Member Spotlight: Bill Johnston III ’92

For Bill Johnston III ’92, being a Terp has always been a family affair.

“When my son was two, he sat on Testudo’s head in front of McKeldin while I completed assignments,” Johnston recalls. At his graduation ceremony, Johnston let his son hop a ride on Testudo’s head once more, now a fond family memory.

As an alumnus, Johnston has stayed connected, returning to campus for football games and to take family for ice cream at The Dairy. Once his son decided to attend UMD, Johnston says he and his wife, “got the great opportunity to go crazy with it.”

Now, Johnston is a Lifetime Member of the Alumni Association, a season ticket holder, a member of the Robert H. Smith School of Business Alumni Chapter Board and a member of the Parents Council.

Johnston hopes more people will become active alumni so they can be part of something special.

“When we come here for home games, the Alumni Association will hand my wife and I tags that say ‘Members’,” he says. “There is a lot to be said for that sense of inclusion.”

But, Johnston’s love of campus goes beyond sporting events.

“We walk around campus now and just about everyone has a Maryland logo on their shirt or pants,” he says. “There’s a lot of fun things to do, like [attend performances at] the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. I think alumni who don’t know it’s here would just be astonished.”

Now that Johnston’s son has graduated, the family still returns to campus for football games.

“It’s a lot of fun because we do it together,” he says. “We do it as a family.”

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