by Michelle R. Scott, Associate Professor of History, UMBC and Earl Brooks, Assistant Professor of English, UMBC

At a moment when there is a longstanding heated debate over how artists and pop culture figures should engage in social activism, the life and career of musical legend Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington offers a model of how to do it right.

Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C. His tight-knit black middle-class family nurtured his racial pride and shielded him from many of the difficulties of segregation in the nation’s capital. Washington was home to a sizable black middle class, despite prevalent racism. That included the racial riots of 1919’s Red Summer, three months of bloody violence directed at black communities in cities from San Francisco to Chicago and Washington D.C.

Ellington’s development from a D.C. piano prodigy to the world’s elegant and sophisticated “Duke” is well documented. Yet a fusion of art and social activism also marked his more than 56-year career.

Ellington’s battle for social justice was personal. Films like the award-winning “Green Book” only hint at the costs of segregation for black performing artists during the 1950s and 60s.

Duke’s experiences reveal the reality.

Cotton Club to Scottsboro Boys

Ellington first rose to fame at Harlem’s “whites only” Cotton Club in the 1920s. There, the only mingling of black and white happened on the piano keyboard itself, as black performers entered through back doors and could not interact with white customers.

Ellington quietly devoted his services to the NAACP and its racial equality activities in the 1930s. Whether it was demanding that black youth have equal entrance rights to segregated dance halls or holding benefit concerts for the Scottsboro Boys, nine black adolescents falsely imprisoned for rape in 1931, Ellington used his growing fame as a prominent band leader for a greater good.

In our literary and historical research on African American entertainment, Ellington’s ability to travel and perform across national boundaries stands out.

After success in Harlem’s night spots, Ellington composed, recorded and appeared in film shorts like 1935’s “Symphony in Black” as himself. He traveled the world with his orchestra, at first performing in the U.K. in the 1930s. Later, Ellington continued to perform on behalf of the U.S. State Department as a “jazz ambassador” in the 1960s and 70s. Audiences in such places as India, Syria, Turkey, Ethiopia and Zambia were given the opportunity to hear and dance to Ellington’s compositions.

However, not even international popularity ensured that hotels would host Ellington’s all-black ensemble during a tour in the U.K. in June 1933. Members scrambled to find boarding homes in London’s Bloomsbury neighborhood when mainstream hotels turned them away on account of their race.

Despite success, racism

Ellington’s 1932 “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing” was the soundtrack for the nation’s swing era of the 1930s and 40s. The tune stayed on the Billboard charts for six weeks in 1932 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

But when Ellington traveled in the South, he still had to hire a private rail car to avoid crowded, poorly maintained “colored only” train seating, or hotels and restaurants that refused service to black Southerners.

Northern or western engagements in the 1930s and 1940s often proved no better. While there were no “white only” signs on the doors of these hotels or restaurants, establishments enforced segregation by telling black customers to enter through back doors or purchase their meals to go.

Bassist Milt Hinton recalled that Ellington and fellow band leader Count Basie often stayed at black-owned boarding houses rather than risk being thrown out or ignored.

White band managers attempted to protect the black bands they managed from these racist practices, but this still did not prevent Ellington from being denied service in a Salt Lake City hotel’s cafe in the 1940s.

Subtle style

Once the civil rights movement of the 1950s began to fight for racial equality through direct-action techniques like mass protests, boycotts and sit-ins, activists in the early 1950s criticized the older Ellington. His subtle activism style had focused on benefit concerts, and not “in the streets” protests.

But as the movement continued, Ellington included a non-segregation clause in his contracts and refused to play before segregated audiences by 1961. He maintained in an interview in the Baltimore Afro American newspaper that he had always been devoted to “the fight for first class citizenship.”

This was a devotion best seen in his music.

Ellington used his creative musical talents against racist beliefs that African Americans were inferior or unintelligent.

His diverse and wide-ranging catalog of music demanded the kind of serious attention and respect that had previously only been reserved for elite, white composers of classical music.

Songs such as “Black and Tan Fantasy” completely challenged what was then called “jungle music,” a negative term used to reference music inspired by the African diaspora. As a fusion of sacred and secular black culture, both the “Black and Tan Fantasy” composition and film combined the speaking traditions of black preachers with the humor and rhythms of black life.

Modern black variety shows such as “Wild ‘N Out” and “In Living Color” share a lineage with Ellington’s major stage production of 1941, “Jump for Joy.”

“Jump for Joy” combined comedy skits and music into a revue that featured African American stars of the mid-20th century, including actress, singer and dancer Dorothy Dandridge and poet Langston Hughes.

Ellington claimed that his production “would take Uncle Tom out of the theater and say things that would make the audience think.”

He used his music to showcase black excellence as a resistance tactic against the negative stereotypes of African Americans made popular in American blackface minstrelsy.

Ellington also used “Jump for Joy” to call out those who borrowed from black music without any credit or financial compensation to its creators.

Melody’s other purpose

One of Ellington’s most powerful works is the orchestral piece “Black, Brown and Beige.”

This work shows his ability to infuse the blues into classical music and his commitment to tell the history of black America through song.

From the spirituals developed through the trials of slavery to the fight for civil rights and the modern rhythms of big band swing music, Ellington sought to tell a story about black life that was both beautiful and complex.

For Ellington, melody became message.

* * * * *

Michelle R. Scott, Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Earl Brooks, Assistant Professor of English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Header image: Duke Ellington, Paramount Theater, New York, 1946. Library of Congress/William P. Gottlieb photographer

by Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Professor of History, UMBC

For the first time in 217 years, a Japanese emperor will cede his place on the imperial throne.

On April 30, Japan’s ailing 85-year-old Emperor Akihito will abdicate and be replaced the following day by his 59-year-old son, Crown Prince Naruhito.

Naruhito and his wife, Crown Princess Masako, are a modern couple. Both have studied overseas – he at Oxford University, she in Russia, England and the United States. Born after World War II, Naruhito will be the first Japanese emperor not shaped by the upheaval that war brought to his country.

Many Japanese are hopeful that these younger royals can update Japan’s ancient “Chrysanthemum Throne.” But changing a 14-century-old monarchy to reflect the times will not be easy.

A democracy with an emperor

Japan has the oldest continuous monarchy in the world.

The current emperor, Akihito, is the 125th in a royal line of succession officially founded in the 7th century. According to Japanese legend, however, the Chrysanthemum Throne dates back 2,600 years – to the country’s founding in 660 B.C. by Emperor Jimmu, a descendant of the Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu.

Despite their sacred status, Japanese emperors have traditionally reigned but not run the country. For most of its long history, military governments or oligarchs governed Japan in a day-to-day sense.

In 1947, two years after its surrender to Allied forces, Japan became a democracy, with several political parties, parliament and a prime minister. The monarchy also changed profoundly after World War II.

Emperor Hirohito – father of Japan’s current emperor, Akihito – renounced “the false conception that the emperor is divine” in 1946 under pressure from Allied forces. The largely American-written 1947 constitution that followed officially reduced the emperor to a figurehead.

Still, the monarchy continued. And Hirohito remained on the throne until his death at age 88 in 1989.

The people’s emperor

Hirohito’s son, Emperor Akihito has, by most accounts, been a hugely popular monarch – one who put his personal stamp on this institution.

As a young crown prince in U.S.-occupied Japan, Akihito studied the English language and western culture, and his American tutor sought to encourage independence in her young student. Akihito later broke with the Japanese royal tradition of arranged marriages by wedding a commoner, Michiko Shoda, whom he met playing tennis.

Akihito has brought the monarchy closer to the people of Japan in other ways over the last 30 years, too.

He spent more time outside the confines of his palace, interacting with ordinary Japanese, than his aloof father. He and the empress also made official visits to some 35 countries.

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis, Emperor Akihito made a historic television appearance, urging his people not to give up hope, and visited refugees at an evacuation center.

In a 2016 speech, Akihito indirectly signaled his intention to abdicate, saying that his advanced age and declining health made it difficult for him to carry out his duties.

Resigning on April 30 will be the last modernizing act of Akhito’s 30-year reign.

The crown prince says that as emperor he hopes to emulate his father’s personal touch – to “share the joys and sorrows of the people.”

Controversy over all-male succession

The abdication of a living emperor created a legal problem for Japan, where imperial law defines imperial succession only upon death.

The last Japanese monarch to step down, Emperor Kokaku, did so in 1817 for unknown reasons, and before Japan became a democracy. There is simply no modern precedent for Akihito’s decision.

Amending Japanese imperial law to accommodate abdication would have opened it up to other changes. Specifically, many Japanese legislators and a majority of Japanese people wanted to allow women to inherit the throne.

That would be a big symbolic boost for women in a country where female executives occupy less than 1% of management positions.

Conservative forces in legislature, however, blocked calls to change Japan’s male succession tradition. Rather than amend the imperial law, they simply passed a special law allowing Akihito to step down.

That means Aiko, the daughter of Japan’s soon-to-be emperor and empress cannot succeed her father. Next in line, instead, is Naruhito’s younger brother, 53-year-old Prince Fumihito. Fumihito will be followed by his son, Hisahito.

Emperor Naruhito, the environmentalist

I had occasion to meet Prince Naruhito, Japan’s next emperor in 1990, at an academic conference in Japan.

As a scholar of Japanese history, I spoke about the travels of a prominent samurai in early modern Japan. Naruhito – long a global advocate for clean water – presented his research, conducted at Oxford University, on medieval English water transport.

Naruhito has continued to develop his environmental pursuits since. In 2007, he was appointed honorary president of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation.

Naruhito’s global civic engagement shows how the crown prince has sought to steer his own course in life.

His wife, Masako, will also be unlike any empress in Japanese history.

The daughter of a diplomat and fluent in several languages, Masako graduated from Harvard in 1985 with a degree in economics, and later studied law at the University of Tokyo. In 1987, she was one of only three women – in a pool of 800 applicants – to pass the entrance exam for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nahurito proposed three times before Masako agreed to marry him, in 1993. That decision forced her, reluctantly, to give up her diplomatic career.

The lifestyle change appears to have been difficult for Masako.

As crown princess, she came under intense pressure to produce a male heir. Royal household officials also limited her overseas travel and closely monitored her movements.

In 2001, eight years after their marriage, Masako gave birth – but to a girl, Aiko. Shortly afterward, she vanished from public life. According to her doctors, Masako suffered an “adjustment disorder” – what outside observers might identify as depression.

Prince Naruhito has broken with a royal tradition of discretion in 2004 and spoken publicly about his wife’s struggle to adapt to her constrained new existence.

“There were moves to negate Masako’s career and her personality, which was influenced by that career,” he told reporters in 2004.

Masako began reappearing in public again only in 2014. She has expressed both anxiety and optimism about becoming empress, given the stresses and ceremonial duties of that office.

Naruhito, for his part, says he will work to change how Japan’s royal family operates, updating the imperial household to reflect changing times.

His goal for his reign, he says, is to bring “a fresh breeze” to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

* * * * *

Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Header Image: ID 6838463 © Norman Chan | Dreamstime.com

JEROME ADAMS ’97
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Notable Achievement: U.S. Surgeon General

Back in the ’90s, Jerome Adams was just a kid watching UMBC basketball games and making sure he never missed Quadmania. Now, he has a bit more on his plate—like being “Top Doctor” for the entire United States.

“UMBC as a school has constantly shown they punch above their weight. There’s nothing we can’t do.”

— Jerome Adams ’97

In 2017, Adams was named Surgeon General, tasked as the leading spokesperson on public health for the federal government and serving as the “Nation’s Doctor.”

Adams credits UMBC with helping him get to where he is today. As a student in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, he never forgot UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski’s reminder that to whom much is given, much is required.

“UMBC and Dr. Hrabowski and the Meyerhoff Program work together
to inspire folks to be the best that they can be.”

By Ashley Minner, Lecturer, UMBC

A few years ago, I invited a group of students to go on a short walking tour of the Lumbee Indian community of East Baltimore.

Lumbee are indigenous to North Carolina but have been present in Baltimore since at least as early as the 1930s. My grandparents moved here in 1963 with their three children, one of whom was my mother. I was born here, and that makes me a first-generation Baltimore Lumbee. I grew up to be a community-based visual artist and a folklorist. I’m currently a doctoral candidate at University of Maryland College Park, where I’m finishing my dissertation on the changing relationship of Lumbee people to the neighborhood in Baltimore where they settled.

I had given such tours informally many times before, and had developed a familiar route and narrative along the way: South Broadway Baptist Church, the Baltimore American Indian Center, the Vera Shank Daycare and Native American Senior Citizens building.

This particular time, an elder of the community had come along with us. Naturally, I ceded the responsibility of leading the tour to her.

We started out on my usual route, but, to my surprise, she stopped us just outside South Broadway Baptist Church to talk about an Indian jewelry store that used to be next door. This was news to me. I didn’t remember the store because it was gone before my time.

I started to wonder: How much more don’t I know about the places and spaces Lumbee people once had here?

Drawing on the memories of our elders, the annals of local newspapers and other archival materials, I am now mapping and reconstructing East Baltimore’s historic Lumbee Indian community.

With the neighborhood being redeveloped and the Lumbee population shifting, I see this as an urgent project of reclamation – of history, of space and of belonging.

The birth of Baltimore’s ‘reservation’

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River, and the ninth-largest in the United States.

Our homeland is in southeastern North Carolina, with members residing primarily in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties. We take our name from the Lumbee River that winds through tribal territory, which is mostly rural and otherwise characterized by pines, farmland and swamps.

Following World War II, thousands of Lumbee Indians migrated from North Carolina to Baltimore seeking jobs and a better quality of life. They settled on the east side of town, in an area that bridges the neighborhoods of Upper Fells Point and Washington Hill, 64 blocks mostly comprising brick row houses with marble steps.

To many Lumbee newcomers, the buildings all looked identical. It was a world apart from the farm houses, tobacco barns, fields and swamps of home.

In this urban landscape, Lumbee people stood out – neither looking like the Indians on TV, nor neatly fitting into any of the races or ethnicities already living in Baltimore.

Today, most Baltimoreans would be surprised to learn that the area was once so densely populated by Indians that it was known as “the reservation.” An anthropologist who did fieldwork in the community during its heyday wrote that it was “perhaps the single largest grouping of Indians from the same tribe in an American urban area.”

The Lumbee community has gradually spread out in years since, so my own generation never experienced “the reservation” as such. But even within our own lifetimes – and especially over the last 15 years – we’ve seen the Lumbee population in the city sharply decline. The majority of our people have moved out to Baltimore County and beyond. Others have returned to North Carolina.

The old neighborhood is now being rapidly redeveloped. Historic buildings have been retrofitted. New luxury apartments abound. With the closure and sale of the former Vera Shank Daycare and Native American Senior Citizens building, the sole real estate that the Baltimore Indian Center owns is the building it occupies. The remaining elders are now in their 70s and 80s.

I know that I have arrived at this work in a crucial moment.

The neighborhood as it once was

In order to learn more about the historic community, I went to the elders first.

I was completely floored by what I learned. I had known about the places I already mentioned, along with a couple of much-fabled bars. But they talked about other restaurants, shops, more churches, more bars, investment properties and even a dance hall that were all Lumbee community-owned or frequented.

Nearly all of the sites described to me by the elders have been repurposed several times since the 1950s, if not demolished and utterly wiped from the landscape. Entire city blocks have disappeared.

How, then, could I even begin to pinpoint where things used to be?

This question prompted a spree of digging and plundering through many local institutional archives in search of clues that would help me reconstruct “the reservation.”

At the downtown branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, I was able to leaf through many historic newspaper clippings about the community and the early endeavors of the Baltimore American Indian Center, founded in 1968 as the “American Indian Study Center.” I even held original copies of the American Indian Study Center’s first newsletters, mailed directly from the center to the library.

I got a cartography lesson at the Johns Hopkins University’s Eisenhower Library, which led me to visit the Baltimore City Archives, where I was able to handle original Sanborn maps. These maps provide extremely detailed aerial views of the neighborhood, including footprints of buildings that no longer exist.

Later, at the Baltimore City Department of Planning’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, I was thrilled to find actual street-level photographs of many of the buildings, which, ironically, were documented as a result of urban renewal.

In the Hornbake Library at University of Maryland College Park, I was able to consult several volumes of Polk Baltimore City Directories. I had presumed these were no more than old phone books. Instead, these volumes detail the individuals and businesses that occupied every building in Baltimore, street by street, block by block, in a given year. Not only was I able to confirm addresses of the community sites the elders had described, but in many instances, I was also able to see where they, themselves, had lived.

The Hornbake Library also houses the Baltimore News American photo archive, where I found portraits of community legends. There were Elizabeth Locklear, Herbert Locklear and Rosie Hunt – all founders of the Center. There was Clyde Oxendine, a boxer and the bouncer of the infamous Volcano, the meanest of mean Indian bars. And in the first folder of unprocessed photos I opened, I found, of all people, Alme Jones, the maternal grandmother of my fiance.

Preserving the past for future generations

So far, we have mapped 27 Lumbee-owned or frequented sites in and around the neighborhood.

After identifying materials from these many far-flung institutional archives, it seems imperative to establish a new collection so that these treasures can live together, alongside personal archival materials that would never have been accessible to an outside researcher. Our community needs easy access to its history.

Naturally, the Baltimore American Indian Center is the prime repository for this new collection. The Special Collections of the Albin O. Kuhn Library at UMBC is another. This amazing, publicly accessible resource already houses the Maryland Folklife Archives and the research of several Maryland folklorists. It will one day house my research as well.

Younger generations of Lumbee people should be able to see and know that our people’s history in Baltimore runs much deeper and wider than it seems.

All cities are steeped in stories. Whether we realize it or not, we are always walking in the footsteps of those who came before.

As Baltimore’s neighborhoods continue to change, its residents would do well to realize that Lumbee people have been here for a long time – and we’re still here.

*****

Ashley Minner, Lecturer, Folklorist, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Header Image: Members of East Baltimore Church of God, which was founded by Lumbee Indians, and was once located in the heart of ‘the reservation,’ in the 1700 block of E. Baltimore Street. Photo courtesy of Rev. Robert E. Dodson Jr., Pastor, East Baltimore Church of God, author provided.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

UMBC students are diligently making final touches to their presentations in preparation for the 23rd annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) on Wednesday, April 24. Students’ research projects are as diverse as UMBC students themselves. This year, URCAD has highlighted research that explores diversity and inequalities through three thematic series, focusing on research about Baltimore, LGBTQ+ topics, and international topics.

These presentations affirm a core goal of URCAD. As Katharine H. Cole, vice provost and dean of undergraduate academic affairs, has shared, “UMBC encourages students of all disciplines to engage in mentored projects and through creative thought and focused inquiry, to discover in themselves their passion.”

STEM identities in Baltimore

Shadia Musa ‘19, American studies, focused her research one exploring how sixth-grade students of color at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore City come to identify with STEM fields. Through her work as a Sherman STEM Teachers Scholar, Musa explored the impact of restructuring learning environments to increase students’ involvement in STEM disciplines.

At James McHenry, where many families don’t have confidence with science and math topics due to historic inequalities in education, teachers, parents, and community organizers collaborate with each other to create more and earlier points of entry into STEM education for students, using an inquiry-based approach.

“I worked with students to identify issues important to them, like having a grocery store nearby. We then created a 3D model of the store out of cardboard,” explains Musa, who plans to continue teaching in Baltimore City. “Through this interactive process, students learned and strengthened their grouping, measurement, computation, and spatial skills as well as cooperative learning skills, and involved their families in the process.”

Musa will present Combating Academic Inequity: A Community-based Approach to Cultivating a Love for STEM within Students of Color at 2:15 p.m. in UC 310.

Intersections of LGBTQ and Jewish identities

Cliel Shdaimah ‘19, gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, researched intersecting identities in her own queer and Jewish communities through interviews with five LGBTQ rabbis in the United States and in Israel. “In the last five years I realized that I was queer and wanted to find a way into my Judaism that was natural but that also celebrated that part of myself,” explains Shdaimah.

The interviews revealed three insights into how the rabbis were managing their identities. First, they described their visibility as queer people and as Jewish family members in Jewish religious spaces. They also dealt with addressing their LGBTQ identities with social justice work. Third, the rabbis had to find ways to incorporate their values as both Jewish and LGBTQ people when interpreting Jewish religious texts and teachings.

“Through this and other research projects at UMBC I had the joy of reading feminist and queer ways of thinking and the Torah,” says Shdaimah. “I have been able to bring all of my identities to my personal life but also to my academic life through different research projects that helped me understand what my possibilities are for the future.”

Shdaimah will present Keshet L’Am: Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Rabbis on Intersecting Identities, 1-2:30 p.m. in the UC Ballroom.

Sharing complex feelings through animation

Julia Blurton-Jones ‘21, visual arts, took a very personal perspective in creating a short animation based on her experience growing up as a gay woman in Catholic private schools. Her film shares the experience of being asked to read a passage from a textbook that implied same-sex marriage should not be allowed. Through animation, she explores this dilemma of having to betray yourself and conveys the fear the protagonist is experiencing.

In her experience with members outside of the LGBTQ community, Blurton-Jones feels coming out is seen as a black and white situation—you are either in or out. But that’s a  misconception, she says.

“There is a greyness to coming out,” shares Blurton Jones. “People in the closet have to actively hide and lie a lot and pretend to disagree with homosexuality. People out of the closet have to decide to continuously come out in different environments.”

This project proved tremendously gratifying for Blurton-Jones. “I am passionate about animation,” she says. “It is a medium where I can mess with reality to portray complex feelings.”

Blurton-Jones will present “Traitor: An Animated Short” at 2:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall.

Separation of voice from body

As a sound professional, Daniel Goldstein ‘18, media and communications studies, is used to mixing different voices to convey ideas, events, and information. For his independent research project, he was interested in researching the effect on different communities of the separation of the voice from the body that occurs in voicing animations, doing voice-over narrations, and creating voices for new digital platforms.

“I wanted to think critically, holistically, and analytically about what it means to cast a specific person as a narrator or a character for animation, and how over time they have created norms about gender and race based on stereotypes,” says Goldstein.

One major example is The Simpsons, where the South Asian character of Abu is portrayed by a white male voice referencing stereotypes of English spoken with a South Asian accent. “This has many negative social and political ramifications,” says Goldstein. “Abu’s voice has been used to create voice norms for an entire community that is not adequately represented on the show.”

Goldstein also shares that he found positive examples of inclusion for a broader range of voices. He describes that theatre voice coaching has helped some members of the trans community match their voice with their identity. Also, looking at growing digital platforms, he notes, “Modern consumer technology like Alexa, Siri, and podcasts, allows traditionally non-normative voices to be successful and fulfill roles that are historically very gendered.”

Goldstein will present Will You Listen?: A Critical Analysis of Gendered and Racialized Disembodied Voices in Contemporary Media Culture at 1:15 p.m., UC 204.

Evolution of Korean art, 2013-1017

Sparked by her sister’s interest in Korean culture, Sarah Natterman ‘20, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication and Asian studies, began learning the Korean language in high school. At UMBC, she began studying Korean art, culture, and social issues in greater depth. Natterman says, “I combined both my academic and personal interests in visual and performing arts to research how the South Korean regime of Park Geun-hye in between 2013 and 2017 affected Korean contemporary art.”

Her research explored the effects of Park Geun-hye censoring 10,000 artists and how censorship restricted and grew art in Korea. As a result of the regime, Korean art developed two movements. One was reminiscent of a past cultural movement, with prominent Korean cultural themes. The other included more abstract themes for a global market. Both influenced the evolution of contemporary South Korean art and culture in the world today.

“I want people to see South Korea as a whole. Politics are important but they can often mask South Korea’s vibrant literature, culture, and theatre,” shares Natterman. She will further her study of South Korean culture next year through UMBC’s academic exchange program with Seoul National University.

Natterman will present Modern Dualism in Korean Contemporary Art at 9:45 a.m. in UC 310

Options in social work delivery

As a student of social work, Rebeccah Mann ‘19, is familiar with the U.S. social work model, which depends largely on federal, state, and local funding to provide services. She was in search of a different perspective on social work delivery models. Through the University Studies Abroad Consortium, Mann enrolled in a social work program at the University of Ghana.

She found that in Ghana there isn’t a vast network of federal, state, or local funding. Social workers in Ghana pursue a more creative and collective approach to fundraising to support the delivery of social work services.

“Through local sales of goods, international sponsors, and a barter system, organizations could be paid for the services they provided and communities could continue to access those needed services,” says Mann. “The innovation has inspired me to see possibilities instead of obstacles as I become a professional social worker.”

Mann will present A Comparison Between Social Service Delivery Systems in Ghana and the United States, 10-11:30 a.m. in the UC Ballroom.

URCAD guests are encouraged to learn more about the broad range of presentations on Baltimore, LGBTQ+, and international research topics. A full listing of all student presenters and their topics and presentation times is available through the URCAD website.

Banner image: URCAD 2018 by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

There will be bedrooms  available  for summer break or fall semester  2019 student(lease 9 month or longer)

price ：   $400  /month about + utilities (average $50/month/per month)+ wifi $10/per month

Location: Walking distance to UMBC about 5 minutes.

If interesting, please contact me :

e-mail,  lidimin@gmail.com or text 4432979266

UMBC’s annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day allows students to reflect on a year or more of work intensively focused on a project, often with close guidance from a faculty mentor. These mentors have deep and long-lasting impacts on the students who work with them, and the students’ creativity and fresh perspectives inspire their mentors.

Like many faculty across UMBC, Greg Szeto, assistant professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, has guided undergraduate and graduate students to achieve a deeper understanding of their discipline. “Being a mentor is the most impactful thing we can do with our time,” he says.

“It’s a mentor’s job to provide comprehensive and diverse experiences that are customized to fit different individuals’ goals and stage of development and to consistently fine-tune those experiences over time,” Szeto explains. “We help provide a safe environment where students can explore their interests in research and determine what the right path is for their future.”

Engineering solutions to health challenges

When Nicole Couturier ‘19, chemical engineering, began exploring options to get involved with research, she wasn’t sure which direction to take. She was intrigued to learn about the interdisciplinary approach to Szeto’s lab, which combines engineering, biology, and human health.

Couturier, a MARC scholar, began working in Szeto’s lab in spring 2017, studying the properties of gold nanoparticles that can potentially be used as immunotherapy agents. She explains that these nanoparticles can “offer an alternative approach to traditional treatment methods by carrying drugs inside their core.” The nanoparticles also have molecules attached to their surfaces that direct them to specific sites within the body, Couturier adds.

Szeto has encouraged Couturier to explore and expand the scope of her work. “Because I have been able to participate in different projects with a range of focuses, I have been able to learn about many different areas of research both inside and outside the field of immunology,” she says. She adds that Szeto had helped her keep her expectations in check, sharing, “One of the most helpful pieces of advice that Dr. Szeto has shared is to remind me that it’s okay at the end of the day if I still don’t know the answer to something.”

For other students seeking research mentors, Szeto suggests, “The fit between a student and a mentor is even more important than finding a perfect intellectual match with research topic at most career stages.”

He notes that strong mentoring relationships benefit everyone, but are particularly important for people early in their careers. “Having supportive mentors and advocates invested in your success as an undergraduate can fundamentally change someone’s perspective on career goals, and their decision to pursue a Ph.D. or career in research,” Szeto says.

From doing research to becoming a researcher

Conducting research in Szeto’s lab has allowed Kojo Bonsu ‘18, chemical engineering, to think about how chemical engineering can address health challenges in new ways.

“I was always interested in applying chemical engineering principles and methodologies to research in biology and medicine, but did not think about doing so by approaching the problems from the immune system,” Bonsu says. “After meeting with Dr. Szeto, I clearly saw how chemical engineering could provide new solutions to long-standing problems in biotechnology and human health.”

Bonsu joined Szeto’s lab in fall 2017. With a strong background in research, he was looking for opportunities to do more independent work. Szeto worked with Bonsu to develop a research experience that included experimental design, data analysis, and project troubleshooting. Bonsu says that this time in Szeto’s lab challenged him to think about possible solutions to obstacles in creative ways.

“This experience truly allowed me to see myself as a researcher and spurred my desires to go to graduate school to further expand upon my knowledge of engineering solutions to a host of problems,” Bonsu says.

Creating a supportive environment for women in STEM

Karla Negrete ‘19, mechanical engineering, a Hill-Lopes Scholar, was drawn to Deepa Madan’s lab after she took a course about the chemical and physical aspects of materials.

Madan has guided Negrete through research on the materials and design of batteries. She focuses on preparing an efficient and safe electrolyte layer for batteries, to avoid the pitfalls of hazardous materials, short lifespan, and susceptibility to damage that are common to conventional designs.

Negrete is exploring how to replace the liquid in batteries with gel polymer electrolytes while avoiding the challenge of crystallization. “Our research seeks to…introduce the use of novel nanofiber cellulose, which is extracted from wood, as the main constituent in preparing our thin gel electrolytes,” she says.

“Dr. Madan has been a mentor to me in many ways,” Negrete reflects, “but the most important has been her ability to believe in me and stand behind me.”

That active interest, encouragement and confidence-building are central to Madan’s mentoring approach.“I believe the likelihood of students achieving their immediate and possibly long-term career goals can be significantly increased if students believe their mentors are genuinely interested in student success, and students see the activity and engagement as a stepping stone for their successful careers,” Madan says.

Negrete has also been mentored by Aswani Poosapati, Ph.D. ‘23, mechanical engineering, and she says that being a part of a supportive research team has been empowering. “The most rewarding part of working with Dr. Madan has been the welcoming environment that she creates in her lab,” says Negrete. “From the beginning, Dr. Madan and Aswani Poosapati have taught me, challenged me, guided me, and trusted me to be a part of this research.”

Much of Madan’s work with students like Negrete focuses on the nuts and bolts of research: how to conduct a literature review, how to access networking opportunities, and how to use research opportunities as steps toward achieving research goals. At another level, she also sees tremendous value in serving as a resource and sounding board for young women beginning careers in STEM fields.

“I feel my research experiences and story motivate our female students to come and talk to me about their research interests, which I feel some are hesitant to share,” she says. “Many of them are flourishing and are positively surprised by how well their research is progressing in a discipline that once appeared so intimidating.” In a field where women are underrepresented, Madan notes, “It’s not surprising to me that more than half of the students working in my lab are female students.”

Gaining confidence through challenges

Anna Feerick ‘19, chemistry, remembers standing outside the door to Lee Blaney’s lab. Blaney worked in a different department (chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering), but Feerick was fascinated by how his lab applied chemistry to major environmental challenges.

“While reading the research posters outside of the lab, I could see the passion this lab has toward discovery and innovation,” recalls Feerick. “I wanted to match their enthusiasm with my own and was willing to work as hard as needed to get there.”

The research conducted in Blaney’s lab is interdisciplinary, and involves undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to working with Blaney, Feerick has had an opportunity to work closely with Ke He, Ph.D. ‘17, chemical engineering, and Ethan Hain, Ph.D. ‘23, chemical engineering.

When Feerick first joined the lab, she spent time measuring salts for water samples, freeze-drying and measuring sediment samples, and measuring tissue from oysters from the Chesapeake Bay. These tasks showed her the importance of carefully following lab protocols to ensure that contaminant levels were accurately analyzed.

Over time, Feerick was able to take on increasingly challenging work in the lab, which she found to be highly rewarding. “[Blaney] balances the difficulty of the task with our ability to overcome it,” she says. “His confidence in my ability gives me the determination needed to complete it.”

Supporting this growth over time is the core of how Blaney sees mentoring. “Unlike many undergraduate and graduate courses, research involves open-ended questions without known answers,” he points out. “This scenario can be daunting for many students.”

“I think the real importance of mentors stems from their ability to help students make the transition from homework and exam problems to complex, long-term research projects,” Blaney explains. “Mentors play a critical role in contributing to the personal and professional growth of students at every step of that journey.”

Banner image: Karla Negrete, right, working alongside Deepa Madan in the lab. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC unless otherwise noted.

With five no hitters under her belt, first-year pitcher Courtney Coppersmith spent the semester picking off batters and picking up accolades—including several firsts for UMBC.

By Zach Seidel ’12, M.S. ’15

Flashback to April, and the UMBC Softball team’s bout against Norfolk State. The crowd roared and then began laughing out of astonishment: Coppersmith ’22, biochemistry and molecular biology, had just hit a tie-breaking (and eventual game-winning), two-out, two-strike grand slam in the bottom of the sixth (out of the seven innings in a collegiate softball game).

This hit was her first career home run, but more impressively, it happened just three days after she pitched the second perfect game in program history.

Her teammates and fans couldn’t stop shaking their heads and smiling because every time the lefthander from York, Pennsylvania, stepped on the field, it seemed like she was either breaking another record or coming up clutch.

Coppersmith helped lead UMBC to its first-ever America East championship and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2002—despite the fact that the Retrievers were picked to finish last in the preseason coaches’ poll. In addition to being named UMBC Softball’s first-ever All-American, she was also the first person in America East history to be named both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. And the list goes on.

The Retrievers entered the America East tournament in Hartford, Connecticut. as the No. 4 seed, and had to face the hosts, No. 5 Hartford, in the first round of the double-elimination tournament. Coppersmith threw an 11-strikeout no-hitter, and then followed that up the following day by throwing another no-hitter, this time against the regular season champion No. 1 UMass Lowell. She then helped lead UMBC to a pair of victories over Stony Brook to clinch the championship. Coppersmith went 4 – 0 while allowing just two runs in 28 innings pitched, a 0.50 ERA on only eight hits, and 33 strikeouts en route to being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

The previous UMBC record for strikeouts in a single game was 13, set over a decade ago. Coppersmith has already reached or surpassed that total in a game seven times this season. She absolutely shattered the record in one of the best performances in the nation this season: a 17 strikeout, no walk, one-hit masterpiece in a 1 – 0 win at UNC Wilmington, in which she scored the only run of the game on offense for UMBC. She then one-upped that with a 17 strikeout no-hitter in a 7 – 0 win over conference rival Maine.

No one has more fun on the diamond than Coppersmith, who can be seen dancing to the music in between pitches. She’s top three in the country in strikeouts (a school single-season record 346) and near the top in strikeouts per game (10.16). We sat down with the thrower of a nasty “rise ball”—and aspiring future pharmacist—for a Q&A.

Zach Seidel: You were obviously recruited to play at multiple schools, so what made UMBC your top choice?

Courtney Coppersmith: They say it’s like a wedding dress, you know it when you see it and then you cry. When I visited campus I knew it was the perfect fit. (I didn’t cry, though.) Academics are very important to me, and it’s a very good academic school. UMBC offered me a sense of community. It offers a lot programs and academic opportunities on top of being an athlete.

Seidel: You want to be a pharmacist, correct? Why is that?

Coppersmith: I like helping people and pharmacists provide medicine to people to help them do that. If I don’t end up doing that, I do want to do research and help create drugs that can cure cancer and help treat various diseases.

Seidel: What feels better for you: acing a chemistry test or striking out a batter?

Coppersmith: Acing a chemistry test. A hundred percent acing a chemistry test!

Seidel: What is the coolest thing about striking someone out?

Coppersmith: The best part is when you fall behind 3-0, and then you throw two strikes that they don’t swing at and then you get them to chase the rise ball anyway. Or, I’ll throw a low rise ball right into the edge of the zone [for a called third strike] and they’ll just look at the umpire; that’s also very amusing to watch.

Seidel: Do you prefer striking batters out swinging or looking?

Coppersmith: Oh, that’s a tough one because I get a lot of my strikeouts swinging, but I guess I like them equally. It’s really funny to watch them when they think it’s not going to be a strike and it’s a strike, but also really funny to watch them swing at a ball that’s over their head, because in no way is that going to be a strike, and they still swing at it anyway!”

Seidel: What’s your walkout song and why?

Coppersmith: For my normal walkout, I use the song “Wild Thing” from the movie Major League for the simple reason that it is one of mine and my dad’s favorite movies, and it is such an important moment in that movie. For my second walkout, it is the Little Einsteins trap remix. While it may sound super childish, I really enjoy the remix and the hype that it brings my teammates, myself, and even the other team.

Seidel:  What’s the Retriever fan support like?

Coppersmith: Retriever fans are one of the major parts to the game; while we still go out and do our jobs, either way, fans only bring even more support to us as we are out there playing our game.

Seidel: If you could strike out anybody in the world, who would it be?

Coppersmith: Heck, I would love to be able to strikeout Coach [Chris] Kuhlmeyer. He always talks a lot of smack, and I know that he doesn’t think I could strike him out, so that would be a cherry on top of the ice cream!

All-Star Stats

Coppersmith helped lead UMBC Softball to its first-ever America East championship. During the same season, she also became:

• UMBC Softball’s first-ever All-American (Softball America Honorable Mention)
• The first person in America East history to be named both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season
• UMBC’s first Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division 1 National Pitcher of the Week
• The first in America East Conference history to sweep the weekly awards in the same week as she was named as the Player, Pitcher, and Rookie of the Week (April 9)
• The first member of the America East Conference to be included as a member in the 2019 Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25, an award honoring the top freshmen in the entire nation
• The ECAC (an organization of 87 Division 1 institutions) Rookie of the Year and made the All-ECAC First Team twice, as a pitcher and a designated player (only player to make first team at two separate positions)

****

Header image courtesy of Ian Feldmann, The Retriever.

Undergraduate research at UMBC is booming. As Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) approaches, students across campus are preparing talks and posters on their projects with the support of faculty and graduate student mentors. Some have presented before at national and international conferences. For others, URCAD (on April 24, 2019) will be their debut on the scientific stage.

So, what creates a culture where undergraduate research thrives? Here, students and mentors across different UMBC labs share four factors they think shape the student research experience.

#1 Encourage independence to build identity as a researcher

In collaboration with their mentors, UMBC students design and implement creative and challenging research projects that directly contribute to the research mission of the lab. That independence, and the trust their mentors and labmates place in their work, contributes to the students’ development of an identity as scientific researchers.

Building confidence

Caroline Larkin ’18, M26, bioinformatics, has been working with Daniel Lobo, assistant professor of biological sciences, since April 2016. When they first met, they discussed their research interests and created a project for her that merged them together. Since then, she’s been using machine learning to define how different kinds of cells in cancerous tumors interact, because some of those interactions can lead to tumor collapse.

At first, Larkin found herself darting across the hall to ask Lobo questions frequently, but he eventually advised her to sit with her challenges for a bit first. While Lobo is still available for the tough questions, “Now I believe in myself more,” Larkin says. “I know I’m capable of fixing something in my code, for example. I give it time before I ask for help.”

“It’s my philosophy to give the undergrads an independent project that they can own,” says Lobo, with the eventual goal being that they each become first authors on a scientific paper.

Larkin is a Meyerhoff and MARC Scholar, and those programs “have really shaped my identity as a scientist, and Dr. Lobo has fueled the validation of that feeling,” she says. “I’ve always been told I was going to become a scientist, but actually doing research with Dr. Lobo has really made me feel like one.”

This fall, Larkin will continue her scientific career as a Ph.D. student in the joint computational biology program at Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh University.

Tackling impostor syndrome

Ruben Delgado, assistant research scientist in the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology at UMBC, instills the same kind of independence in his students. Meredith Sperling ’19, mechanical engineering and mathematics, says, “Every undergraduate has a project that they can define when they first start and then fine tune it as they move along. Graduate students and Ruben are great at providing guidance, pointing out possible pitfalls, etc., but at the end of the day it’s really our research and where we want to take it.”

Sperling’s labmate Julianna Posey ’19, mechanical engineering, says she has dealt with impostor syndrome as a female engineer, but in the Delgado lab, “both your peers and your professors take you seriously,” Posey says. “And that’s pretty uplifting.”

Jenna Westfall ’20, computer science, has enjoyed the opportunity to apply her coding skills to environmental science questions. “Looking at a problem in the real world and having to come up with my own way to tackle it has helped me professionally,” she says, “and I’m grateful to be able to work on something that benefits the lab directly.”

“This really is my project”

Kevin Chen ’19, M27, biological sciences, and Jeffrey Inen ’18, biological sciences, have become experts on their projects in Chuck Bieberich’s lab. After being mentored by Ph.D. student Apurv Rege, Chen is now the resident authority on some of the mouse lines the lab needs for its cancer research.

“When people started asking me about what’s going on with a mouse line, instead of asking the graduate student, it made me think, ‘Wow, this really is my project, and people are asking me for knowledge about it because I’m the primary source for that knowledge,” Chen shares. “I think the independence we’re given in the laboratory gives you that ownership and that feeling of being a researcher.”

This fall, Chen will take that expertise to Emory University. He’s committed to their Ph.D. program in cancer biology, where he’ll expand upon his work with Bieberich.

“He gives us a lot of independence, and I think that’s where I’ve been able to learn the most,” Inen adds. “When Dr. Bieberich starts to come to us for the answers on projects and what he needs to know for his next presentation, it makes me feel like I really belong in the lab.”

For Bieberich, investing time in his undergraduate researchers is a win-win. “As our research program has grown, it’s opened up opportunities to bring undergrads into key roles,” he says. “Having undergraduates in the lab has extended our capability to ask more complex questions than we would otherwise take on.”

#2 Support from every angle enables students to shine

Mentors who are available when you need them, understand the rigorous demands of an undergraduate science career, and can be flexible and supportive when life happens are invaluable for students deciding whether they want to start or continue in research. At UMBC, mentors proactively extend a hand to ensure their students’ success.

Investing time and care

“What I really like about Dr. Lobo is that he’s invested a lot of time into me and my project,” Larkin shares. “I know I can have an honest conversation with him when I’m struggling with something.” For Larkin, that’s included an unexpected diagnosis that left her bedridden for months. Uncertain when she would be able to return to research, Lobo was understanding and welcomed her back when she was ready.

Chen and Inen have had similar experiences with Bieberich. During a serious rough patch, “Dr. B. sat down with me and asked, ‘How can I help you?’ and we worked out a plan for him to help me through that tough time,” Chen shares. And when Inen was in the hospital for almost a week, “Dr. B. came to visit me every day,” Inen remembers. “He definitely goes above and beyond.”

On a more regular basis, “Whenever I need anything, I can just go to Dr. Bieberich and ask,” Inen says. “He’s very open to [students] coming up to him at any time, whether it’s about something in the lab or outside of the lab.” Chen agrees, sharing, “Dr. B is very supportive of everything in my personal life and in the laboratory.”

Exposure to new possibilities

Support can also come in the form of encouraging students to pursue interests beyond what they would normally consider. “The thing that I’ve always appreciated about this lab is that it’s an outlet for me to explore things outside of my engineering program,” Posey, in the Delgado lab, shares. “I’ve always been interested in meteorology and the atmosphere, and I feel like I’ve developed more of a passion for protecting the Earth.”

Delgado sees expanding students’ horizons as a major part of his role. “It’s about making them aware that they have the capacity to go beyond their own expectations and imagination,” he says. “From my own personal experience, I’m where I am because during my undergrad others provided me opportunities to conduct research. Now I’m paying it forward.”

And while he pushes them toward their potential, Westfall, Posey, and Sperling all agree that Delgado understands the demands of undergraduate life. If they need to take a short break due to a spate of exams or a family situation, there’s understanding in the lab. Between being there for emergencies and supporting students through the routine challenges of being an undergrad, UMBC mentors like Lobo, Delgado, and Bieberich create an environment where expectations are high, but flexibility exists as well.

#3 It’s all about communication

As mentors help students prepare to share their work in venues like URCAD, they also help them understand why the ability to explain research is essential for a successful career in science.

Keeping your eye on the goal

In Delgado’s lab, the message has gotten through to Julianna Posey. “The communication part of research is one of the most important parts,” she says. “You should be able to explain your research to somebody as if they’re your younger sibling. And if you can’t do that, then why are you doing it?”

With Delgado’s guidance, Posey has presented at the American Meteorological Society’s annual conference, the National Ambient Air Monitoring Conference sponsored by the EPA, and URCAD. Next year she’ll continue her atmospheric research in UMBC’s master’s program in mechanical engineering.

Meredith Sperling agrees on the benefits of communicating one’s research. “When you work on a project every day, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers,” she says. “But to be able to take a step back and succinctly present your project on a poster within ten minutes, that really keeps you on the path to achieving something that’s ultimately worthwhile, because it forces you to keep your eye on the end goal.” In particular, she says, “URCAD is important because we get to show our work to the community here at UMBC and show how we fit in.”

Getting past the fear factor

As valuable as it is, making a first presentation can be intimidating. That’s why Lobo has his students practice at weekly lab meetings. An opportunity to get feedback from trusted colleagues in a supportive setting builds confidence. So, “By the time URCAD arrives,” Lobo says, “they have presented their research ten times already, and they are not so afraid of presenting.”

It’s worked for Eric Cheung ’19, biochemistry and molecular biology, who works with Lobo. “Presenting is not really a foreign thing to me now,” he says. Plus, Lobo requires all lab members to ask at least one question following presentations. “That drove my research,” Cheung says, “to always ask one more question.”

Caroline Larkin, working in Lobo’s lab, has also benefited from gaining experience sharing her work. She and Jamshaid Shahir ‘18, mathematics and statistics, were the only two undergraduates to present at the international Winter Q-Bio conference in 2018.

#4 Diversity makes lab groups more effective

By welcoming students from all backgrounds and encouraging open communication among lab members, mentors set the stage for a research environment that is open to questions from all perspectives. That diversity in the lab benefits both students’ individual development and the research progress a lab can make.

Same questions, different tools

Lobo’s lab group includes computer scientists, biologists, and mathematicians, among other majors. That diversity benefits the work. “It’s not like the computer scientist is doing computer science, and the mathematician is doing math. Everybody is trying to answer a biological question, with different tools.”

Also, one of Lobo’s goals as a mentor is “to help students understand how science is made.” By working in an interdisciplinary team, they get a flavor for research as teamwork and the importance of approaching scientific questions from different perspectives. As a result, Lobo says, “They are going to be people who know how science works, and that can only benefit science.”

Valuing diversity

Chen and Inen both shared how much they value the diversity among the students in Bieberich’s lab, across gender, race and ethnicity, religion, language, and hometown (or country). For example, Inen is Catholic, and has valued a friendship and conversations he’s had with a female Muslim student in the lab, even attending her mosque for services. Chen identifies as atheist and feels equally comfortable in the lab.

“I look for undergraduates who are eager, bright, dedicated, and willing to put their heart and soul into a project,” Bieberich says. The makeup of the lab “just shows that those characteristics come from everywhere.”

“People from diverse backgrounds are drawn to this lab, because everyone knows Dr. B. is so friendly and kind,” says Chen. “It’s created this environment in the lab where we all learn from each other.” Inen agrees, saying, “We can talk about our differences, and it brings us all together.”

“If everyone recognizes that they’re all doing an essential part of a project that’s addressing a much larger problem, then it’s easy to step up to help each other out,” Bieberich says. “The only way we will succeed is as a team.”

For information about when these students, their labmates, and students from across all departments at UMBC are presenting at URCAD, see the full URCAD schedule.

Banner image: Undergraduate members of the Delgado research group at work. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

The U.S. Small Business Administration recently recognized a UMBC information systems alumnus among its 2019 Small Business Persons of the Year winners.

Zhensen Huang, M.S. ‘00, Ph.D. ‘04, information systems, was the winner of the award for Maryland. He is the CEO of Precise Software Solutions, Inc., a company that supports government agencies’ information technology needs by offering innovative solutions.

Huang explains that he has always wanted to use technology to impact people’s lives, and as an entrepreneur he’s been able to make that a reality. “I am both honored and humbled to receive this Person of the Year recognition,” he says.

In 2013, Huang started Precise and began attracting talented professionals to his company. He says that he wanted to address technological challenges and “deliver elegant technical solutions to the health and science industry’s most complex problems.” He credits the high caliber work of his team at Precise for recognition from the Small Business Administration.

The winners will attend a ceremony in Washington, D.C. in early May during National Small Business Week, where they will receive their awards. The Small Business Administration recognizes winners from each state, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. During the ceremonies, the Small Business Administration will announce the 2019 National Small Business Person of the Year from the 53 winners from across the U.S. and territories.