College/School Award Recipients
Agriculture and Natural Resources
William Godwin '63
William Godwin has spent his life growing a legacy in the agriculture industry and at his alma mater. After graduation, Godwin began selling feed and animal health aids. In the decades that followed, he expanded his résumé to include equipment sales and training. Godwin didn't just bring his job home with him; he built it a barn and a feedlot. His workday pursuits were his pastime passions: raising pigs, chickens and steers and growing a vegetable garden. And Godwin still found time for volunteering with the Future Farmers of America and the Rotary Club, among other organizations. He helped launch the Maryland Dairy Industry Association and served as its first vice president. Joining the alumni association in 1978, he helped to develop the Ag Ambassadors program. Godwin was elected president of the Ag chapter in 1986 and served five years on the association's executive council.
Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Dennis Jankiewicz '73
In 1973, Maryland put its mark on Dennis Jankiewicz, awarding him an architecture degree. Three decades later, the founding partner of Design Collective, Inc. put his mark on the university, designing the South Campus Commons—six dorms that provide living space for almost 2,000 Terps—and redesigning Washington Quad. His firm has employed more than 70 Maryland graduates on its way to becoming one of the most successful design companies in the area. Jankiewicz is an expert in green design for a variety of settings, including universities and urban facilities. His firm has extended its reach around and beyond the Baltimore area as it has created new facilities for the Maryland Zoo and Science Center, Henderson's Wharf, Camden Yards, Philly Live! in Philadelphia, the Art Academy of Cincinnati and others. While working on behalf of clients, he still provides probono services, endowment and scholarship support for the School of Architecture, Planning, & Preservation.
Arts and Humanities
David Baggett '92
If you have used Orbitz to book a flight while your child plays "Crash Bandicoot" on the PlayStation, your family has shared a Maryland family moment. Both software programs come from the imagination of David Baggett. At Maryland, he studied computer science and linguistics to find out how humans learn to communicate. While pursuing a doctorate at MIT in the mid-90s, Baggett helped create "Bandicoot"—an adventure game that took computer-based graphics to a new level. Switching gears, he co-founded ITA software, revolutionizing the travel industry by allowing industry partners and everyday consumers to search for travel packages and filter them by price and convenience. Baggett, a trustee of the University of Maryland, College Park Foundation and a member of the University of Maryland Computer Science Department Alumni Hall of Fame, has endowed linguistics fellowships and scholarships, which encourage Terps to engage in the same kind of interdisciplinary research that made his own undergraduate experience so rewarding.
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Craig Goodman '71
An avid classical numismatist, Craig Goodman trades in ancient coins. But don't let that fool you. He knows the value of a modern dollar, particularly how it can regulate the buying and selling of electricity and fossil and non-fossil fuels. After finishing his degree at Maryland and earning his law degree, Goodman began to develop an extensive understanding of the energy trade. He took a front-row seat for the deregulation of five major industries, including oil and natural gas, then offered an expert's testimony to state and federal legislatures. He has advised presidents and governors and foreign policymakers on the complex nature of energy markets. All the while, he has maintained focus on maximizing value for consumers who power this massive global economic engine—one copper at a time. Goodman has published widely and has appeared as an expert on energy and technology related issues in broadcast radio and print media.
Robert H. Smith School of Business
William Gossman M.B.A. '91
Bill Gossman makes things happen. Chances are, his company Audience Science (formerly Revenue Science) has shaped users' Internet experiences for years, gathering anonymous data on surfing behaviors to ensure that the ads seen on sites like WallStreetJournal.com and Edmunds.com target individual preferences. His successes as president, CEO and then board member at Audience Science, have been the result of his tireless determination to fill a persistent need—to silently serve as a matchmaker between content producers and consumers. It's a reprise of the role he has played countless times before as an engineer, venture capitalist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, seeking out projects that harness technology's potential for the benefit of his community. For the youngest members of his community, Gossman and his wife helped create the Gossman Center for Advanced Pediatric and Perinatal Simulation at Swedish Hospital in Seattle: a unique facility where medical professionals hone their skills in a simulator before encountering patients in the operating room.
Chemical and Life Sciences
C. Thomas McMillen '74
Student, athlete, politician, businessman. Maryland Athletics Hall of Famer Tom McMillen has done it all with a consistent record of success. While a high school basketball player, McMillen was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated; at the university, he was All-American and Academic All-American. A member of the 1972 Olympic team, McMillen was the youngest member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, a group he later co-chaired at the invitation of President Clinton. After graduation, he tipped off an 11-year NBA career, pausing in 1978 to earn a master's degree at Oxford as Maryland's only Rhodes scholar. Beginning in 1986, McMillen served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, he is a business executive, specializing in homeland security, finance and energy sectors. He serves on the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents, the University of Maryland, College Park Foundation's Board of Trustees and the School of Public Policy's Board of Visitors.
Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
James Kaplan Ph.D. '70
There's profit in chaos. Just ask James Kaplan, a mathematician by training who used his head for numbers to found a series of successful finance companies catering to institutional and private investors. Kaplan began as a student of mathematical chaos pioneer and Maryland professor James Yorke. His doctorate in applied math focused on the ways in which active systems could be stabilized or destabilized through a series of well-timed interventions. These purely academic inquiries can have practical implications in the financial management industry, where Kaplan found himself after 15 years as a university professor. Today, Kaplan is president of Cubic Asset Management. His alma mater stands in line to applaud his extensive contributions to the study of mathematical chaos and his reputation as an authority in the financial services sector.
Education
Hope Kramer '83
"BETA" is the second letter of the Greek alphabet, but it's the first place where many teenage parents turn for support in central Florida. From BETA's home base in Orlando, extending out into local neighborhoods, CEO and President Hope Kramer and her award-winning staff provide emotional encouragement, educational programs and other resources teen mothers require to earn a high school diploma. BETA also introduces young people to skills they will need for success beyond the classroom, in the workplace and in their households. Kramer has added her years as director of the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, division director for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and member of numerous Orlando-area volunteer organizations to BETA's 32-year track record of empowering at-risk families. The result: an organization that is second to none in changing lives.
A. James Clark School of Engineering
Anh Duong '82
As American helicopters left Vietnam in 1975, so did Anh Duong. A few short years later, she earned two undergraduate degrees at Maryland—a B.S. in chemical engineering and a B.S. in computer science—before receiving an M.S. in public administration. With her understanding of science and policy, Duong has become a leader among U.S. munitions experts, creating new weapons that help troops accomplish complicated missions abroad and protecting stateside populations from terrorist attacks. She was awarded the Civilian Meritorious Medal by the Secretary of the Navy for her thermobaric bunker-busting bomb, which was developed and deployed to Afghanistan in only 67 days. Between 2005 and 2008, Duong advised the deputy chief of naval operations and director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on port and force protection. In August 2008, she became director of the Borders and Maritime Security Division in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security.
Information Studies
Nancy Roderer M.L.S. '73
"The field of knowledge is the common property of all mankind." While few might look up to see Thomas Jefferson's quote on the facade of McKeldin Library, Nancy Roderer is a Terp who lives up to the sentiment. During her 36-year career, she has made herself an expert in information storage and retrieval for medical professionals. When she began the effort as a library and information specialist at WESTAT Inc., "information retrieval" meant walking to the card catalogue or running a query with punch cards and a mainframe. Today, Roderer balances the duties of faculty member in Maryland's College of Information Studies, director of the Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins, author and mentor. She simultaneously keeps pace with rapid advances in informatics technology, serves as a leader among her professional peers and continues to fulfill the needs of patrons who spend their time outside the library improving the human condition.
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Mei Xu M.A. '92
Mei Xu began her career in the World Bank's Water & Environment Sector. Today, she specializes in improving home environments through her company, Chesapeake Bay Candle. Since 1994, Inc. magazine has recognized Chesapeake Bay Candle twice for its rapid growth. In 2005, the year she became a member of the U.S.-China Business Council, Xu opened her second business, Blissliving Home—a home décor provider with products that reflect its founder's passion for global travel and modern art. In addition to her commercial pursuits, Xu supports anti-poverty initiatives and education and cultural exchanges between the United States and China through the Mei Xu Cultural Exchange Foundation, established in 2004. Xu participates in the State Department APEC CEO Roundtable and the Initiative for Global Development; she is a contributor to the Chinese home lifestyle magazine 31 HomeTextile and was a recipient of the 2007 Entrepreneurial Leadership Award from Asian Women in Business.
Public Health
Madieu Williams '03
Madieu Williams has to be one of the hardest-working players in the NFL. The numbers prove it: The safety who patrolled the Terps' secondary from 2002 to 2003 played every game during his first year with the Cincinnati Bengals, tied the team's record for fumble recoveries and set a new team record for single-season snap participation at 1,265. While he has repeatedly shown that it is unwise for any wide receiver to wander through his zone on game day, the former family studies major has spent his days off the gridiron promoting healthy lifestyles among children and teenagers. The Madieu Williams Foundation has become a fixture in Cincinnati and Minneapolis, where Williams signed with the Vikings in 2008. It has partnered with other community organizations to build playgrounds, renovate athletic facilities and conduct diabetes screening programs. This spring, Williams will take his work ethic across the ocean to Sierra Leone, where he will dedicate an elementary school built in honor of his late mother, Abigail Butscher.
Public Policy
Debra Cammer Hines '87, M.P.M. '92
When it comes to advising federal CFOs on the management of America's coffers, Debra Cammer Hines wrote the book—literally. It's called Managing Public Dollars: New Rules, New Roles, New Opportunities for Federal Financial Managers, and it is published by IBM Global Business Services, where Hines oversees a 500-person consulting team. Becoming an expert in public-sector finance takes time and an attention to details that are often embedded in regulation, legislation and code. Hines launched her career with two Maryland degrees, followed by 15 years on the job as a policy analyst and counselor to educational institutions, health-care companies and all levels of government. While her life's work may seem arcane, the result is patently obvious. Every day, in print and in person, she teaches public servants that the power of the purse is an illusion if no one knows how to properly loosen the strings.
Undergraduate Studies
Robert Moyer '00
When Robert Moyer arrived at Maryland in 1996, he couldn't find a course of study that suited him. He wanted something that combined the science of computers, the dramatics of improvisational theater and the artistic expression of animation. The university could offer top-tier academic departments to answer the first and final requirements, and it could provide student groups like Erasable Inc. to meet the second. But it took Moyer's own creativity to link them in a computer graphics major. That signature ingenuity didn't stop with graduation—it propelled Moyer to a lead position at Pixar Studios. There, as a shading artist and technical director, he has provided textures for some of America's most recognizable animated movie stars of late: Mater the tow truck and Sally the Porsche in "Cars" and Django and Emile in "Ratatouille." In his spare time, he returns to Maryland to meet and encourage new generations of undergraduate studies students.
