer and fall classes and finished my master’s in December, and that’s how I was able to graduate twice in one year.

There are both upsides and downsides to having done that. On the upside, I started my professional career with a graduate degree, which does come with more pay and professional respect. On the downside, my computer science master’s was a general master’s degree as opposed to specialized. But this has actually proven to be useful: I started my career thinking I wanted to focus on cybersecurity and now I do more AI work and I have some graduate coursework in both of those things.

Q: Is there a faculty or staff member who helped you on your UMBC path? 

A: There are three faculty members who stand out when I think of my time at UMBC. Dr. Marie desJardins, who has since retired, was an AI and machine learning professor and the professor that I completed undergraduate research with. Her passion for teaching aligned with my desire for a community that encourages women in engineering. The undergraduate research I did with her was working on the new AP computer science curriculum for the College Board. 

Dr. desJardin’s argument was that with computer science you should submit a portfolio rather than take a test. She worked with the College Board to develop what that curriculum for submitting a portfolio would look like and I worked alongside her. My former high school computer science teacher from Howard High School was also on that team, so that was really great. My younger sister has since taken the course and I said, “Did you know I wrote that course that you’re taking in high school now?” Her response was, “I’m not telling anyone that—that’s the most embarrassing thing ever.” I thought it was very exciting.

The second professor who had a huge impact on me is Dr. Tim Oates. I found his teaching style to be one that I deeply resonated with. I always tell people, when you take a class with Dr. Oates, you need to take paper without lines because he draws a lot of pictures to explain things.

He had an example where he would walk around the classroom floor and each tile was a different square and he would say, “All right, I’m an AI, and I’m using reinforcement learning and I physically step here.” He wasn’t just lecturing, he taught by physically moving his body around the classroom. 

One example he used was if a $10 bill drops from the ceiling here, I’m incentivized as the AI to keep going back to that corner of the room, where if a $1 bill drops over there, then I know that’s not as useful of a place to go. Even if you don’t have a computer science background, you intuitively go, that makes sense. I followed him to whichever class he would teach because I knew his teaching style broke it down in a way I would deeply understand. In my final class with him, I rigged a $10 bill to drop from the ceiling because he had done this example over and over. 

The third is Dr. Anupam Joshi. He was my master’s advisor and he’s now the vice provost and chief AI officer, but at the time he was a professor teaching cybersecurity classes. He is largely the reason that I work the way I do here at the Applied Physics Laboratory. He introduced me to the type of work that got me my first job at the lab. I wrote my final research paper for my master’s degree about my APL internship experience, which was combining all of my passions.

Q: Can you share your involvement in CWIT (Center for Women in Technology), both as an alum and mentor, and what your experience was as a student? 

A: I lived in the CWIT Living Learning Community my freshman and sophomore years and then lived in an on-campus apartment with other CWIT students. I met my best friends in the CWIT program. We had a CWIT alum virtual happy hour during the pandemic, and I think there were a number of us who said, “I walked into that CWIT office and just cried and then walked out and passed my classes because there was that kind of support for me.”

I have been involved as an alum since day one. After undergrad, I participated in the career fairs and networking dinners with the talent services recruiting department from APL. 

I’ve done industry mentoring nearly every year for the past six years. When I was a CWIT student, my industry mentor was from Lockheed Martin. She did a mock interview with me where she asked me the same questions she would ask a candidate interviewing for their summer internship. She then brought me on a Friday afternoon to the Lockheed Martin office facilities for a lab tour. Those two things were both extremely memorable to me, and I carried that forward with my mentees, some of whom then got internships at APL. That was the experience I sought to replicate and produce for my CWIT mentees.

Q: Can you tell me a little bit more about your current job at APL? What do you enjoy most about it? 

A: I’m currently the assistant group supervisor for the analytic capabilities group. The group is really known for a space at APL called the Live Lab, which was started as a response to a 2009 cyber attack that APL was victim of. The lab watches cyber data coming into the lab and processes it in real time to try to be more proactive about the next attack. I actually toured the Live Lab as part of a CWIT Scholars and Cyber Scholars visit day my senior year and thought to myself, ”This place is really cool. I would really like to work there someday.” The staff member running the tour that I attended was Dr. Elisha Peterson, who is my direct boss now. It took a while, but I made it to where I wanted to work my senior year of undergrad.

I’m so proud of UMBC. Being recognized as someone who UMBC is proud of also is incredible.

Emily Brown ’14, M.S. ’14, computer science

Q: How did your UMBC degree help prepare you for your professional career?

A: It wasn’t just what I learned at UMBC that was valuable, but how I learned how to learn. I came into my career already knowing that I valued community and diversity of thought because I had valued it and been taught to value it from my time at UMBC. 

UMBC also prepared me to anticipate that there are things that will be interdisciplinary in nature [in my career]. I was able to quickly understand at APL that the value of interdisciplinary teams is really important.

For example, I’ve worked with a psychologist colleague on the concept of a moral foundation. There is, of course, a computing component to parsing out the information, but there’s also a psychological component: Why does this message resonate with you, but not with me? Everybody has their own semi-unique moral foundations profile and a message that aligns to your moral foundations is more likely to resonate with you. That’s something I didn’t study in my computer science coursework at UMBC and I do need to make sure that I’m taking my psychologist colleagues’ opinions and thoughts about this into account as we’re building a project.

Q: What does winning a UMBC Alumni Award mean to you?

A: My sister, who I already mentioned finds me embarrassing, has told me in the past, “You know, there’s such a thing as too much school spirit.” And I refuse to believe that. Having been given so much by UMBC and being so passionate about what I experienced in that circle on that campus, I’m so proud of UMBC. Being recognized as someone who UMBC is proud of also is incredible.

Left: Emily Brown with her younger sister at Homecoming.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a current UMBC student, what would it be?

A: Try to do something different. I got a computer science degree, but I was also on The Retriever Weekly editorial staff, which for a CS major was super unusual. But that was my something different. I can’t tell you how many times I have been told in my professional career, “Wow, finding an engineer who is a decent writer is rare.” But that’s because I was on a student newspaper in undergrad. That ability to communicate has taken me pretty far in my career.

Mark your calendars for the 2025 Alumni Awards on Wednesday, October 29,at 6 p.m., and consider joining the UMBC community at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena to celebrate Emily Brown and the many remarkable individuals receiving awards. The event will be livestreamed for those unable to join in person. You can learn more at alumni.umbc.edu/alumniawards.

At a young age, Jacqueline Smith ’06, chemistry, already knew what she wanted to study in college. What she wasn’t quite sure about was where that would take her. She interned at several different companies, including L’Oreal, McCormick, and Walgreens, but it wasn’t until she found herself in Katherine Seley-Radtke’s chemistry lab that she found her true passion—academic research. 

Today, Smith is an associate professor of chemistry at Howard University. 

Her research on drug discovery and delivery has been supported by prestigious national awards, including a National Science Foundation CAREER award, as well as the NSF Excellence in Research award. And in October, she will receive a 2025 UMBC Outstanding Alumni Award. 

She recently had an opportunity to reflect on her journey from UMBC to Howard, and everything in between.

Q: What initially brought you to UMBC?

A: I’m a native of the DMV area. I graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County. I came to UMBC as a Meyerhoff scholar, the M13 cohort, as a chemistry major in 2003. In high school, I didn’t really know much about UMBC, to be honest. It was my guidance counselor who told me to check it out. And then when I came to campus for Meyerhoff selection weekend, it was a different atmosphere than I had ever experienced. The idea of people getting their Ph.D. was kind of new to me. That was attractive and interesting to me as a high-achieving student from the Eleanor Roosevelt Science and Tech program. 

Q: What do you love most about the Meyerhoff Scholars Program?

A: The Meyerhoff program really helped me because, even though I was a pretty strong student, I didn’t necessarily have the best study skills. The Meyerhoff Program helps you get organized and get focused, so that when you meet challenges, you have the tools to overcome them. And then personally, the Meyerhoff program has always been very supportive of me throughout my academic and professional career.

Q: You had your daughter while at UMBC. What was that experience like, and where did you find support?

A: It was challenging, of course. But I think that because of the strong foundation I had through the Meyerhoff program, I was able to continue on and eventually complete my degree. I remember vividly that sometimes I had to bring my daughter to class. The teachers were not like, “Oh, no, what are you doing here?” I didn’t get that vibe at UMBC. Even when I had to bring my daughter to the library with me for a study group, my colleagues were very welcoming. So, there was tons of support..

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a current UMBC student, what would it be?

A: What I would say to current UMBC students is to take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities and support found on campus. Sometimes when you’re young, you think you don’t need to go to a study group or utilize the Writing Center, but they’re valuable. 

Pictured right: Jacqueline holding hands with her daughter and one of her Meyerhoff M13 cohort.

Q: How did your time at UMBC shape your career aspirations?

A: Coming into UMBC, I knew I wanted to study chemistry, but I really didn’t know what type of chemistry or, really, what different varieties were out there. I was able to explore that at UMBC. In addition to the whole Meyerhoff program experience, which was pivotal to my academic growth, I had a lot of wonderful internship experiences at UMBC, including L’Oreal, McCormick, and Walgreens.

I also worked in Katherine Seley-Radtke’s lab in the chemistry department. Faculty research was a new thing to me, and it intrigued me. And so I decided that I wanted to explore this idea of academic research further. When I graduated from UMBC, I continued on to the University of Maryland, College Park to do my Ph.D. in chemistry, specializing in organic synthesis, which is what Dr. Seley-Radtke had done. Then, I went to do my postdoc at Georgetown University in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Q: Can you tell us more about your career in higher ed?

A: After my postdoc, I got a faculty position at Bowie State University, which is a primarily undergraduate institution. I think what really attracted me to Bowie is that it’s an HBCU (Historically Black College or University), but it also felt similar to UMBC in a lot of ways. It was a smaller school, and I felt like there was that whole family environment. 

However, when I got to Bowie in 2016, they did not have a chemistry department. I played a big role in developing the chemistry program at Bowie, developing the curriculum, developing the proposal for the Maryland Higher Education Committee, and, eventually, defending that proposal. And I am happy to say that we officially launched the chemistry department at Bowie in 2019.

While I was working on the chemistry program, I was also trying to develop a research program with undergraduates, similar to what I saw done at UMBC. Ultimately, I was able to secure National Science Foundation funding through the HBCU-UP program. Initially, I got a research initiation award, which allowed me to procure some high-tech equipment, like a microwave reactor and an automated column chromatography instrument.

These tools allowed students to do their research within the confines of their academic schedule. The microwave, for example, allowed students to do reactions very quickly—in about 20 minutes—and then they could purify the compounds very quickly using automated chromatography.

In 2023, I became the first-ever Bowie professor to earn an NSF CAREER grant. This is an unusual achievement for an HBCU. When I was at College Park in my Ph.D. program, I remember seeing everybody working on their CAREER award applications. It was like a benchmark when they got it. So, being the rebel that I am, I decided that I was going to go for it at this primarily undergraduate HBCU institution. 

It just so happened that UMBC president Valerie Sheares Ashby (herself a chemist) was at Bowie shortly after I received the CAREER award. She was very happy for me, especially after learning I was a UMBC alum. She shared that information with UMBC president emeritus Freeman Hrabowski and the Meyerhoff program, who also reached out to congratulate me.

Receiving the CAREER award was really a game-changer for my research. I was able to hire a postdoc. And then, I received the NSF Excellence in Research award the next year.

Now, I felt like I had the tools I needed to take my work to the next level. So, that’s what brought me to Howard University in 2025. It was a hard decision to leave Bowie, but I really wanted to work with and support graduate students at the Ph.D. level.

Q: How have you given back to the community throughout your career?

A: I’ve had the opportunity throughout my career, really starting in my Ph.D. program, to work with the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). I was the student chapter president at College Park, and that was a really supportive organization for me. Then, upon starting my career at Bowie, I joined the NOBCChE board. I am entering the last year of my term as the Northeast Regional chair for NOBCChE.

However, I still plan to assist with programming and outreach in the local areas and with Howard University’s chapter. So, I’ve been really fortunate to come full circle and now be in a position to offer the same support to graduate students that I received. I was also lucky enough to help approve the UMBC chapter of NOBCChE recently.

While at Bowie, I also worked with the science and technology program at Flowers High School to have students come into my lab and do their research practicum project, just like I did when I was a student at Eleanor Roosevelt. Then, several times a year I try to do some K-12 STEM activities with local elementary, middle, and high schools.

Q: What does winning a UMBC Alumni Award mean to you?

A: Winning this award means a lot to me because it validates that I have continued the Meyerhoff and the UMBC tradition of excellence. I know UMBC’s reputation is world-renowned, and I know the high standard that is there. So, it makes me feel proud to be selected. It makes me feel like the work I’m doing is good work, and it’s contributing to the scientific community, to the chemistry community in a tremendous way.

Mark your calendars for the 2025 Alumni Awards on Wednesday, October 29,at 6 p.m., and consider joining the UMBC community at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena to celebrate Jacqueline Smith and the many remarkable individuals receiving awards. The event will be livestreamed for those unable to join in person. You can learn more at alumni.umbc.edu/alumniawards.

At a young age, Jacqueline Smith ’06, chemistry, already knew what she wanted to study in college. What she wasn’t quite sure about was where that would take her. She interned at several different companies, including L’Oreal, McCormick, and Walgreens, but it wasn’t until she found herself in Katherine Seley-Radtke’s chemistry lab that she found her true passion—academic research. 

Today, Smith is an associate professor of chemistry at Howard University. 

Her research on drug discovery and delivery has been supported by prestigious national awards, including a National Science Foundation CAREER award, as well as the NSF Excellence in Research award. And in October, she will receive a 2025 UMBC Outstanding Alumni Award. 

She recently had an opportunity to reflect on her journey from UMBC to Howard, and everything in between.

Q: What initially brought you to UMBC?

A: I’m a native of the DMV area. I graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County. I came to UMBC as a Meyerhoff scholar, the M13 cohort, as a chemistry major in 2003. In high school, I didn’t really know much about UMBC, to be honest. It was my guidance counselor who told me to check it out. And then when I came to campus for Meyerhoff selection weekend, it was a different atmosphere than I had ever experienced. The idea of people getting their Ph.D. was kind of new to me. That was attractive and interesting to me as a high-achieving student from the Eleanor Roosevelt Science and Tech program. 

Q: What do you love most about the Meyerhoff Scholars Program?

A: The Meyerhoff program really helped me because, even though I was a pretty strong student, I didn’t necessarily have the best study skills. The Meyerhoff Program helps you get organized and get focused, so that when you meet challenges, you have the tools to overcome them. And then personally, the Meyerhoff program has always been very supportive of me throughout my academic and professional career.

Q: You had your daughter while at UMBC. What was that experience like, and where did you find support?

A: It was challenging, of course. But I think that because of the strong foundation I had through the Meyerhoff program, I was able to continue on and eventually complete my degree. I remember vividly that sometimes I had to bring my daughter to class. The teachers were not like, “Oh, no, what are you doing here?” I didn’t get that vibe at UMBC. Even when I had to bring my daughter to the library with me for a study group, my colleagues were very welcoming. So, there was tons of support..

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a current UMBC student, what would it be?

A: What I would say to current UMBC students is to take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities and support found on campus. Sometimes when you’re young, you think you don’t need to go to a study group or utilize the Writing Center, but they’re valuable. 

Pictured right: Jacqueline holding hands with her daughter and one of her Meyerhoff M13 cohort.

Q: How did your time at UMBC shape your career aspirations?

A: Coming into UMBC, I knew I wanted to study chemistry, but I really didn’t know what type of chemistry or, really, what different varieties were out there. I was able to explore that at UMBC. In addition to the whole Meyerhoff program experience, which was pivotal to my academic growth, I had a lot of wonderful internship experiences at UMBC, including L’Oreal, McCormick, and Walgreens.

I also worked in Katherine Seley-Radtke’s lab in the chemistry department. Faculty research was a new thing to me, and it intrigued me. And so I decided that I wanted to explore this idea of academic research further. When I graduated from UMBC, I continued on to the University of Maryland, College Park to do my Ph.D. in chemistry, specializing in organic synthesis, which is what Dr. Seley-Radtke had done. Then, I went to do my postdoc at Georgetown University in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Q: Can you tell us more about your career in higher ed?

A: After my postdoc, I got a faculty position at Bowie State University, which is a primarily undergraduate institution. I think what really attracted me to Bowie is that it’s an HBCU (Historically Black College or University), but it also felt similar to UMBC in a lot of ways. It was a smaller school, and I felt like there was that whole family environment. 

However, when I got to Bowie in 2016, they did not have a chemistry department. I played a big role in developing the chemistry program at Bowie, developing the curriculum, developing the proposal for the Maryland Higher Education Committee, and, eventually, defending that proposal. And I am happy to say that we officially launched the chemistry department at Bowie in 2019.

While I was working on the chemistry program, I was also trying to develop a research program with undergraduates, similar to what I saw done at UMBC. Ultimately, I was able to secure National Science Foundation funding through the HBCU-UP program. Initially, I got a research initiation award, which allowed me to procure some high-tech equipment, like a microwave reactor and an automated column chromatography instrument.

These tools allowed students to do their research within the confines of their academic schedule. The microwave, for example, allowed students to do reactions very quickly—in about 20 minutes—and then they could purify the compounds very quickly using automated chromatography.

In 2023, I became the first-ever Bowie professor to earn an NSF CAREER grant. This is an unusual achievement for an HBCU. When I was at College Park in my Ph.D. program, I remember seeing everybody working on their CAREER award applications. It was like a benchmark when they got it. So, being the rebel that I am, I decided that I was going to go for it at this primarily undergraduate HBCU institution. 

It just so happened that UMBC president Valerie Sheares Ashby (herself a chemist) was at Bowie shortly after I received the CAREER award. She was very happy for me, especially after learning I was a UMBC alum. She shared that information with UMBC president emeritus Freeman Hrabowski and the Meyerhoff program, who also reached out to congratulate me.

Receiving the CAREER award was really a game-changer for my research. I was able to hire a postdoc. And then, I received the NSF Excellence in Research award the next year.

Now, I felt like I had the tools I needed to take my work to the next level. So, that’s what brought me to Howard University in 2025. It was a hard decision to leave Bowie, but I really wanted to work with and support graduate students at the Ph.D. level.

Q: How have you given back to the community throughout your career?

A: I’ve had the opportunity throughout my career, really starting in my Ph.D. program, to work with the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). I was the student chapter president at College Park, and that was a really supportive organization for me. Then, upon starting my career at Bowie, I joined the NOBCChE board. I am entering the last year of my term as the Northeast Regional chair for NOBCChE.

However, I still plan to assist with programming and outreach in the local areas and with Howard University’s chapter. So, I’ve been really fortunate to come full circle and now be in a position to offer the same support to graduate students that I received. I was also lucky enough to help approve the UMBC chapter of NOBCChE recently.

While at Bowie, I also worked with the science and technology program at Flowers High School to have students come into my lab and do their research practicum project, just like I did when I was a student at Eleanor Roosevelt. Then, several times a year I try to do some K-12 STEM activities with local elementary, middle, and high schools.

Q: What does winning a UMBC Alumni Award mean to you?

A: Winning this award means a lot to me because it validates that I have continued the Meyerhoff and the UMBC tradition of excellence. I know UMBC’s reputation is world-renowned, and I know the high standard that is there. So, it makes me feel proud to be selected. It makes me feel like the work I’m doing is good work, and it’s contributing to the scientific community, to the chemistry community in a tremendous way.

Mark your calendars for the 2025 Alumni Awards on Wednesday, October 29,at 6 p.m., and consider joining the UMBC community at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena to celebrate Jacqueline Smith and the many remarkable individuals receiving awards. The event will be livestreamed for those unable to join in person. You can learn more at alumni.umbc.edu/alumniawards.

On a late September weekend, hundreds of people converged on the UMBC Catonsville campus for the 11th annual hackUMBC, a 24-hour competition where teams of students create creative solutions to problems that matter to them. Under a tight deadline that fosters camaraderie and quick thinking, teams tackle a range of challenges, some proposed by industry sponsors and others that are personally meaningful to students. 

“What makes hackUMBC great is the display of growth, innovation, and teamwork,” says Isabella Goltser, the president of hackUMBC and a junior computer science major who has been part of hackUMBC since her first year on campus. “Participants from across different universities and high schools come together for 24 hours to create amazing projects, connect with each other, and really grow as individuals over the course of a weekend.”

The competition itself has also grown over the years, from under 100 participants in the first year to 600 participants this year, including increasing numbers of high school students who get to witness and participate in the vibrant UMBC community. This year, the organizers added more opportunities for students to network and learn new skills through activities such as workshops and guest panels of tech industry professionals, Goltser says.

The event culminated with the judging expo in the afternoon of the second day, where teams presented their projects and competed for prizes. Teams were recognized for the best overall “hacks,” as well as in specific categories, such as best games, best AI/machine learning hack, best health/environment hack, and more.  

“Seeing everyone present their projects and the proud look on their faces makes it worth spending so much time organizing,” Goltser says.

Twenty-seven UMBC students worked together for the past 10 months to pull off the event. The students divided themselves into teams that dealt with specific tasks such as securing sponsorships, marketing, designing the website and more. The student organizing team was also supported by faculty and staff throughout the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) and the university as a whole. Renique Kersh, vice president for student affairs, and Marc Olano, associate dean for academic programs and learning in COEIT served as keynote speakers at the event. 

“This hackathon would not have been possible without teamwork and I want to thank everyone involved,” Goltser says.

Written by Richard Forno, teaching professor in computer science and electrical engineering, UMBC

As the United States experiences its latest government shutdown, most of the daily operations of the federal government have ground to a halt. This includes much of the day-to-day work done by federal information technology and cybersecurity employees, including those at the nation’s leading civilian cybersecurity agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

CISA is among the entities that will see the deepest staffing reductions during the shutdown that began Oct. 1, 2025, according to Department of Homeland Security documentation. Only about one-third of its employees remain on the job after federal employees were furloughed. As if cybersecurity wasn’t challenging enough, fewer CISA employees are being asked to do more and more work protecting American cyberspace during the shutdown. And they’ll be working with the promise of getting paid for their efforts at some date in the future once the shutdown ends.

The current CISA situation is grim, from my vantage point as a cybersecurity researcher and former industry practitioner. The agency was already experiencing deep cuts to its staff and resources before the shutdown. And now, coinciding with the shutdown, a key law that enabled the agency to facilitate information-sharing with the private sector has expired.

Taken together, the cyberdefense agency is being hobbled at a time when the need for its services has never been greater, from the ongoing China-led Salt Typhoon attack on U.S. telecommunications networks to ransomware, data breaches and threats to infrastructure.

CISA was created in 2007 within the Department of Homeland Security. As its name implies, the agency is charged with digital security matters across the federal government. The agency also works with the companies that operate and secure the numerous critical infrastructure sectors of the American economy, such as phone networks, the electric grid and energy pipelines. Additionally, it helps state and local governments across the country secure their vulnerable networks and data.

CISA also publishes threat and vulnerability alerts for the government and cybersecurity community and engages with public and private stakeholders on best practices in response to emerging vulnerabilities. Prior to the recent expiration of the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, the agency also made it easier for organizations to share useful information with the government to help cybersecurity teams better protect their systems.

Political football

The agency takes a nonpartisan approach to cybersecurity matters. However, some politicians have accused the agency of political bias for its work helping states protect their voting infrastructure from cyberattacks and external influence. Specifically, the agency was repeatedly maligned for calling the 2020 election the “most secure” in history. For some in elected office, this work on election security has tarnished CISA’s reputation and perhaps explains recent budgetary actions taken against the agency.

Since the Trump administration took office in January 2025, nearly 1,000 CISA employees have departed the agency through voluntary buyouts or deferred resignations. By the end of May 2025, nearly all of CISA’s senior leadership had resigned or had announced plans to do so.

For 2026, the president’s draft budget proposes to reduce CISA’s head count by nearly one-third, dramatically cutting staff from its risk management and stakeholder engagement divisions. Other cuts will significantly reduce the agency’s collaboration activities and funding for CISA’s various cybersecurity education and training programs.

Making the problem worse, the government shutdown began at the same time that Congress failed to renew the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. This law provided a legal shield that allowed companies and infrastructure operators to share timely and often sensitive information with CISA about the cyberattacks, vulnerabilities and incidents that they were encountering.

In the wake of the law’s expiration, prudent companies may consider restricting what information they share with the government. Without the indemnification provided by CISA, many companies will likely have their legal teams review any information to be shared with the government. And that takes time.

Unfortunately, adversaries do not reduce their attacks against the U.S. based on available federal cyber defense funding or the status of cybersecurity laws. In fact, malicious hackers often strike when their target’s guard is down.

Charting a better course

Early in my career I had to work through a prolonged government shutdown. I’ve also participated in and developed assorted public-private information-sharing environments to exchange intelligence and analysis on cyber- and national security matters. And having been in the D.C. area for over 30 years, I’ve seen how government works. So I have a good idea of what’s needed to improve American cybersecurity. The following suggestions are a starting point.

First, Congress could ensure that critical security agencies such as CISA are immune from the threat of recurring federal government shutdowns. If it desired, Congress could set budgets for America’s security agencies on a biennial basis – as 16 states already do for their entire budgets.

In terms of cybersecurity funding, the White House’s proposed 2026 budget reduces research and education on cybersecurity. For example, the nation’s premiere federal cybersecurity scholarship program to recruit, educate and place future federal cybersecurity workers would be reduced by over 60%. Protecting this funding would allow CISA and the federal government to maintain the pipeline for a robust and capable cybersecurity workforce both today and into the future.

Companies could develop new or expand existing nongovernmental information-sharing networks that are not completely dependent on the government to facilitate or fund, such as the Cyber Threat Alliance or the Center for Internet Security. Cybersecurity relies on trust. But right now, the instability of the federal government makes it difficult to rely on any entity under its policy or funding influence, no matter how well time-tested and trusted. Regardless, without legal protections, the information-sharing utility of these services will be limited.

Cybersecurity risks remain even if the federal government shuts down. So this is another reminder that each of us is responsible for our own cybersecurity. Individual users should continue to remain vigilant, follow accepted best practices for cybersecurity and always be mindful about online risks.

It’s ironic that the federal government is shutting down, CISA is being eviscerated and the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has expired just as the country begins to observe national Cybersecurity Awareness Month – another collaborative public engagement activity that CISA promotes to help improve cybersecurity for all Americans.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article and see more than 300 UMBC articles available in The Conversation.

A cross-disciplinary incubator rooted in theatrical storytelling. Artificial intelligence and machine learning ethics education that blends ethical inquiry with hands-on technical exploration. Letterpress printing and bookmaking while students uncover “The Secret Lives of Books.” These are several of the 2024 – 2025 projects selected to receive grants in the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation competition. The fund supports initiatives to enhance teaching and learning at UMBC, with specific emphasis on innovative approaches to increase student success.

“The Hrabowski Innovation Fund has helped to drive innovation in pedagogy and student success at UMBC for the past 13 years. Recent projects have enhanced course and curriculum development, built generative AI literacy and introduced AI-powered tools, and engaged students in cross-disciplinary, international, and community-based projects that prepare them for their majors and careers.” says Kerrie Kephart, interim director of the Faculty Development Center.

Implementation and Research Awards

• IMPACT Lab: Interdisciplinary Music, Performance, Art, Collaboration, and Theatre Lab – Nigel Semaj (THTR) and Colleagues
• Developing Ethical Inquiry: A Participatory and Exploratory Lab Model for AI/ML Ethics Education – Rebecca Williams (CSEE)
• Computing for All: Cultivating a Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Computing Ecosystem – Patricia Ordóñez (IS) and colleague

Adaptation Award

• Hilltop Print Shop: Supporting Applied Learning in a Humanities Makerspace – Lindsay DiCuirci (ENGL) and colleague

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

• Developing an Approach to Creating and Refining Innovative Learning Outcomes in a University Music Education Program – Brian Kaufman (MUSC) and colleague 

SEED Awards

• Transforming Graduate Writing Support – Nicole Morse (LLC) and colleagues
• Centering Student Perspectives on Generative AI Integration in a Design Classroom – Yasmine Kotturi (IS)

The Hrabowski Fund for Innovation exemplifies UMBC’s commitment to investing in faculty initiatives that fuel creativity and enterprise and also create opportunities for student engagement. Proposals for the next round are due by October 31, 2025. For more information and to apply, visit UMBC’s Faculty Development Center website. 

Meet Meagan Wade ’13, psychology, the program coordinator for the Department of Information Systems. Part of Meagan’s job is planning professional development and social events for IS students. She’s organized standing-room-only talks with tech leaders, game nights with pizzas and snacks, resume workshops and job search training, and more. She’s loving it all—and shares why she’s so happy she returned to her alma mater as a staff member. 

Q: How did you start working in higher ed?

A: I graduated from UMBC in 2013 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in social welfare. I then graduated from Towson University with a M.A. in teaching for elementary education in 2016. I worked as an elementary teacher for four years before switching gears and finding a job in higher education.

Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has supported you, and how they did it.

A: Dwayne Butcher, assistant director of marketing for the IS department, has been an awesome supporter of me since I started back in October 2024. He has been a great mentor for the marketing aspects of my job, and an amazing supporter of my career growth, for example, by encouraging me to attend conferences.

I love that the department has essentially given me free reign to plan whatever events for IS students that I think will get them engaged in the community and help to prepare them for their careers post-graduation from UMBC.

Q: What part of your job do you enjoy the most and why?

A: My favorite part of my job has been planning events that students enjoy attending—such as our game night events; and planning events that will help students in their career journeys—such as the Career Talk series I planned this fall. Each week we host a different panel of tech industry professionals, with themes such as women in tech and the gaming industry, and company-specific events with Oracle, The Trevor Project, and more.

Wade organizes student events for the IS department throughout the year, including a Women in Tech Career Talk (left) and the IS department’s Welcome Week (right), complete with a visit from Spot, a robotic dog. (Images courtesy of Wade)

Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place? 

A: I originally came to UMBC as a starry-eyed 18-year-old, hoping to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and to make great friends along the way. I chose UMBC for a few different reasons: I’m originally from Towson, so UMBC was just the right distance away from home so that I could still easily visit. Also, my dad is a UMBC alum, and my best friend also ended up going to UMBC, so it felt like a “home away from home” for me, which my anxious freshman self needed at the time. 

I’m happy to say that UMBC brought so many amazing people into my life, many of whom I am still friends with to this day. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere other than UMBC because of all the happy memories I made here.

Years later, when I ended up working in higher education, I remembered the awesome culture of UMBC that I experienced as a student, and hoped to “come back home” as a staff member. I applied for a number of jobs at UMBC and am so grateful that the information systems department was willing to give me the opportunity to return to UMBC. Now that I am back, I’m so glad that the welcoming culture I experienced as a student is still here, and I hope to now give current students the opportunity to find their way in the world, just like I did years ago.

Q: Are you involved in any campus organizations?

A: Back when I was a student, I was involved with WMBC, UMBC’s radio station. My friend and I had a radio show called “Cuddlecore,” where we would chat and play our favorite music. I remember loving the seemingly infinite amount of CDs back in the WMBC studio that we were encouraged to listen to and write reviews for.

I was also a Resident Assistant, so I was pretty involved with ResLife. I loved the apartment RA family that we created after spending so many hours together, and all the events that we would do together as RAs, including bowling, dinner parties, and late night trips to Double T Diner.

Since returning as a staff member, I’ve resurrected Cuddlecore. It’s on Wednesdays at 5pm! I’ve also attended UMBC Homecoming and participated in the Puppy Parade with my dog Baxter, which was very fun!

Q: How have you found support and community here? 

A: As a UMBC student, the main way that I met amazing people was making connections with classmates in my courses, becoming close with roommates and suitemates in the dorms/apartments, and bonding with my fellow Resident Assistants and other ResLife staff when I worked as an RA.

As a UMBC staff member, I’ve been able to help students find their way in the world by planning awesome events for them to meet other people with similar interests. (I had no idea there’d be so many people interested in Super Smash Brothers, specifically!) I’ve also been able to collaborate with other organizations on campus, such as the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) student chapter and the Career Center, to plan even more meaningful events for IS students. Because UMBC’s culture is so welcoming, it has been surprisingly easy to reach out to other organizations on campus and plan things together to help UMBC students as a whole.

Wade and fellow apartment RAs bowling (left) and at the end-of-year ResLife banquet (right). (Images courtesy of Wade)

Q: What would you tell someone who is considering a career at UMBC?

A: DO IT! I am so happy that I made the switch to UMBC from my prior higher education institution (although I might be a little biased as a UMBC alum).

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.