News & Stories

Longtime supporters of the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies (TDPS) 

Former radio and television students, Ford and Poster are ambassadors for TDPS and have funded two dance scholarships to help students pursue their education at UMD.

Jonathan Claiborne ’77

Former UMD football safety, retired partner of Whiteford Taylor Preston

Since graduating, Claiborne has served as president of UMD’s former Young Alumni Organization and the M Club and funded the university’s Incentive Awards Program.

Rita B. Leahy Ph.D. ’89

Asphalt technology authority, Graduate School Doctoral Careers Advisory Board member, founder of the annual Rita B. Leahy Doctoral Career Series

Through her service as a board member and a speaker series established in her name, Leahy has dedicated the past five years to helping doctoral students understand different career options.

David C. Quattrone MBA ’05

Co-founder and chief technology officer, Cvent

Under Quattrone’s direction, Cvent has become a leading meetings, events and hospitality technology provider with nearly 4,000 employees and more than 23,000 customers worldwide.

Lauren Foundos ’06

Founder and CEO of Fortë

Foundos left a successful career as a bond trader to launch Fortë, which has revolutionized the fitness industry by helping gyms of all sizes create their own virtual fitness services.

Welcome to the Friday Five, a roundup of the best your Alumni Association and other UMD communities have to offer. From the latest events to fun facts, here are essentials in five categories for you to check out this weekend.

Bridget T. Kelly, M.A. ’96, Ph.D. ’01

Associate professor, diversity officer and chair of Council on Racial Equity and Justice at the UMD College of Education

An advocate for equity, Kelly and her research have helped educators across the country understand the experiences of women and people of color in higher education.

Faez Ahmed Ph.D. ’19

Assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, head of the institute’s Design Computation & Digital Engineering (DeCoDE) Lab

Through his research on machine learning and engineering design, Ahmed hopes to automate and accelerate product design leading to the betterment of society.

Dr. Kathleen Neuzil ’83

The Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor in Vaccinology, director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health and chief of the division of geographic medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Neuzil, who is among the world’s leading research scientists in vaccine development and policy, was instrumental in developing and testing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Evandro Valente ’03, M.S. ’06, and Pramod Raheja ’91

Co-founders of Airgility

Former aerospace engineering students, Valente and Raheja founded Airgility to design and manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can improve and save lives.