The National Instituties of Health has awarded $20 million to the University of Maryland School of Medicine to create a Genomic Sequencing Center for Infectious Diseases. The grant is the largest awarded to the school's Institute for Genome Sciences since it was formed two years ago. The institute is headed by Claire M. Fraser-Liggett who, in partnership with her husband, Stephen B. Liggett, broke the genomic code for the common cold last year.

USM Foundation Board Member Alison L. Asti has been re-elected by the Maryland State Bar Association Board of Governors to the American Bar Association House of Delegates for the 2010-2012 term. She is a member of Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC, where she chairs Gordon, Feinblatt's Sports & Economic Development Practice/Asti Strategic Advisors and is also a member of the firm's Real Estate Practice Group.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission has signed off on the integration of Baltimore Hebrew University into Towson University, and the merger was given final approval by the USM Board of Regents on June 19. The center of Jewish learning will move from Park Heights to Towson in time for the start of the fall semester.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Towson University a five-year, $900,000 grant to establish the Towson University Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. The Noyce scholarship will focus specifically on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teacher preparation at the secondary school level and offers scholarships to meritorious undergraduate juniors and seniors. The program also aims to encourage STEM professionals to become STEM teachers.

As of May 31, the University of Maryland has raised $625 million toward its $1 billion campaign goal.

Frostburg State University's Evan Offstein, assistant professor of management in the School of Business, has been recognized by the international journal, Group & Organizational Management, for his research that found a positive relationship between higher-paid CEOs and a company's competitiveness.

Salisbury University will participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program, an optional component of the new Post-9/11 G.I. Bill for veterans that will begin in August. Salisbury University will pay up to half the difference in tuition beyond the amount covered by the federal government.

The Our Black Authors Foundation is hosting its sixth annual summer youth writing camp at Bowie State University starting Monday through June 26 for students in the fifth through ninth grades. The organization promotes black authors whose books have positive messages, such as Brandon Collier, author of "The Wright Way," which is about successful black doctors and surgeons.

A team from Behnisch Architekten of Stuttgart, Germany, and Ayers/Saint/Gross of Baltimore has officially begun designing the University of Baltimore's new John and Frances Angelos Law Center, to be constructed on UB's parcel at the corner of North Charles Street and Mount Royal Avenue starting in July 2010.

The Coppin Academy High School, a Baltimore City Public School System Charter School located on the campus of Coppin State University, awarded diplomas to 73 seniors at its May 29 commencement ceremony. The class - which will be known as the Legacy Class - is the first to graduate since Coppin Academy was established in 2005.

Pam Stokes Eggleston, UMUC Alumni Association president and a Blue Star Families member, spoke on Capitol Hill at a roundtable session with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and several other congressional representatives. The session focused on how to help military families feel more connected to the larger community, a pertinent issue now that First Lady Michelle Obama has made military families a priority, establishing the Council on Women and Girls. UMUC has a rich 60-year military history and has numerous programs geared toward military spouses.

Tags: June 2009

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 11:50 am