Meet Poulomi Banerjee, a double alumna—earning her degree in health administration and policy in 2016 and her M.P.P. in 2021—and current public policy Ph.D. student at UMBC who believes in the power of this community! She has her sights set on becoming just the 141st triple alum in UMBC history (bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. from UMBC). When she’s not working toward Retriever history, Poulomi works as the associate director of annual giving and alumni communications at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her spare time (we’re just as surprised as you that she has any), you can find Poulomi with her camera taking family portraits, at a Philadelphia Union soccer game, or reading with her best friend, Sarah Lilly ‘17, information systems, and her two cats, Gizmo and Dolly. Take it away, Poulomi!

Q: Tell us about what you love about your academic program.

A: I love the practicality of the grad programs in the School of Public Policy. Throughout my time in both the master and Ph.D. programs, I’ve been able to have my assignments directly correlate with my work and research goals. In fact, my professors have made it such a wonderful experience that I continued after my master’s degree with my Ph.D.—something I never thought would be in my academic journey.

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

A: I attribute a lot of my UMBC experience to my best friend, Emma Hagen ’14, media and communications studies. She made me excited about going to UMBC from her Tumblr posts before I became a student and we’ve made amazing memories together as students and continue to as alumni.

(Pictured left: Banerjee sitting on the True Grit statue after her undergraduate Commencement.)

Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC?

A: I came to UMBC because they accepted me. It’s not glamorous or inspiring, I know. I’ve lived in Maryland my entire life and people who know me know I did not want to go to UMBC in the first place. I wanted to transfer after my first semester, but now I’m working on my third and final degree here and I think that’s an important story to tell. As I mentioned earlier, I used Tumblr to get excited about UMBC once I was accepted and that’s where I found Emma posting about a zip line, a cotton candy machine, and concerts from the Student Events Board.

I also would spend time talking to Yoo-jin Kang ’15, interdisciplinary studies and modern languages and linguistics, and Asif Majid ‘13, interdisciplinary studies, whom I went to high school with, about their experiences at UMBC. I wanted to find a community, and I wanted to have a purpose and a meaningful experience at UMBC. From my conversations with Yoo-jin and Asif, I felt hopeful about being able to do that.

Q: What’s your favorite part of Retriever Nation?

A: The unlimited Google storage space with my UMBC email. Just kidding! My best friends and so much of my community comes from UMBC. So much of who I am today is because of the people I met and continue to meet from UMBC. When you lean into the Retriever spirit, there’s really nothing you can’t do with the support that this community provides.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone to know about the community support you find here?

A: To tap into the magic that is UMBC, you have to seek your community. Everyone who is a part of my network didn’t come into my purview on their own. I found people who would help me enjoy my time and be as successful as possible at UMBC and beyond. Once you find those people, the opportunities you can receive are endless.

Q: Tell us about your HOW. 

A: I started getting involved in different groups to find my community and purpose. I joined organizations like SGA, the Student Events Board, Tea Club, and started researching sororities at UMBC. What really changed everything for me was the STRiVE Leadership Retreat. That’s where I truly learned the impact I could make at UMBC and in my community. It’s where I started forming my network at UMBC.

STRiVE is why I fell in love with UMBC and why I’m still a student to this day. Once the spring semester started my first year, I hit the ground running at UMBC and haven’t looked back since. I grew closer to Emma through the Student Events Board and she ended up bringing me into commonvision, UMBC’s design and print center, where I learned about graphic design and printing. Sarah Lilly, Kelly Robier ’15, political science, and Bentley Corbett-Wilson ’17, M.A. ‘20, all taught me about leadership and organizing, and all of them, along with Emma, are also always helping me grow and be a better person. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

There is an endless list of staff, faculty, and students who are now alumni who have shaped me into the person I am today. I attribute so many of my accomplishments to the folks I’ve met at UMBC. Had I not stayed, had I not found my community, and had I not made the effort to take advantage of what UMBC had to offer, I, 100 percent, would not be as successful as I have been both in my personal and professional life.

Q: Tell us about your current job. What do you like most about it?

A: I’m the associate director of annual giving and alumni communications at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. My favorite part of fundraising in higher education is getting to help students have an incredible experience while on their academic journey. I studied public health in undergrad so being back in that space is a nice full-circle moment for me too.

Q: What drives you to support UMBC?

A: As someone who works in and studies higher education funding and fundraising, I understand that there’s so much a university wants to do to help students but can’t because of limited funding or not wanting to significantly increase tuition. That’s where the alumni community comes in.

I’m happy to donate to Retriever Essentials or The Women’s Center so they can provide the most resources to students during their time at UMBC. I’m of the belief that every dollar counts. I graduated with a hefty amount of student loans, but I know that I can give $10 or $20 every year on a day of giving or when I get an email from the dean and still make an impact on a student’s life.

(Pictured right: Banerjee wearing a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sweatshirt.)

* * * * *

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.

UMBC’s Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies (GWST) department has received a $100,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to implement its Advancing Gender and Sexuality Studies in Community project. UMBC is one of 95 public colleges and university programs leading research on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality to receive funding from the Mellon Foundation’s $18 million “Affirming Multivocal Humanities” initiative.

“[The] initiative champions the scholarship and teaching taking place in these disciplines—those that are too often undervalued and even undermined in American society today,” says Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation. “We are proud to support colleges and universities in the United States advancing deep research and curricular engagement with the stories and histories of our country’s vastly diverse racial, ethnic, and gender identities.”

Advancing GWST

The Advancing Gender and Sexuality Studies in Community project broadens three programs. The UMBC LGBTQ+ Oral History Project, the Korenman Lecture series, and social change-skills development workshops. “This Mellon funding enables our students, faculty, and staff, to further expand our pedagogical and community-building work around critical sexuality studies,” says Vrushali Patil, chair and professor of GWST. “It also enhances how GWST helps realize UMBC’s goal of inclusive excellence.”

The oral history project trains undergraduate students on oral history interview skills with community members such as the Charm City Kitty Club, a queer femme cabaret; Prettyboi Drag, a queer of color drag king troupe in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. region; as well as queer UMBC community members. It is archived in the UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library Special Collection.

“Students are building the oral history archive I wish I had as a researcher in Baltimore queer history,” says co-principal investigator Kate Drabinski, principal lecturer in GWST. “The grant will pay for more basic equipment and training.”

The annual Korenman Lecture series brings scholars, activists, and artists to campus for talks on cutting-edge topics in GWST and includes student workshops on related topics. Over the next three years, GWST will host three additional Korenman Lectures focused on transgender sexual politics, reproductive justice, decolonizing health, and sexuality and the carceral state.

The third program includes six social justice workshops for faculty and students. They will explore approaches to organizing such as running for political office, identifying social justice issues, zine making, and social media for social justice. 

“The Affirming Multivocal Humanities grant provides an incredible opportunity to expand our ongoing work of challenging gender, sexuality, and race-based systems of oppression,” says Carole McCann, principal investigator and professor of GWST.

Additional GWST faculty participating in the grant: María Célleri, assistant professor; and Kathryn Kein, lecturer; and Courtney Cook, visiting lecturer. 

Learn more about UMBC’s Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.

On April 12, more than 150 students, staff, and faculty attended the first College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) GradFest in the University Center Ballroom. The event was the result of listening sessions held with CNMS graduate students last summer, and it addressed their desire for more opportunities to forge interdepartmental connections and present their research.

“Every day, I hear about the great work being done by graduate students and postdocs in CNMS departments,” William R. LaCourse, CNMS dean, shared in his opening remarks. “Today is my chance to meet all of the graduate students the faculty are always bragging about.” 

The event began with six “lightning talks,” where Ph.D. students were challenged to present the big idea of their thesis projects in only five minutes. Naghmeh Akhavan, mathematics, led off, presenting her project on cell migration in fruit fly development. She is co-mentored by Brad Peercy in mathematics and Michelle Starz-Gaiano in biological sciences. Misti Cartwright, chemistry and biochemistry, discussed her work with Aaron Smith on a post-translation protein modification called arginylation. 

Sandra Cheng, physics, talked about her work with Todd Pittman in quantum computing, and Manju Ojha, chemistry and biochemistry, explained her work on RNA-based plant viruses with Deepak Koirala. Ji Li, statistics, described a protocol he developed under the mentorship of Yi Huang to improve data sets for randomized controlled trials. And Prableen Chowdhary, biological sciences, explained her work with Rachel Brewster on zebrafish development.

After the talks, two sessions featuring 46 posters allowed attendees to learn about the presenters’ research, ask questions, and make suggestions. A novel arrangement of posters in the ballroom facilitated interaction: Placing four posters each on round tables allowed guests to meander among the posters in many directions, unimpeded by long, linear poster displays.

Tasty mocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts rounded out a successful event that brought graduate students and postdocs—collectively, the research engine of UMBC—together to socialize, practice presenting, and learn about each other’s work. 

CAHSS students, are you ready to study abroad? Kimberly Moffitt, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and the Social Sciences (CAHSS), has established the CAHSS Dean’s Education Abroad Scholarship.  

The scholarship guarantees $100,000 per year for the next four years to help offset the financial costs of studying abroad. Undergraduate and graduate students with at least one major in CAHSS, and who need additional financial support to study abroad can apply for awards ranging from $1,500 – $5,000. The inaugural round of scholarships have been awarded to 24. 

Power of education abroad

Joseph Patarini ’25, environmental science and geography, is one of the CAHSS Dean’s Education Abroad Scholarship recipients. “Studying abroad is important to me because gaining a diverse global perspective is paramount to solving today’s top environmental issues. By getting outside of our comfort zone and exploring new academic opportunities we can deepen our understanding of global interconnectedness,” says Patarini, who will study in Morocco and Spain in summer 2024., “We can learn from new, diverse perspectives to enhance our problem-solving skills, contributing to a more holistic and adaptable approach.”

This grant makes it possible for me to study abroad and make the most of my undergrad experience,” says Ria Smith ’25, dance, CAHSS Dean’s Education Abroad Scholarship summer 2024 recipient to Italy. “I really appreciate how the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is showing real commitment to the value of international exposure.”

For additional eligibility details contact the Education Abroad Office at educationabroad@umbc.edu. Scholarship applications for the 2024 – 2025 academic year are due September 10, 2024.

On a chilly February night, some of the most dedicated local music fans pile in for a floor show at a small grunge venue, Baltimore’s Ottobar. Tonight it’s a stacked indie bill and not one person seems to trickle in late, as they don’t want to miss a minute of the long night of live music ahead.

When the first band, Lean Tee, takes the floor and begins playing, the mood of the room shifts from anticipation to excitement. Connor LeFevre ’23, music technology, sits behind the drum kit in the center. Lean Tee’s music is full of hard-hitting drum beats, but LeFevre easily supports the rhythms of the guitar and bass without overshadowing either. His sticks complement the unmodulated and fervent sounds of the vocals. 

This show and this energy represent a pretty typical night for LeFevre, as he has completely centered his life around music—a career move, he said, made possible by his major at UMBC, which gave him full-time access to recording spaces and instructors who remain active in their musical fields.

Finding the rhythm of Baltimore’s music scene

Originally from New Jersey, LeFevre had to do some groundwork to find his way into the Baltimore music scene. He is currently a drummer for multiple local Baltimore bands—he wields his sticks for Lean Tee (indie rock), Love For Strangers (prog rock), and Curver (shoegaze), to name a few. He also works at a Hampden, Baltimore, music studio, The Moose House, as a junior engineer.

“Drumming is really fun for me, especially with bands that I’m fully involved in. But bands can be a lot,” says LeFevre. Playing so many different gigs requires him to memorize sets on tight turnaround times. “But recording is a lot less stressful. The client’s paying a lot of money, so you want to deliver them the best product possible. but it’s calmer in the moment because it’s a lot of smaller, micro decisions,” he says.

LeFevre goes for an uncomplicated personal style—usually a baggy t-shirt, hat, and glasses, easily fitting in with musicians in the indie scene. And while he may come off as laid back, music is something he takes seriously. He has been playing drums for roughly 10 years and first became interested in recording when he was in high school. “That’s when I bought my first recording interface and the first set of mics. And that was just to record drums to make demos,” he says. Eventually, he knew music tech was something he wanted to study in college.

Making musical connections

A deciding factor for LeFevre in attending the music technology program at UMBC was the studio space provided for students. “You have 24-hour access to the studio and you can use it for anything you want once you reach a certain year,” LeFevre says, and this alone made it worth it to come out of state. “Once you’re a sophomore in the program, you can use the whole thing—whenever you want, for free!”

LeFevre credits UMBC for making multiple connections for him. For one, he met all of the original members of Love For Strangers at UMBC. He says, “When lockdown started loosening up, I wanted to start a band, and I saw Jeff Hirshman during a Zoom class—he was practicing during class—and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the person I want to be in a band with!’ Because they don’t care about anything but music, obviously.”

Hirshman, now the band’s main songwriter, recalls their encounter similarly, and after jamming together for the first time, they decided to start making music together. “I met Connor because we were in the same online music theory class during COVID,” says Hirshman ’24, music technology. “I would practice guitar in class, and he thought I seemed like a good rock guitarist. So he DM’ed me, and we met with a bassist and jammed, and we started writing music right away.” 

Hirshman humorously remarks, “He was the first drummer I ever met who cared enough about drums to clean them.”

The community makes the program

During his time at UMBC, LeFevre appreciated the styles and output of many of his music technology professors. “Eric Taft, Alan Wonneberger, and Greg Kalember—all three of them had works that I really respected. Eric made a lot of records that had a big impact on me as a kid growing up,” says LeFevre “And then, Greg did things like the Pokémon movie soundtrack. So, a lot of the things they’d done, I had heard in my life without even knowing.”

Along with his professional accomplishments, Kalember brings his enthusiasm for teaching into the classroom. While he acknowledges that there are many new challenges in the ever-changing music tech industry, Kalember notes that the music community at UMBC presents an antidote to some of these modern problems. 

“There is no substitute for being part of a music-making community every day for four years. You don’t get that on YouTube, or by working by yourself on your laptop,” says Kalember. 

“Students will learn more by osmosis—by being around other students and faculty over their years here. There are all sorts of lessons to be learned about networking, being part of a collaboration, putting together a project and seeing it through, trying to convince other people to get on board with your vision, and setting your personal opinions aside in order to realize someone else’s creative vision,” says Kalember. “These are all key skills that I believe students need when trying to go out into the music industry.”

The music technology program gave LeFevre the ability to combine his outside projects with what he was learning in the classroom. For his senior project, he recorded a live video for his band Love For Strangers. “We recorded that at school,” he says, “and then the album that we’ve been sitting on, I also recorded that at UMBC.”

Kalember emphasizes the hands-on opportunities UMBC provides, “To work in the facilities at UMBC is a great advantage for our students. They have access to multiple studio spaces—each with its own quirks and advantages—our concert hall, networked performance spaces throughout the building, and an amazing collection of instruments,” he explains.

Kalember is also delighted to see all that LeFevre has accomplished. “I can say that I’ve seen tremendous progress in his drumming since I’ve been here. He was good the first time I saw him play, but he’s really made some strides from there and is playing at a very high level now,” says Kalember. “He’s really bought into the idea that collaborating is a big piece of success in the music industry, and he’s been very generous with his time and talents throughout our program. Everything I’ve seen him do both at UMBC and outside of school, has been executed with professionalism and skill.”

The music doesn’t stop after graduation 

LeFevre has always kept himself busy with his projects. “I’ve played, like, pretty much every rock venue in this city,” he says. And things have been no different after graduating. He soon expects to put out an album with his UMBC band Love for Strangers, and he has many shows booked throughout the next few months.

Since graduating, LeFevre has been able to utilize his degree and the connections he’s made at UMBC in many ways. Tom Lagana, LeFevre’s guitar professor, helped him to get into a wedding group called Bachelor Boys Band, which is one of the many ways he is able to make a consistent income playing shows. But aside from playing shows in a multitude of bands and working at The Moose House, he also enjoys teaching recording and drums, as well as doing electronic repairs. 

Back at the Ottobar, for the entirety of Lean Tee’s set, it’s evident how much precision and control LeFevre commands over the kit, a skill that becomes even more apparent as the final notes linger in the air. After a second’s pause after the last beat, the audience applauds.

*****

LeFevre will be on tour with Lean Tee during April and will also be playing multiple shows with Curver and Love for Strangers throughout both April and May. LeFevre suggests keeping up with these bands and other local live music through @baltshowplace on Instagram and Tumblr.

The eighth iteration of the African International Conference on Statistics (AIC), scheduled for June 2024 in Tunis, Tunisia, will mark a new era for the conference. Originally championed by Bimal Sinha, UMBC professor of statistics, the first AIC took place in 2014 in Senegal. Each conference since has been held in a different African country in collaboration with local institutions. 

In 2018, relationships that grew out of the conference led UMBC to sign a collaborative agreement with the University of Limpopo in South Africa to foster academic exchange. At that time, Yehenew Kifle, assistant professor of statistics, was a visiting professor at UMBC and a faculty member at the University of Limpopo. Today he has taken the helm of the AIC from the soon-to-retire Sinha, who remains a core member of the planning committee. 

This April, Kifle signed an agreement with the American Statistical Association (ASA) on behalf of UMBC that pledges financial support from the ASA for the conference for at least the next two years, with the possibility for an extended partnership. 

“Through the African International Conference on Statistics, we achieved a significant milestone in 2018 by signing the first UMBC memorandum of understanding with an African university, which supports training for African students on a short- and long-term basis,” Kifle says. “Now we stand as partners with the world’s largest statistical association, the American Statistical Association. This partnership with ASA lays the foundation for great optimism about a promising future for the AIC.”

The theme of the 2024 AIC is “Empowering Innovation: Advanced Statistics and Data Science for Sustainable Development in Africa.” The theme speaks to the power of statistics to support progress in areas like agriculture, economic development, and environmental conservation that are relevant to people all over the world.

“ASA is delighted to partner with UMBC on the African International Conference on Statistics,” shares Ronald Wasserstein, executive director of ASA. “The AIC has established itself as an important contributor to advancing statistical science in Africa. We hope ASA’s support will provide the opportunity for the creative and enthusiastic minds at UMBC to take the conference to still higher levels.”

The College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) hosted its first CNMS Science Discovery Series event on March 27. In this public series, CNMS faculty members present talks on a variety of scientific topics. The goal of the series is to give back to the community by offering an opportunity for non-experts to learn about the research happening in their backyards. 

“I grew up with the Apollo moon landings and Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. They inspired me and countless others to dream of being a scientist, to ask questions, to explore the unknown and discover new knowledge,” shares CNMS Dean William R. LaCourse. “As a public university, I believe it is part of our mission to share our knowledge and passion for science with our community to inspire others to dream of a better and brighter future.”

More than 80 attendees came out to the Fine Arts Recital Hall on a rainy night to learn about “Life, But Not As We Know It” from the inaugural speaker, Stephen Freeland, professor of biological sciences. Freeland drew in the audience as he discussed how the 20 amino acids we call our “amino acid alphabet” here on Earth evolved. He also explained how his current research could help discover alternative amino acid alphabets that might exist elsewhere in the universe.

Audience members included families who had heard about the event through Catonsville Middle School, Mt. St. Joseph High School, and other local school and community organizations, as well as members of the UMBC community, including faculty, staff, and members of the UMBC Astronomy Club. 

In the event evaluation form, one middle school teacher commented, “I loved the content and learned new things I hope to bring to my classroom.” Another attendee shared that the event “grew my curiosity. I plan to read more about amino acids and DNA.” Yet another said, “Great job taking such complex concepts and making them accessible.” Attendees also reported appreciating having access to CNMS faculty ambassadors during the reception, who were happy to answer their questions on a range of topics. 

The college is already starting to plan the next CNMS Science Discovery Series event for fall 2024, incorporating feedback from the first attendees. The topic will be completely different, but the goal will be the same: connecting with the community by offering a free gift of knowledge to anyone interested in learning something new. 

UMBC is excited to announce Candice Hill as the new head coach for UMBC women’s basketball team. Hill is the 11th coach in the history of the program. 

Hill returns to her home city of Baltimore after spending the last three seasons as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at perennial Big East contender St. John’s University in New York. 

“We are delighted to bring Candice to UMBC to lead our women’s basketball program,” said UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby. “Her approach to leadership, her coaching philosophy, and her values will help ensure the success of and support for our student-athletes, both on and off the court.”

Hill joined St. John’s as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in April of 2021. She was elevated to associate head coach following the 2021-22 campaign and previously served in various roles at her alma mater, Loyola University Maryland, the University of Massachusetts (UMass), and Wilmington University in Delaware. 

“I want to thank President Sheares Ashby and the entire athletics administration for believing in me and granting me the opportunity to be the leader of the UMBC women’s basketball program,” says Hill. “As a Baltimore native, UMBC has been a part of my journey and has always held a special place in my heart. The moment I stepped foot on campus I knew this is where I needed and wanted to be.”

Following the 2019-2020 season at UMass, Hill earned the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s prestigious Thirty Under 30 Award, an honor that recognizes up-and-coming coaches at all levels of women’s basketball.

“Candice is a fantastic addition to the Retriever family,” said Whitney Ames, associate athletics director and senior woman administrator. “Throughout the hiring process, Candice clearly communicated her passion for creating a student-athlete experience that encompasses athletic and academic success at the highest level. We’re excited to welcome her to campus and participate in her continued development of our women’s basketball program.”

Story by UMBC Athletics.

Written by Manil Suri, professor of mathematics, UMBC

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why don’t numbers end? – Reyhane, age 7, Tehran, Iran

Here’s a game: Ask a friend to give you any number and you’ll return one that’s bigger. Just add “1” to whatever number they come up with and you’re sure to win.

The reason is that numbers go on forever. There is no highest number. But why? As a professor of mathematics, I can help you find an answer.

First, you need to understand what numbers are and where they come from. You learned about numbers because they enabled you to count. Early humans had similar needs – whether to count animals killed in a hunt or keep track of how many days had passed. That’s why they invented numbers.

But back then, numbers were quite limited and had a very simple form. Often, the “numbers” were just notches on a bone, going up to a couple hundred at most.

When numbers got bigger

As time went on, people’s needs grew. Herds of livestock had to be counted, goods and services traded, and measurements made for buildings and navigation. This led to the invention of larger numbers and better ways of representing them.

About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians began using symbols for various numbers, with a final symbol for one million. Since they didn’t usually encounter bigger quantities, they also used this same final symbol to depict “many.”

The Greeks, starting with Pythagoras, were the first to study numbers for their own sake, rather than viewing them as just counting tools. As someone who’s written a book on the importance of numbers, I can’t emphasize enough how crucial this step was for humanity.

By 500 BCE, Pythagoras and his disciples had not only realized that the counting numbers – 1, 2, 3 and so on – were endless, but also that they could be used to explain cool stuff like the sounds made when you pluck a taut string.

Zero is a critical number

But there was a problem. Although the Greeks could mentally think of very large numbers, they had difficulty writing them down. This was because they did not know about the number 0.

Think of how important zero is in expressing big numbers. You can start with 1, then add more and more zeroes at the end to quickly get numbers like a million – 1,000,000, or 1 followed by six zeros – or a billion, with nine zeros, or a trillion, 12 zeros.

It was only around 1200 CE that zero, invented centuries earlier in India, came to Europe. This led to the way we write numbers today.

This brief history makes clear that numbers were developed over thousands of years. And though the Egyptians didn’t have much use for a million, we certainly do. Economists will tell you that government expenditures are commonly measured in millions of dollars.

Also, science has taken us to a point where we need even larger numbers. For instance, there are about 100 billion stars in our galaxy – or 100,000,000,000 – and the number of atoms in our universe may be as high as 1 followed by 82 zeros.

Don’t worry if you find it hard to picture such big numbers. It’s fine to just think of them as “many,” much like the Egyptians treated numbers over a million. These examples point to one reason why numbers must continue endlessly. If we had a maximum, some new use or discovery would surely make us exceed it.

Exceptions to the rule

But under certain circumstances, sometimes numbers do have a maximum because people design them that way for a practical purpose.

A good example is a clock – or clock arithmetic, where we use only the numbers 1 through 12. There is no 13 o’clock, because after 12 o’clock we just go back to 1 o’clock again. If you played the “bigger number” game with a friend in clock arithmetic, you’d lose if they chose the number 12.

Since numbers are a human invention, how do we construct them so they continue without end? Mathematicians started looking at this question starting in the early 1900s. What they came up with was based on two assumptions: that 0 is the starting number, and when you add 1 to any number you always get a new number.

These assumptions immediately give us the list of counting numbers: 0 + 1 = 1, 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 1 = 3, and so on, a progression that continues without end.

You might wonder why these two rules are assumptions. The reason for the first one is that we don’t really know how to define the number 0. For example: Is “0” the same as “nothing,” and if so, what exactly is meant by “nothing”?

The second might seem even more strange. After all, we can easily show that adding 1 to 2 gives us the new number 3, just like adding 1 to 2002 gives us the new number 2003.

But notice that we’re saying this has to hold for any number. We can’t very well verify this for every single case, since there are going to be an endless number of cases. As humans who can perform only a limited number of steps, we have to be careful anytime we make claims about an endless process. And mathematicians, in particular, refuse to take anything for granted.

Here, then, is the answer to why numbers don’t end: It’s because of the way in which we define them.

Now, the negative numbers

How do the negative numbers -1, -2, -3 and more fit into all this? Historically, people were very suspicious about such numbers, since it’s hard to picture a “minus one” apple or orange. As late as 1796, math textbooks warned against using negatives.

The negatives were created to address a calculation issue. The positive numbers are fine when you’re adding them together. But when you get to subtraction, they can’t handle differences like 1 minus 2, or 2 minus 4. If you want to be able to subtract numbers at will, you need negative numbers too.

A simple way to create negatives is to imagine all the numbers – 0, 1, 2, 3 and the rest – drawn equally spaced on a straight line. Now imagine a mirror placed at 0. Then define -1 to be the reflection of +1 on the line, -2 to be the reflection of +2, and so on. You’ll end up with all the negative numbers this way.

As a bonus, you’ll also know that since there are just as many negatives as there are positives, the negative numbers must also go on without end!

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article and see more than 250 UMBC articles available in The Conversation.

The onset of COVID-19 brought a tremendous amount of uncertainty about the way students would learn going forward. But within that challenge, UMBC saw a unique opportunity to open its virtual doors to former students. 

Finish Line began as an outreach program in the fall of 2020, targeting former Retrievers who had 60 or more credits but hadn’t completed their degree before leaving the university. And while these students  might not have had the opportunity to return physically to campus, the sudden availability of a virtual classroom offered them a new pathway to their degree goals. 

The intentional outreach and personalized advising offered through the program has allowed nearly 300 former students to return to UMBC to finish their degrees. 

“The Finish Line program has allowed me and others from my office to exercise some of our most creative academic advising skills to enable former UMBC students to finish degrees they had intended to complete when they first began here,” says Ken Baron, assistant vice provost for academic advising and student success. “We are passionate about degree completion, and each semester, our Finish Line graduates help us recognize and celebrate what makes UMBC special—a place where hard work brings out the best in everyone.”

With the demands that come with everyday life—jobs, families, home responsibilities, operating a restaurant dynasty, etc.—this model allows UMBC to meet students where they are. It acknowledges that most don’t have the luxury of being a full-time student and works to best suit their needs and timeline. 

“We’re proud to have redefined inclusive excellence in a way that honors UMBC’s core values and ethos,” says Baron.