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University of Maryland, College Park



 
 
The University of Maryland, College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland, UMD, UMCP, College Park, or simply Maryland) is a public research university located in the city of College Park
College Park, Maryland

College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 24,657 at the United States Census 2000. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S....
 in Prince George's County, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 outside Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
 Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland
University System of Maryland

The University System of Maryland is a public corporation and charter school system comprising 13 Maryland institutions of higher education. It is the 12th-largest university system in the United States, with over 100,000 undergraduate, 30,000 graduate and 8,700 faculty....
. The university is considered to be a Public Ivy
Public Ivy

Public Ivy is a term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book Public Ivys: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities to refer to universities which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Public Ivies are considered, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, t...
.






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The University of Maryland, College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland, UMD, UMCP, College Park, or simply Maryland) is a public research university located in the city of College Park
College Park, Maryland

College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 24,657 at the United States Census 2000. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S....
 in Prince George's County, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 outside Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
 Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland
University System of Maryland

The University System of Maryland is a public corporation and charter school system comprising 13 Maryland institutions of higher education. It is the 12th-largest university system in the United States, with over 100,000 undergraduate, 30,000 graduate and 8,700 faculty....
. The university is considered to be a Public Ivy
Public Ivy

Public Ivy is a term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book Public Ivys: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities to refer to universities which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Public Ivies are considered, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, t...
. At a total enrollment of 36,014 students, Maryland is the largest university in the state as well as the Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Metropolitan Area

The Washington Metropolitan Area, formally known as the Washington?Arlington?Alexandria, DC?VA?MD?WV MSA, is a U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget ....
. It is a member of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities

The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research university devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education....
 and a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference

The Atlantic Coast Conference is a List of college athletic conferences in the United States. Founded in 1953, the ACC's twelve member university compete in twenty sports in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I....
 athletic league.

The University of Maryland's location has resulted in strong research partnerships, especially with the Federal government
Federal government of the United States

The Federal Government of the United States is the central current reigning United States governmental body, established by the United States Constitution....
. Many members of the faculty receive research funding and institutional support from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research....
, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security

The United States Department of Homeland Security is a United States Cabinet United States federal executive departments of the United States federal government of the United States with the responsibility of protecting the territory of the U.S....
.

As of fiscal year 2007, the University of Maryland, College Park's operating budget was projected to be approximately $
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
1.352 billion. The University has also raised more than $600 million in private donations in its recent "Great Expectations" campaign.

History


Early history

On March 6, 1856, the forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC). Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert
Charles Benedict Calvert

Charles Benedict Calvert was a United States House of Representatives from the United States House of Representatives, Maryland District 6 of Maryland, serving one term from 1861—1863....
, a descendant of the Barons Baltimore
Baron Baltimore

Baron Baltimore, of Baltimore, County Cork in County Cork, is an extinct title in the Peerage of Ireland. The Barony was created in 1625 and became extinct on the death of the 6th Baron in 1771....
 and a future U.S. Congressman, purchased 420 acres (1.7 km²) of the Riverdale Plantation
Riversdale (Maryland)

Riversdale is a five-part, large-scale late Georgian architecture mansion with superior Federal style interior, built between 1801 and 1807. Also known as Baltimore House, Calvert Mansion or Riversdale Mansion, it is located at 4811 Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park, Maryland, Maryland....
 in College Park for $21,000. Calvert founded the school later that year with money earned by the sale of stock certificates. On October 6, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College, including four of Charles Calvert's sons, George, Charles, William and Eugene. The keynote speaker on opening day was Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Charles Benedict Calvert   Photo Portrait Seated
In July 1862, the same month that the MAC awarded its first degrees, President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 signed the Morrill Land Grant Act. The legislation provided federal funds to schools that taught agriculture or engineering, or provided military training. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the school became a land grant college in February 1864 after the Maryland legislature voted to approve the Morrill Act.

Civil War

A few months after accepting the grant, the Maryland Agricultural College proved to be an important site in the Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
. In April 1864, General Ambrose E. Burnside
Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Everett Burnside was an United States soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S....
 and 6,000 soldiers of the Union's Ninth Army Corps camped on the MAC campus. The troops were en route to reinforce General Ulysses S. Grant's forces in Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
.

Later that summer, around 400 Confederate soldiers led by General Bradley T. Johnson stayed on the grounds while preparing to take part in a raid against Washington. In local legend, it is told that the soldiers were warmly welcomed by university President Henry Onderdonk, a Confederate sympathizer, and that the cavalrymen were thrown a party on the campus nicknamed "The Old South Ball." The next morning the soldiers rode off to cut the lines of communication between Washington and Baltimore.

Financial problems forced the increasingly desperate administrators to sell off of land, and the continuing decline in student enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. For the next two years the campus was used as a boys preparatory school.

Following the Civil War, the Maryland legislature pulled the college out of bankruptcy, and in February 1866 assumed half ownership of the school. The college thus became in part a state institution. George Washington Custis Lee
George Washington Custis Lee

Major general George Washington Custis Lee , aka Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee.From 1850 to 1854 he attended United States Military Academy, graduating first in his class....
, son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was appointed president of the college by the Board of Trustees, but due to public outcry declined the position. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In the next six years, enrollment continued to grow, and the school's debt was finally paid off. Twenty years later, the school's reputation as a research institution began, as the federally funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. During the same period, a number of state laws granted the college regulatory powers in several areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the board of forestry.

In 1888, the college began its first official intercollegiate baseball
Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport of nine players each. The goal of baseball is to score run by hitting a thrown Baseball with a baseball bat and touching a series of four markers called base arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond. Players on one team take turns hitting against...
 games against rivals St. John's College
St. John's College, U.S.

St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the institution received a collegiate charter in 1784....
 and the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps....
. Baseball, however, had been played at the college for decades before the first "official" games were recorded. The first fraternity at Maryland, Phi Sigma Kappa, was established in 1897, and Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.

The Great Fire of 1912

1912fire
On November 29, 1912, around 10:30 p.m., a fire, probably due to faulty electric wiring, broke out in the attic of the newest administration building, where a Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October....
 dance was being held. The approximately eighty students on the premises evacuated themselves safely, and then formed a makeshift bucket brigade. The fire departments summoned from nearby Hyattsville
Hyattsville, Maryland

Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States....
 and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
 arrived too late. Fanned by a strong southwest wind, the fire destroyed the barracks where the students were housed, all the school's records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. The loss was estimated at $250,000 (about $5.5 million in 2007 U.S. dollars) despite no injuries or fatalities. The devastation was so great that many never expected the university to reopen. University President Richard Silvester resigned, brokenhearted.

However, the students refused to give up. All but two returned to the university after the break and insisted on classes continuing as usual. Students were housed by families in neighboring towns who were compensated by the university until housing could be rebuilt, although a new administration building was not built until the 1940s.

A large brick and concrete compass inlaid in the ground designates the former center of campus as it existed in 1912. Lines engraved in the compass point to each building that was destroyed in the Thanksgiving Day fire. The only building not marked on the compass is Morrill Hall, which was spared by the blaze.

Recent history

Mckeldin Library, Front View, Mid Afternoon Light, August 21, 2006
The state took complete control of the school in 1916, and consequently the institution was renamed Maryland State College. Also that year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9, 1920, the college merged with the established professional schools in Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore

University of Maryland, Baltimore, was founded in 1807. It comprises some of the oldest professional schools in the nation and world. It is the original campus of the University System of Maryland....
 to form the University of Maryland. The graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees, and the University's enrollment reached 500 students in the same year. In 1925 the University was elected to the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities

The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research university devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education....
.

Memorial Chapel At Umcp, Front View Off Center, August 21, 2006
By the time the first black students enrolled at the University in 1951, enrollment had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women. In 1957 President Wilson H. Elkins made a push to increase academic standards at the University. His efforts resulted in the creation of one of the first Academic Probation Plans. The first year the plan went into effect, 1,550 students (18% of the total student body) faced expulsion. Since then, academic standards at the school have steadily risen. Recognizing the improvement in academics, Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at the university in 1964. In 1969, the university was elected to the Association of American Universities. The school continued to grow, and by the fall of 1985 reached an enrollment of 38,679.

On September 24, 2001, a tornado
Tornado

A tornado is a violent, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud....
 struck the College Park campus, killing two female students and causing $15 million in damage to 12 buildings.

In a massive 1988 restructuring of the state higher education system, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University System of Maryland
University System of Maryland

The University System of Maryland is a public corporation and charter school system comprising 13 Maryland institutions of higher education. It is the 12th-largest university system in the United States, with over 100,000 undergraduate, 30,000 graduate and 8,700 faculty....
 and was formally named University of Maryland, College Park. However, in 1997 the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus' role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland.

The other University System of Maryland institutions with the name "University of Maryland" are not satellite campuses of the University of Maryland, College Park, and are not referred to as such. The University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore

University of Maryland, Baltimore, was founded in 1807. It comprises some of the oldest professional schools in the nation and world. It is the original campus of the University System of Maryland....
 is the only other school permitted to confer certain degrees that state, simply "University of Maryland". This is because the Baltimore school offers primarily graduate degrees in disciplines not taught at College Park, such as Nursing, Dentistry, Law and Medicine. The relationship between the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore is akin to the relationship of the University of California, Berkeley to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), which also primarily offers graduate programs that Berkeley does not provide.

Academics


Profile

The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in 13 different colleges and schools, which include:

*College of Arts and Humanities
**School of Music
University of Maryland School of Music

The University of Maryland School of Music is a music school located in College Park, Maryland outside of Washington, D.C. The School of Music is the largest performing arts unit at the University of Maryland, College Park....

*College of Education
*College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences
*Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Philip Merrill College of Journalism

The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1945 and was named after Merrill in 2001, when newspaper editor Philip Merrill....

*College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
*College of Chemical and Life Sciences

*Robert H. Smith School of Business
Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is a school of business management within the University of Maryland, College Park. The school was named after alumnus Robert H....

*College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
*A. James Clark School of Engineering
A. James Clark School of Engineering

The A. James Clark School of Engineering is the Engineering College at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Clark School of Engineering is nationally ranked and consistently considered to have one of the top 20 Engineering programs in the country....

*College of Information Studies
University of Maryland College of Information Studies

The College of Information Studies is a library and information studies located at the University of Maryland, College Park in Maryland, United States....

*School of Public Policy
University of Maryland School of Public Policy

The Maryland School of Public Policy is one of 14 schools at the University of Maryland, College Park and the only policy school in the Washington, D.C.-area affiliated with a major research university....

*School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
University of Maryland School of Architecture

The University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation at the University of Maryland, College Park is home of four leading academic disciplines of architecture, urban studies and planning, historic preservation, and real estate development....

*School of Public Health


Programs

The university hosts "Living and Learning" programs which allow students with similar academic interests to live in the same residential community, take specialized courses, and perform research. An example is the University Honors Program, which is geared towards students with exceptional academic talents. The Honors Program welcomes students into a community of faculty and intellectually gifted undergraduates committed to acquiring a broad and balanced education.

The Gemstone Program at the University of Maryland is a multidisciplinary four-year research program for select undergraduate honors students of all majors. Under guidance of faculty mentors and Gemstone staff, teams of students design, direct and conduct research, often but not exclusively exploring the interdependence of science and technology with society.

Honors Humanities is the University of Maryland’s honors program for talented beginning undergraduates with interests in the humanities and creative arts. The selective two-year living-learning program combines a small liberal arts college
Liberal arts college

Liberal arts colleges are primarily colleges with an emphasis upon undergraduate study in the liberal arts. The Encyclop?dia Britannica Concise defines "liberal arts" as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational educati...
 environment with the dynamic resources of a large research university.

The College Park Scholars programs are two-year living-learning programs for first- and second-year students. Students are selected to enroll in one of 12 thematic programs: Advocates for Children; Arts; Business, Society, and the Economy; Cultures of the Americas; Earth, Life, and Time; Environmental Studies; International Studies; Life Sciences; Media, Self, and Society; Public Leadership; Science, Discovery, and the Universe; Science, Technology, and Society.

The nation's first living-learning entrepreneurship program, Hinman CEOs, is geared toward students who are interested in starting their own business. Students from all academic disciplines live together and are provided the resources to explore new business ventures.

The QUEST (Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams) Honors Fellows Program engages undergraduate students from business, engineering, and computer, mathematical, and physical sciences. QUEST Students participate in courses focused on cross-functional collaboration, innovation, quality management, and teamwork.

Other living-learning programs include: CIVICUS, a two year program in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences based on the five principles of civil society; Global Communities, a program that immerses students in a diverse culture (students from all over the world live in a community)

Faculty

The university's faculty has included four Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
 laureates. The earliest recipient, Juan Ramón Jiménez
Juan Ramón Jiménez

Juan Ram?n Jim?nez Mantec?n was a Spain List of poets, a prolific writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. One of Jim?nez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the French concept of "pure poetry."...
, was a professor of Spanish language and literature and won the 1956 prize for literature. Four decades later, physics professor William Daniel Phillips
William Daniel Phillips

William Daniel Phillips is an United States physicist. He is of Italian people and Welsh people extraction and a Methodist....
 won the prize for physics in 1997. In 2005, professor emeritus of economics and public policy Thomas Schelling
Thomas Schelling

Thomas Crombie Schelling is an American economist and professor of foreign affairs, national security, nuclear strategy, and arms control at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy at University of Maryland, College Park....
 was awarded the prize in economics for his contributions to game theory
Game theory

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that is used in the social sciences , biology, engineering, political science, international relations, computer science , and philosophy....
. In 2006, adjunct professor of physics and senior astrophysicist at NASA
NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
 John C. Mather
John C. Mather

John Cromwell Mather is an United States astrophysics, cosmology and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on COBE with George Smoot. COBE was the first experiment to measure "......
 was awarded the prize in physics alongside George Smoot
George Smoot

George Fitzgerald Smoot III is an United States astrophysics, cosmology and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on COBE with John C. Mather that led to the measurement "...of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation."...
 for their work in the discovery of blackbody radiation. In addition, two University of Maryland alumni are Nobel Prize laureates; Herbert Hauptman won the 1985 prize in chemistry and Raymond Davis Jr.
Raymond Davis Jr.

Raymond Davis, Jr. was an American chemist, physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics Nobel Prize laureate....
 won the 2002 prize in physics.

The University also has many notable academics in other field of science. Professor of mathematics Sergei Petrovich Novikov
Sergei Petrovich Novikov

Sergei Petrovich Novikov is a Russian mathematician, noted for work in both algebraic topology and soliton theory....
 won the Fields Medal
Fields Medal

The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of Mathematicians of the International Mathematical Union, a meeting that takes place every four years....
 in 1970 followed by alumnus Charles Fefferman
Charles Fefferman

Charles Louis Fefferman is an United States mathematician at Princeton University. His primary field of research is mathematical analysis.A child prodigy, Fefferman entered college by twelve and had written his first scientific paper by the age of 15 in German language....
 in 1978. Alumnus George Dantzig
George Dantzig

George Bernard Dantzig was an United States mathematician, and the Professor Emeritus of Transportation Sciences and Professor of Operations Research and of Computer Science at Stanford....
 won the 1975 National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science

The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics....
 for his work in the field of linear programming.

Research

In October 14, 2004, the university added 150 acres (607,030 m²) in an ambitious attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, Capital Beltway
Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)

Interstate 495 is an Interstate Highway that circles Washington, D.C. and its inner suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C....
, known as "M Square." The university completed construction on a new Bioscience Research Building on campus in May 2007. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the Earth's atmosphere....
 (NOAA) is presently constructing the new National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction
National Centers for Environmental Prediction

The United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction delivers national and global weather, water, climate and space weather guidance, forecasts, warnings and analyses to its Partners and External User Communities....
 on site in M Square. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2009.

The University of Maryland's location near Washington, D.C. has created strong research partnerships, especially with government agencies. Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering....
, the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research....
, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security

The United States Department of Homeland Security is a United States Cabinet United States federal executive departments of the United States federal government of the United States with the responsibility of protecting the territory of the U.S....
, and the National Security Agency
National Security Agency

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a Cryptology Intelligence agency of the Federal government of the United States, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense....
. These relationships have created numerous research opportunities for the university including:
  • taking the lead in the nationwide research initiative into the transmission and prevention of human and avian influenza
  • creating a new research center to study the behavioral and social foundations of terrorism
    Terrorism

    Terrorism, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is the systematic use of terror, "violent or destructive acts committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands." At present, there is no internationally agreed upon definition of terrorism....
     with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • launching the joint NASA
    NASA

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
    -University of Maryland Deep Impact
    Deep Impact (space mission)

    Deep Impact is an ongoing NASA space probe launched on 12 January 2005 that was designed to study the composition of the interior of the comet 9P/Tempel by colliding a section of the spacecraft into the comet....
     spacecraft in early January 2005.


The University of Maryland Libraries
University of Maryland Libraries

The University of Maryland Libraries constitute the largest public research library in the state of Maryland. Seven libraries are located at University of Maryland, College Park campus, plus an additional library and media center located off-campus in Shady Grove....
 provide access to and assistance in the use of the scholarly information resources required to meet the education, research and service missions of the University.

The Center for American Politics and Citizenship
Center for American Politics and Citizenship

The Center for American Politics and Citizenship provides citizens and policy-makers with research on critical issues related to the United States's political institutions, processes, and policies....
 provides citizens and policy-makers with research on critical issues related to the United States' political institutions, processes, and policies. CAPC is a non-partisan, non-profit research institution within the Department of Government and Politics in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

The Space Systems Laboratory
Space systems laboratory

The Space Systems Laboratory is part of the Aerospace Engineering Department and A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park in College Park, Maryland....
 researches human-robotic interaction for astronautics
Astronautics

Astronautics, or astronautical engineering, is the branch of engineering that deals with machines designed to exit or work entirely beyond the Earth's atmosphere....
 applications, and includes the only neutral buoyancy
Neutral buoyancy

Neutral buoyancy is a condition in which a physical body's mass equals the mass it displaces in a surrounding medium. This offsets the force of gravity that would otherwise cause the object to...
 facility at a university.

The Center for Technology and Systems Management
Center for Technology and Systems Management

The Center for Technology and Systems Management is a research center at the A. James Clark School of Engineering of the University of Maryland, College Park, United States....
 (CTSM) has the mission to advance the state of the art of technology and systems analysis for the benefit of people and the environment. The focus has been always on enhancing safety, efficiency and effectiveness by performing reliability, risk, uncertainty or decision analysis studies.

Rankings

The University's academic reputation has increased in recent decades, as evidenced in many surveys. It is ranked 53rd in the latest 2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings of "National Universities" across the globe, and it is ranked 18th nationally among public universities. 29 undergraduate and graduate programs are ranked in the top 10 and 90 programs are in the top 25.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Shanghai Jiao Tong University , located in Shanghai, is one of the oldest and most influential universities in People's Republic of China. The university is under the jurisdiction of both the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and Shanghai Government....
 ranked Maryland as 37th in the world as well as 8th among public flagship universities in the United States. Newsweek
Newsweek

Newsweek is an United States weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally....
 ranked the University of Maryland as 45th in their ranking "global universities." Webometrics
Webometrics

The science of webometrics tries to measure the World Wide Web to get knowledge about the number and types of hyperlinks, structure of the World Wide Web and usage patterns....
, a leading web collegiate ranking site, ranked Maryland 19th on its "Top 4000 Universities" list. Times Higher Education ranked the University of Maryland 79th on its top 100 universities in the world.

Student life


The Diamondback

The Diamondback is the independent student newspaper
Student newspaper

A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
 of the University of Maryland. It was founded in 1910 as The Triangle and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the Diamondback terrapin
Diamondback terrapin

The Diamondback terrapin is a species of turtle native to the brackish water coastal swamps of the eastern and southern United States, from as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts and as far south as Cape Sable, Florida....
, which became the official school mascot in 1933. The newspaper is published daily Monday through Friday during the Spring and Fall semesters, with a print circulation of 17,000 and annual advertising revenues of over $1 million.

The newspaper consists of six sections: News, Opinion, Features, Classified, Diversions and Sports. For the 2005-2006 school year, The Diamondback received a Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists

The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States....
, placing 3rd nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and placing first in its region in the same category.

Notable journalists who have been with The Diamondback include David Simon of HBO's The Wire and NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street, disgraced Jayson Blair
Jayson Blair

Jayson Blair is a journalist who resigned from the New York Times in May 2003, after he was caught plagiarism and fabricating elements of his stories....
, who was editor-in-chief in 1996 (Blair did not graduate, instead taking a job with The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
); Norman Chad
Norman Chad

Norman Chad is an American sportswriter and Print syndication columnist who is seen on the sports channel ESPN. Alongside sportscaster Lon McEachern, Chad is perhaps the best-known commentator on the World Series of Poker for ESPN....
, who was editor-in-chief in 1978; cartoonists Aaron McGruder
Aaron McGruder

Aaron McGruder is an United States cartoonist best known for writing and drawing The Boondocks , a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip about two young African American brothers from inner-city Chicago now living with their grandfather in a sedate suburb....
, who first published the cartoon The Boondocks
The Boondocks

The Boondocks was a daily print syndication comic strip written and originally drawn by Aaron McGruder. Created by McGruder in 1996 for The Diamondback, the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, College Park, the strip moved from the college pages and was printed in the monthly hip hop culture magazine The Source in 19...
 in The Diamondback; and Frank Cho
Frank Cho

Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho, is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book creator, writer, and illustrator, best known for his series Liberty Meadows....
, who began his career with the popular "University Squared" for The Diamondback.

Greek life

Currently, about 10% of Maryland's student body are involved in Greek Life. Many of the fraternities and sororities at the school are located on Fraternity Row and the Graham Cracker, which are partially controlled by the University. Fraternity Row is the background of several recently produced films.

Greek recruitment rates fell sharply after the death of a Phi Sigma Kappa pledge (19-year-old Daniel Reardon) in 2002, but have picked back up to earlier levels in 2006.

SororitiesFraternities
  • Alpha Chi Omega
    Alpha Chi Omega

    Alpha Chi Omega is a women's Fraternities and sororities founded on October 15, 1885. Currently, there are over 135 chapters of Alpha Chi Omega at colleges and universities across the United States and over 200,000 lifetime members....
     1937 (recolonized 1948)
  • Alpha Delta Pi
    Alpha Delta Pi

    Alpha Delta Pi was founded May 15 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia making it the first female fraternal organization established. The Executive office for this sorority is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia....
     1940 (closed 1985, recolonized 1986; local Alpha Delta)
  • Alpha Epsilon Phi
    Alpha Epsilon Phi

    Alpha Epsilon Phi is a Jewish-centered Fraternities and sororities and member of the National Panhellenic Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1909 at Barnard College in New York City by seven Jewish women; Helen Phillips Lipman, Ida Beck Carlin, Rose Gerstein Smolin, Augustina "Tina" Hess Solomon, Lee Reiss Leibert, Rose Salmowitz Marv...
     1943 (local Alpha Sigma)
  • Alpha Gamma Delta
    Alpha Gamma Delta

    Alpha Gamma Delta is an international women's fraternities and sororities founded in 1904 at Syracuse University. The Fraternity promotes academic excellence, philanthropic giving, ongoing leadership and personal development, and a spirit of loving sisterhood....
     1947 (closed)
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha
    Alpha Kappa Alpha

    Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek alphabet sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle....
  • Alpha Kappa Delta Phi
    Alpha Kappa Delta Phi

    alpha Kappa Delta Phi is the largest Asian-American interest sorority. It was founded at the University of California, Berkeley in the Fall of 1989....
     2002
  • Alpha Nu Omega
    Alpha Nu Omega

    Alpha Nu Omega is a Christian fraternity founded in 1988 that comprises both a fraternity and sorority under one Constitution. The Constitution mandates that both branches of ANQ are Christian fraternity....
     2000
  • Alpha Omega Epsilon
    Alpha Omega Epsilon

    Alpha Omega Epsilon is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The Sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later, on March 22, 1984, became a recognized organization on the Marquette University Campus....
     2005 (engineering)
  • Alpha Omicron Pi
    Alpha Omicron Pi

    Alpha Omicron Pi is an international Fraternities and sororities that was founded on January 2, 1897 at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York....
     1924 (local Lambda Tau)
  • Alpha Phi
    Alpha Phi

    Alpha Phi is a fraternities and sororities for women founded at Syracuse University on September 18, 1872. Its celebrated Founder's Day is October 10....
     1961
  • Alpha Theta Gamma 2003
  • Alpha Xi Delta
    Alpha Xi Delta

    Alpha Xi Delta was founded on April 17, 1893 by ten women at Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois, who shared a vision of an organization dedicated to the personal growth of women....
     1934 (closed 1993; local Delta Xi)
  • Chi Iota Pi 2004
  • Chi Omega
    Chi Omega

    Chi Omega is a women's Fraternities and sororities and the largest member of the National Panhellenic Conference. Chi Omega boasts 174 active collegiate chapters and hundreds of alumnae chapters....
     1923 (closed 1926, unnamed local)
  • Delta Delta Delta
    Delta Delta Delta

    Delta Delta Delta , also known as Tri Delta, is an international collegiate women's fraternity founded on November 27, 1888. With 136 chapters in the United States and Canada it is one of the largest women's organizations in the world....
     1934 (local Alpha Pi)
  • Delta Gamma
    Delta Gamma

    Delta Gamma is one of the oldest, largest and prestigious women's fraternities and sororities in the United States and Canada, with its Executive Offices based in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio....
     1945
  • Delta Phi Epsilon
    Delta Phi Epsilon

    Delta Phi Epsilon may refer to:*Delta Phi Epsilon , a professional foreign service fraternity and sorority.*Delta Phi Epsilon , a National Panhellenic Conference affiliated social sorority....
     1960
  • Delta Sigma Theta
    Delta Sigma Theta

    Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community....
  • Gamma Phi Beta
    Gamma Phi Beta

    Gamma Phi Beta is an international sorority that was founded on November 11, 1874, at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, New York. The term "sorority," meaning sisterhood, was coined for Gamma Phi Beta by Dr....
     1940 (closed 2000, unnamed local)
  • Gamma Sigma
    Gamma Sigma

    The Gamma Sigma Fraternity was founded in 1863 and chartered in 1867 at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. The Gamma Sigma Fraternity is currently the brother fraternity of the Theta Nu Alpha sorority....
     (closed 1956, local)
  • Gamma Sigma Sigma
    Gamma Sigma Sigma

    Gamma Sigma Sigma is a national Service fraternities and sororities sorority founded in October 1952 at Beekman Tower in New York City. by representatives of Boston University, Brooklyn College, Drexel University,Los Angeles City College, New York University, Queens College, and the University of Houston....
     (closed, date unknown]]
  • Kappa Alpha Theta
    Kappa Alpha Theta

    Kappa Alpha Theta is an international women's fraternities and sororities founded on January 27, 1870 at DePauw University. Kappa Alpha Theta was the first Greek-letter women's fraternity....
     1947
  • Kappa Delta
    Kappa Delta

    Kappa Delta was the first sorority founded at the Longwood University , in Farmville, Virginia. It is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the universities ....
     1929 (local Kappa Xi)
  • Kappa Kappa Gamma
    Kappa Kappa Gamma

    Kappa Kappa Gamma is a college Fraternities and sororities, founded at Monmouth College, Illinois. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted on October 13, 1870 as Founders Day, because no earlier charter date could be determined....
     1929 (closed 1993; local Sigma Delta)
  • Kappa Phi Gamma
    Kappa Phi Gamma

    Kappa Phi Gamma Sorority, Inc. is a South Asian interest sorority geared towards women of all descents. It was founded on November 8, 1998, by a group of 27 women from a variety of different backgrounds at the University of Texas at Austin, in Austin, Texas....
     2003
  • Lambda Theta Alpha
    Lambda Theta Alpha

    Lambda Theta Alpha is a sorority founded in December 1975 at Kean University in Union, New Jersey and has since grown to over 100 chapters nationwide....
     1995
  • Phi Sigma Sigma
    Phi Sigma Sigma

    Phi Sigma Sigma , colloquially known as "Phi Sig," was the first collegiate nonsectarian sorority, welcoming women of all faiths and backgrounds....
     1936 (local Beta Pi Sigma)
  • Pi Beta Phi
    Pi Beta Phi

    Pi Beta Phi is an international Fraternities and sororities founded as I.C. Sorosis on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois....
     1944 (closed 1991, local Pi Phi Beta)
  • Sigma Gamma Rho
    Sigma Gamma Rho

    Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated was founded on the campus of Butler University on November 12, 1922, by seven school teachers in Indianapolis, Indiana....
  • Sigma Delta Tau
    Sigma Delta Tau

    Sigma Delta Tau is a national wiktionary:sorority and member of the National Panhellenic Conference, was founded March 25, 1917 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York....
     1952 (local Delta Phi)
  • Sigma Iota Alpha
    Sigma Iota Alpha

    Sigma Iota Alpha Sorority --Official name is Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc. -- is a Latina-oriented Greek alphabet intercollegiate fraternities and sororities founded on September 29, 1990, by students from University at Albany, The State University of New York, State University of New York at Stony Brook, State University of New York at...
     (closed)
  • Sigma Kappa
    Sigma Kappa

    Sigma Kappa is a fraternities and sororities founded in 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Frances Elliott Mann Hall and Louise Helen Coburn....
     1940 (local Kappa Alpha Sigma)
  • Sigma Psi Zeta
    Sigma Psi Zeta

    Sigma Psi Zeta , a Multicultural, Asian-Interest sorority, was founded on March 23 1994 at the University at Albany, The State University of New York and incorporated in New York on March 15 1996 by the 10 Founding Mothers....
     2003
  • Tau Alpha Zeta 2002 (closed)
  • Tau Beta Sigma
    Tau Beta Sigma

    Tau Beta Sigma is a co-educational national honorary band sorority dedicated to serving College#United States of America and University#United States band s....
     1957
  • Zeta Phi Beta
    Zeta Phi Beta

    Zeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council....
     1973
  • Zeta Tau Alpha
    Zeta Tau Alpha

    Zeta Tau Alpha is a women's Fraternities and sororities, founded October 15, 1898 at what used to be State Female Normal School but is now known as Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia....
     1990
  • Alpha Chi Sigma
    Alpha Chi Sigma

    Alpha Chi Sigma is a Professional fraternity Fraternities and sororities specializing in the field of chemistry. It has both collegiate and professional chapters throughout the United States consisting of both men and women and numbering over 59,300 members....
  • Alpha Epsilon Pi
    Alpha Epsilon Pi

    Alpha Epsilon Pi is the only international Jewish college fraternities and sororities in North America, with 140 chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 7,000 active undergraduates....
     1941 (recolonized 1999)
  • Alpha Gamma Rho
    Alpha Gamma Rho

    Alpha Gamma Rho is a social/professional fraternity in the United States, with 72 university chapters. Though primarily a social organization, its members pride themselves on their affiliations to the life sciences and agricultural sciences....
     1928
  • Alpha Kappa Psi
    Alpha Kappa Psi

    ??? is the oldest and largest Professional fraternity business Fraternities and sororities. The Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity was founded on October 5, 1904 at New York University, and was incorporated on May 20, 1905....
     2007
  • Alpha Nu Omega
    Alpha Nu Omega

    Alpha Nu Omega is a Christian fraternity founded in 1988 that comprises both a fraternity and sorority under one Constitution. The Constitution mandates that both branches of ANQ are Christian fraternity....
  • Alpha Phi Omega
    Alpha Phi Omega

    Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members....
     1947 (co-ed service)
  • Alpha Sigma Phi
    Alpha Sigma Phi

    Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is a social Fraternities and sororities with 68 active chapters, colonies, and interest groups. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 11th oldest fraternity in the United States....
     1998
  • Alpha Tau Omega
    Alpha Tau Omega

    ATO is an American Leadership Fraternities and sororities that annually ranks among the top ten national fraternities for number of chapters and total number of members....
     1930 (recolonized 2000)
  • Beta Theta Pi
    Beta Theta Pi

    Beta Theta Pi is a social collegiate fraternities and sororities that was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi....
     1982 (closed 2006)
  • Chi Phi
    Chi Phi

    The 'Chi Phi' Fraternity is an American college social fraternities and sororities that was established as the result of three separate organizations that each were known as Chi Phi....
     2005
  • Delta Chi
    Delta Chi

    Delta Chi or D-Chi is an international secret letter college social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University initially as a professional fraternity for law students....
     1990
  • Delta Kappa Epsilon
    Delta Kappa Epsilon

    Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who, upon hearing that some but not all of them had been invited to join the two existing societies , instead elected to form their own fraternity....
     1952 (closed 1960)
  • Delta Sigma Phi
    Delta Sigma Phi

    Delta Sigma Phi is a fraternities and sororities established at the City College of New York in 1899 and is a charter member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference....
     1919
  • Delta Tau Delta
    Delta Tau Delta

    Delta Tau Delta is a United States-based international Fraternities and sororities.Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College , Bethany, West Virginia ....
     (closed 2008)
  • Iota Nu Delta
    Iota Nu Delta

    Iota Nu Delta , is a South Asian interest Fraternities and sororities geared towards men of all descents. It was founded on February 7, 1994, by a group of eight men of South Asian descent at Binghamton University, in Binghamton, New York....
  • Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
    Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

    The Iota Phi Theta Fraternity is a nationally incorporated, predominantly African-American Fraternities and sororities. Founded on September 19, 1963 at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, it presently consists of 55,000 members....
  • Kappa Alpha Order
    Kappa Alpha Order

    Kappa Alpha Order is an American social fraternity and fraternal order. Kappa Alpha Order has 131 active chapters with more than and 149,000 initiated members....
  • Kappa Alpha Psi
    Kappa Alpha Psi

    Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek alphabet Fraternities and sororities with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin....
  • Kappa Kappa Psi
    Kappa Kappa Psi

    Kappa Kappa Psi is a national honorary band Fraternities and sororities dedicated to serving College#United States of America and University#United States band s....
     1955
  • Kappa Sigma
    Kappa Sigma

    ?S is an international fraternities and sororities with currently 216 chapters and 29 colonies in North America. There have been more than 250,000 initiates, of which more than 182,500 are living and more than 12,000 are undergraduates....
     1872 (recolonized 2008)
  • Lambda Chi Alpha
    Lambda Chi Alpha

    For a list of prominent members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, see: List of notable members of Lambda Chi AlphaLambda Chi Alpha , headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and one of the largest men's general Fraternities and sororities in North America, by its own count...
     1932
  • Lambda Upsilon Lambda
    Lambda Upsilon Lambda

    La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity was established on February 19 1982 in order to address the shortcomings of academic institutions in meeting and addressing the needs of Latino students in higher education....
     1995
  • Omega Psi Phi
    Omega Psi Phi

    Omega Psi Phi is an international Fraternities and sororities and was the first African-American national fraternal organization to be founded at a Historically Black colleges and universities....
  • Phi Chi Theta
    Phi Chi Theta

    F?T is a co-ed Professional fraternity business and economics Fraternities and sororities. Phi Chi Theta was founded as a women's business fraternity on June 16, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois....
  • Phi Gamma Delta
    Phi Gamma Delta

    Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social Fraternities and sororities with 107 chapters and 7 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Washington & Jefferson College, Pennsylvania in 1848 and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, Kentucky, USA....
     1979
  • Phi Delta Theta
    Phi Delta Theta

    Phi Delta Theta is an international Fraternities and sororities founded in 1848 and headquartered at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad....
     1930
  • Phi Iota Alpha
    Phi Iota Alpha

    Phi Iota Alpha , established December 26, 1931, is the oldest National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations still in existence and works to motivate people, develop leaders, and create innovative ways to unite the Hispanic community....
  • Phi Kappa Tau
    Phi Kappa Tau

    Phi Kappa Tau is a United States national Fraternities and sororities....
     1950
  • Phi Kappa Psi
    Phi Kappa Psi

    Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity is an American Fraternities and sororities....
     2007
  • Phi Sigma Kappa
    Phi Sigma Kappa

    Phi Sigma Kappa is a social Fraternities and sororities devoted to three cardinal principles: the Promotion of Brotherhood, the Stimulation of Scholarship, and the Development of Character....
     1897 (closed 2002)
  • Pi Delta Psi
    Pi Delta Psi

    Pi Delta Psi is an Asian-American Cultural Interest Fraternity founded at Binghamton University on February 20 1994. The mission of Pi Delta Psi is to break down cultural barriers by fostering individual growth in the areas of "Academic Achievement, Cultural Awareness, Righteousness, Friendship and Loyalty"....
     
  • Pi Kappa Alpha
    Pi Kappa Alpha

    Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity is an international, secret, social, Greek alphabet, college fraternities and sororities. It was founded at 47 West The Range at the University of Virginia in the United States on Sunday evening, March 1 1868....
  • Pi Kappa Phi
    Pi Kappa Phi

    Pi Kappa Phi is an United States social Fraternities and sororities. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg, Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty, Jr....
     1992 (closed 2003)
  • Sigma Alpha Epsilon
    Sigma Alpha Epsilon

    Sigma Alpha Epsilon was founded March 9, 1856 at the University of Alabama. SAE is the largest social college fraternity by total initiates with more than 288,000 initiated members....
     1943 (closed 2004)
  • Sigma Alpha Mu
    Sigma Alpha Mu

    Sigma Alpha Mu also known as "Sammy" is a college Fraternities and sororities founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Originally only for Jewish men, Sigma Alpha Mu remained so until 1953, when members from all backgrounds were accepted....
     1933 (closed 2006)
  • Sigma Beta Rho 2003
  • Sigma Chi
    Sigma Chi

    Sigma Chi is one of the largest and oldest all-male, college, greek alphabet social fraternities and sororities and a secret society. Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon....
     1945 (Recolonized 2008)
  • Sigma Nu
    Sigma Nu

    SN is an undergraduate college fraternity with chapters in the United States and Canada. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, Virginia....
     1917
  • Sigma Pi
    Sigma Pi

    Sigma Pi is an international college social fraternities and sororities with chapters in the United States and Canada. Like most social fraternities, membership is by invitation and limited to men....
     (recolonized 2007)
  • Sigma Phi Epsilon
    Sigma Phi Epsilon

    SF? , commonly nicknamed SigEp, is a secret letter, social college Fraternities and sororities for male college students in the United States....
     1949
  • Tau Epsilon Phi
    Tau Epsilon Phi

    Tau Epsilon Phi is an United States fraternities and sororities with approximately 25 active chapters, chiefly located at universities and colleges on the East Coast of the United States....
     1925
  • Tau Kappa Epsilon
    Tau Kappa Epsilon

    Tau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternities and sororities founded on January 10th, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent ....
     1947 (recolonized 2005)
  • Theta Chi
    Theta Chi

    Theta Chi Fraternity is an international Fraternities and sororities. It was founded on April 10, 1856 as the Theta Chi Society, at Norwich University, Norwich, Vermont, United States, and was the 21st of the 71 North-American Interfraternity Conference men's fraternities ....
     1929
  • Zeta Beta Tau
    Zeta Beta Tau

    Zeta Beta Tau is a historically Judaism, presently nonsectarian international fraternities and sororities. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood numbers over 130,000 initiated Brothers, and over 80 student chapter locations....
     1948
  • Zeta Psi
    Zeta Psi

    The Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America was founded June 1, 1847 as a social college Fraternities and sororities. The organization now comprises about fifty active chapters and twenty-five inactive chapters, encompassing roughly twenty thousand brothers, and is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference....
     1976


  • The 2007–2008 academic year saw renewed discussions over hazing in fraternity and sorority life at Maryland. Delta Tau Delta
    Delta Tau Delta

    Delta Tau Delta is a United States-based international Fraternities and sororities.Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College , Bethany, West Virginia ....
     and Zeta Beta Tau
    Zeta Beta Tau

    Zeta Beta Tau is a historically Judaism, presently nonsectarian international fraternities and sororities. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood numbers over 130,000 initiated Brothers, and over 80 student chapter locations....
     were criticized by the university administration over hazing incidents. Delta Tau Delta's Maryland chapter was disbanded after the university administration determined that pledges had been hazed "physically, mentally and emotionally" from 2005–2008.

    STARS


    STARS, or the Students Activities Reporting System, is an online database for clubs and organizations at the University of Maryland. They range in a variety of areas including academics, cultural, departmental, Greek life, group councils, political, media, performing groups, recreational, religious, services, graduate, sports, social, honors, advocacy, and governing bodies. Groups can apply for a free student account through which they can manage their organization and budget. The budget for all student organizations is funded through the SGA. To form a new club, a student group must have 8 members and a faculty sponsor. In addition, at the beginning of each semester, there is a First Look Fair where a majority of the student organizations gather in an all-day fair on McKeldin Mall. New and returning students are welcome to this fair to learn about their options of getting involved.

    Athletics


    The school's sports teams are called the Terrapins, and the mascot of the University (pictured right) is a diamondback terrapin
    Diamondback terrapin

    The Diamondback terrapin is a species of turtle native to the brackish water coastal swamps of the eastern and southern United States, from as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts and as far south as Cape Sable, Florida....
     named Testudo, which is Latin
    Latin

    Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
     for "protective shell." The Terrapins sports teams participate in the NCAA
    National Collegiate Athletic Association

    The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a voluntary association of about 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and University in the United States ....
    's Division I, and the school is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference
    Atlantic Coast Conference

    The Atlantic Coast Conference is a List of college athletic conferences in the United States. Founded in 1953, the ACC's twelve member university compete in twenty sports in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I....
    . For years the school colors were black and gold. After World War One, new coach Clark Shaughnessy came to Maryland from Stanford, and brought a supply of that school's uniforms with him. Combining those colors with the old black and gold, the university's official colors were expanded to match those that appear on the Maryland state flag
    Flag of Maryland

    The flag of Maryland consists of the heraldic banner of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore. It is the only Flags of the United States states in the United States to be based on United Kingdom heraldry....
    : black, gold, red, and white. Red and white are now the most-used team colors, and gold is almost strictly used as an accent color. "Fear the Turtle," a slogan born during the basketball team's national championship run in 2002, has since been commonly associated with other Maryland teams.

    The Maryland football
    American football

    American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
     program is traditionally one of the top programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and occasionally is a force in the national picture. Overall, Maryland owns nine Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, third most in the conference behind Clemson and Florida State. Maryland was recognized as a football dynasty from 1949 to 1955, as the team's overall record during this time was an astounding 60–9–2. After winning the 1949 Gator Bowl, the team went undefeated in 1951, and defeated heavily favored Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. This was followed by the school's only National Championship in 1953. 1955 also saw the team go undefeated in the regular season, before falling to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

    The years from 1973 to 1985 were also some of the most successful in the history of Maryland football, and saw a total of six Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. The 1976 team stormed through the regular season undefeated and finished with an 11–1 record. In the 1984 season the Terrapins, down 31–0 at halftime in the Orange Bowl against the defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes, completed an amazing comeback to win 42–40 in thrilling fashion. After a fifteen-year period that saw only one trip to a bowl game, former Maryland player and coach Ralph Friedgen was hired as Head Coach in 2001. He reversed the fortunes of Terrapin football in his first three seasons, leading the team to 31 wins, an appearance in the BCS
    Bowl Championship Series

    The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system designed to give the top two teams in the Division I#Football Bowl Subdivision an opportunity to compete in a "national championship game"....
     Orange Bowl
    Orange Bowl (game)

    The Orange Bowl is an annual United States of America college football bowl game played in Dolphin Stadium just outside Miami, Florida, Florida....
    , commanding victories in the Peach Bowl, the Gator Bowl
    Gator Bowl

    The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the sixth oldest college bowl, held continuously since 1946....
     and the Champs Sports Bowl, consecutive top-3 finishes in conference, and one ACC regular season title. These promising seasons were followed up by two disappointing 5–6 seasons. However, in 2006, Friedgen returned the Terrapins to bowl status, where they defeated the Purdue Boilermakers in dominating fashion, 24–7 in the Champs Sports Bowl
    Champs Sports Bowl

    The Champs Sports Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida. The game was played at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida from 1990 to 2000 and is now played at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida....
    , in Orlando, FL. This was followed by an appearance in the 2007 Emerald Bowl
    Emerald Bowl

    The Emerald Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association that has been played annually at 40,800-seat AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, since 2002....
     and an appearance in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl in 2008.

    Maryland has produced numerous NFL standouts, including Boomer Esiason
    Boomer Esiason

    Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason is a former American football quarterback and current network color commentator. He played for the National Football League Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals before working as an analyst for ABC Sports and HBO....
    , Randy White
    Randy White (American football)

    Randall Lee White was an American football player. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park from 1971 to 1974, and played professionally for the Dallas Cowboys from 1975 to 1988....
    , Stan Jones
    Stan Jones (American football)

    Stanley Paul Jones is a former American football Guard and defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins....
    , Shawne Merriman
    Shawne Merriman

    Shawne DeAndre Merriman is an American football outside linebacker for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League.NFL career...
    , and Neal Olkewicz
    Neal Olkewicz

    Neal T. Olkewicz is a former American football linebacker who played his entire eleven year career with the Washington Redskins from 1979 to 1989 in the National Football League....
    .

    Men's basketball
    Basketball

    Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
     is also a very popular sport at Maryland and is under the guidance of another Maryland graduate, Gary Williams
    Gary Williams

    Gary B. Williams is the current head coach of the University of Maryland, College Park's Maryland Terrapins men's basketball....
     of the class of 1968. Williams, who returned to his alma mater
    Alma mater

    File:Alma_Mater,_Lorado_Taft.jpgAlma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother". It was used in ancient Rome as a title for the mother goddess, and in Middle Ages Christianity for the Virgin Mary....
     in 1989 after successful head coaching stints at Lafayette College, American University, Boston College, and Ohio State, inherited a once-successful program that was suffering the aftereffects of the death of Len Bias
    Len Bias

    Leonard Kevin Bias was an American college basketball player who suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia that resulted from a cocaine overdose less than 48 hours after being selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft....
     as well as NCAA rules infractions under Williams's predecessor. Williams led Maryland to eleven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1993–2004) and eight consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins (1996–2004). In addition, he has taken the Terps to the tournament's Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) seven times, to the Final Four
    NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

    The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a Single-elimination tournament tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams in the United States....
     twice, and led the school to its first NCAA title in men's basketball in 2002. With one of the youngest teams in the nation, Williams led his team to his first ACC Tournament title in 2004. With a win over the Virginia Cavaliers on February 7, 2006, Gary Williams became Maryland's all-time leader in basketball wins with 349, beating the previous record of Lefty Driesell
    Lefty Driesell

    Charles "Lefty" Driesell is a retired college basketball coach. Driesell grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, where he attended Granby High School. The famous left-hander attended Duke University from 1950 to 1954, playing basketball under coach Harold Bradley ....
    , who attended the record-breaking game.

    Beyond these primary "revenue sports," Maryland excels in other areas as well. Women's basketball began a resurgence in 2002, and has reached the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament for four consecutive years under Coach Brenda Frese
    Brenda Frese

    Brenda Frese is the current women's basketball team head coach at the University of Maryland, College Park. During her four years as head coach, she reversed the team's losing record and guided it to win the 2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament....
    . The Lady Terps beat Duke in 2006 to bring Maryland its first NCAA title in women's basketball. In 2009, with a 25-4 overall record and 12-2 in conference, the Lady Terps won their first regular season ACC title in 20 years. Coach Sasho Cirovski
    Sasho Cirovski

    Sasho Cirovski is a Macedonian-American soccer coach, raised in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, who led his University of Maryland, College Park team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 2005 and 2008....
     has taken the men's soccer
    Football (soccer)

    Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....
     team to five Final Fours since 1997, including four straight. In 2005, the squad claimed the NCAA
    National Collegiate Athletic Association

    The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a voluntary association of about 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and University in the United States ....
     College Cup National Championship with a 1–0 win over New Mexico. On December 14, 2008 Sasho's squad again lifted the College Cup after defeating University of North Carolina 1–0.

    Although the Maryland wrestling
    Collegiate wrestling

    Collegiate wrestling is the style of amateur wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling is sometimes known as folkstyle wrestling because by and large, it is the style that emerged out of the folk wrestling styles practiced in the early history of the United States....
     team is not usually considered a powerhouse, they had a break out performance in 2007-2008 winning the ACC Conference title and were ranked as high as 17th by NCAA polls. Moreover, the school had its first All-American in the sport in three decades, Hudson Taylor(197lb), who placed 3rd at the NCAA tournament. The recent success of the wrestling program as come from heavy recruiting of high school graduates from top local and national teams such as athletes from McDonogh School
    McDonogh School

    McDonogh School is a private school, coeducational, K-12, college-preparatory school located in Owings Mills, Maryland, USA....
     and Blair Academy
    Blair Academy

    Blair Academy is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding school secondary education in the United States with an enrollment of about 430 students for grades nine through twelve....
    .

    The field hockey
    Field hockey

    Field hockey is a team sport in which a team of players attempt to score Goal by hitting, pushing or flicking the ball with hockey sticks into the opposing team's goal....
     team has made eleven Final Four appearances (through 2006) and won the 1987, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2006, and 2008 national titles. The volleyball
    Volleyball

    Volleyball is an Olympic Games team sport in which two teams of 6 active players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules....
     team won the ACC tournament in 2003 and qualified for the NCAA tournament.

    The women's lacrosse
    Women's lacrosse

    Women's lacrosse, sometimes shortened to wlax or lax, is a non-contact sport played with twelve players on each team. Originally played by the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at the St Leonards School in Scotland....
     team has won a total of ten national championships since 1981, eight of which came under the direction of Cindy Timchal, including a run of seven straight (1995 through 2001). Additionally, the women's lacrosse
    Women's lacrosse

    Women's lacrosse, sometimes shortened to wlax or lax, is a non-contact sport played with twelve players on each team. Originally played by the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at the St Leonards School in Scotland....
     team has been an NCAA finalist in eleven of the last fourteen years, and produced more All-America
    All-America

    An All-American "team" is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players, those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position, who are referred to as All-America or, less precisely, All-American Sportspersons....
    ns in the sport than any other school. Two of Maryland's outstanding All-Americans, Cathy Nelson-Reese and Jen Adams, became coach and co-coach of the team in 2006–2007 when Timchal took over the new program at the United States Naval Academy
    United States Naval Academy

    The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps....
    . The men's lacrosse
    Lacrosse

    Lacrosse is a team sport originated by several tribes of Native Americans in the United States. There are four distinct versions of the modern game: men's field lacrosse, women's field lacrosse, men's box lacrosse and intercrosse ....
     program is often ranked among the top programs nationally and won the NCAA Championship in 1973 and 1975. For 31 years the women's gymnastics team has been under the guidance of head coach Robert 'Duke' Nelligan, the longest career of any coach at the university.

    The Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band attends all home football games and at least one away game each season. The band provides pre-game performances that have remained largely unchanged for several years. A video of the pre-game show can be viewed at the band's Web site. The band also plays at halftime during home games, with a different show every game. At the end of their 2006–2007 season, the entire 250-member Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band traveled to New Orleans to build new homes with Habitat for Humanity for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

    During the basketball season, the marching band converts into the University of Maryland Pep Band. The pep band provides energetic music and cheers in the stands at men's and women's home games. The pep band's repertoire (more than 300 songs, as of the 2006–2007 season) is compiled from past marching band shows and some special arrangements. The Pep Band also travels with the basketball teams during tournament play.

    Testudo


    In 1932, Curley Byrd
    Curley Byrd

    Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd was an United States multi-sport athlete, football coach, and university president from 1935 to 1954 at the University of Maryland, College Park....
    , who served both as University football coach and President, proposed changing the school mascot to the Maryland diamondback terrapin
    Diamondback terrapin

    The Diamondback terrapin is a species of turtle native to the brackish water coastal swamps of the eastern and southern United States, from as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts and as far south as Cape Sable, Florida....
    , the state reptile. The first statue of Testudo cast in bronze was donated by the Class of 1933 and was displayed on U.S. 1
    U.S. Route 1 in Maryland

    U.S. Route 1 in Maryland is an segment of the U.S. highway that runs through central Maryland....
     (Baltimore Ave.) in front of Ritchie Coliseum. However, the 300 pound mascot was subjected to many indignities by visiting college athletic teams.

    One famous incident in 1947 involved students from Johns Hopkins University
    Johns Hopkins University

    The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Hopkins or JHU, is a private university research university located in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, United States....
     who stole the bronze statue of the mascot and returned to their campus in Baltimore. According to Johns Hopkins alumni, it was hidden at 3025 St. Paul St., the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter house. Maryland students went up to Baltimore from College Park to retrieve the statue and ended up besieging the house where the Johns Hopkins students had kept Testudo; over 200 riot police had to be called in.

    In 1949, then-University President Byrd was awakened by a phone call from a University of Virginia fraternity requesting that Testudo be removed from their lawn. Testudo was later filled with 700 pounds of cement and fastened to his pedestal to ensure that the statue could not be stolen in the future. Students at rival schools continued to vandalize the statue, and was then moved to Byrd stadium in 1951. In the 1960s Testudo was moved from this location to a spot in front of McKeldin Library in the center of campus. The statue is considered a good luck charm by students, many of whom rub his nose and leave him offerings during finals week.

    In 1992 a twin statue of Testudo was placed at Byrd Stadium
    Byrd Stadium

    Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium , is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park in College Park, Maryland....
     that the football team and marching band touch for good luck as they pass by on their way. There is now also a statue of Testudo outside the Gossett Team House on the outskirts of Byrd Stadium. In 2002, another statue was placed in front of Comcast Center
    Comcast Center (arena)

    Comcast Center is the arena for the University of Maryland, College Park Terrapins men?s and women's basketball teams. The Comcast Center was ranked the 7th toughest venue to play in by EA Sports....
    , the school's new basketball arena; and in 2005, a fifth statue (this one hollow) was erected in front of the new Riggs Alumni Center. The sixth, and newest Testudo was placed in the lobby of Adele H. Stamp student union building in the fall of 2008.

    During the 1994 session of the Maryland General Assembly, legislation was approved that named the Diamondback Terrapin (malaclemys terrapin terrapin) as the official State reptile of Maryland, as well as the legally-codified mascot of the University of Maryland. At the time, the terrapin was only the second university mascot in the nation (after the University of Florida gator) to receive such a designation. The 2008 Maryland Wrestling program won the ACC conference title for the 21st time, and the first since 1973.

    In 2006, fifty Testudo statues decorated by University students were placed throughout the region. Besides the campus and College Park, other areas where statues were placed included Silver Spring
    Silver Spring, Maryland

    Silver Spring is an urbanized, unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. After Baltimore, Maryland and Columbia, Maryland, the Silver Spring Census-designated place is the third most populous place in Maryland....
    , Ocean City
    Ocean City, Maryland

    Ocean City, sometimes known as OC, is an Atlantic Ocean resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, Maryland, United States. Ocean City is widely known in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is a frequent destination for vacationers....
    , Baltimore
    Baltimore, Maryland

    Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay....
    , Annapolis
    Annapolis, Maryland

    Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It has a population of 36,408 , and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River , south of Baltimore and about east of Washington D.C....
    , Landover
    Landover, Maryland

    Landover is an unincorporated area in Prince George's County, Maryland, Maryland, United States, within the census-designated place of Greater Landover, Maryland....
    , Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C.

    Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
    , and along the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway
    John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway

    This article describes a portion of Interstate 95 in Maryland in Maryland. For the portion of Interstate 95 in Delaware in Delaware that shares the same name, see Delaware Turnpike....
     at the Maryland House and Chesapeake House service areas of the Maryland Transportation Authority
    Maryland Transportation Authority

    The Maryland Transportation Authority is an independent state agency responsible for financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining seven toll facilities and some non-tolled roadways in Maryland, United States....
    .

    The fifty Testudo statues were later auctioned off to independent buyers to raise money for the school. Most are no longer found on campus, but some buyers in turn donated their purchases back to the school.

    The university has promoted the slogan, "Fear the Turtle" to become a rallying cry for school pride.

    Notable people


    University attendees have achieved fame or notability across a variety of disciplines. Famous alumni include current House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
    Steny Hoyer

    Steny Hamilton Hoyer is a United States Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Maryland Maryland's 5th congressional district since 1981....
    , Google
    Google

    Google Inc. is an United States public company, earning revenue from AdWords related to its Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Apps, Orkut, and YouTube services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the Google Search Appliance....
     co-founder Sergey Brin
    Sergey Brin

    Sergey Brin is co-founder of Google, Inc., the world?s largest internet company, based on its search engine and online advertising technology. He is ranked by Forbes as the 32nd richest person in the world....
    , The Muppets
    The Muppets

    ----The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson. Individually, a Muppet is one of the puppets made by Jim Henson or his The Jim Henson Company....
     creator Jim Henson
    Jim Henson

    'James Maury "Jim" Henson' , was one of the most widely known puppeteers in American television history. He was the creator of The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, and the leading force behind their long run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie and The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth...
    , and Seinfeld
    Seinfeld

    Seinfeld is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning Television in the United States Situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in Broadcast syndication....
     producer Larry David
    Larry David

    Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an United States actor, writer, comedian, Television producer, and film director. Formerly a Standup comedy, David went into television comedy, writing and starring in ABC's Fridays , as well as writing briefly for Saturday Night Live....
    . Prominent alumni in business include Jim Walton
    Jim Walton

    Jim Carr Walton is the youngest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and the Chairman of Arvest Bank.With an estimated net worth of around $23.3 billion, Walton is ranked by Forbes as the Forbes 400....
    , CEO of CNN
    CNN

    Cable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is a major US Cable News Network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first station to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States....
     Worldwide; Kevin Plank
    Kevin Plank

    Kevin A. Plank is an American entrepreneur and businessperson.In 1996 he founded Under Armour, a sports apparel brand. A American football player with the University of Maryland, College Park who eventually became special teams captain for the Maryland Terrapins football, Plank thought up the idea because he "got tired of having to change...
     founder of the athletic apparel company Under Armour
    Under Armour

    Under Armour, , is a US clothing company best-known for its introduction of form-fitting, moisture-wicking performance apparel designed to be worn under sportswear....
    ; and Carly Fiorina
    Carly Fiorina

    Carly Fiorina is an United States businesswoman, who served as chief executive officer at Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. Prior to joining Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina served as an executive vice president at AT&T, and orchestrated the spinoff and initial public offering of Lucent, which became the most successful initial public offering in...
    , former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
    Hewlett-Packard

    The Hewlett-Packard Company , commonly referred to as HP, is a technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States....
    . Television personality Connie Chung
    Connie Chung

    Constance Yu-Hwa "Connie" Chung Povich is an American journalism who has been an anchor and reporter for several U.S. television news networks....
     and ESPN
    ESPN

    ESPN is a United States cable television Television network dedicated to Broadcasting of sports events and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
     reporters Bonnie Bernstein
    Bonnie Bernstein

    Bonnie Bernstein is an United States television sports anchor and reporter....
    , Tim Kurkjian
    Tim Kurkjian

    Tim Kurkjian is a Major League Baseball pundit on ESPN's Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. He is also a contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. He guests on Mike & Mike in the Morning on Thursdays at 7:44 AM, discussing the latest in happenings in Major League Baseball....
    , and Scott Van Pelt
    Scott Van Pelt

    Scott Van Pelt is an American sportscaster. He is an anchor for the 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter on ESPN and has also covered various golf events for the network....
     all graduated from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism
    Philip Merrill College of Journalism

    The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1945 and was named after Merrill in 2001, when newspaper editor Philip Merrill....
    . Well-known journalist Carl Bernstein
    Carl Bernstein

    Carl Bernstein is an United States journalism who, as a reporter for The Washington Post along with Bob Woodward, broke the story of the Watergate burglaries and consequently helped bring about the resignation of United States President of the United States Richard Nixon....
    , who won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
    Pulitzer Prize for Public Service

    The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service has been awarded since 1918 for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper through the use of its journalistic resources which may include editorials, cartoons, and photographs, as well as reporting....
     for his coverage of the Watergate scandal
    Watergate scandal

    The Watergate scandals were a series of United States political scandals during the President of the United States of Richard Nixon that resulted in the indictment of several of Nixon's closest advisors, and ultimately his resignation on August 9, 1974....
    , attended the University but did not graduate. Former Maryland Governor Harry R. Hughes and current United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
    United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

    The United States Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest ranking official in the United States Department of Defense. According to the U.S....
     Gordon R. England
    Gordon R. England

    Gordon Richard England is an United States businessman who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense and two times as United States Secretary of the Navy in the administration of President of the United States George W....
     are also alumni. Gayle King, Oprah Winfrey's best friend and editor-at-large of O, The Oprah Magazine, also graduated from the university with a degree in psychology. Kiran Chetry
    Kiran Chetry

    Kiran Carrie Chetry is co-anchor of CNN's breakfast television, American Morning....
    , co-host of CNN's American Morning
    American Morning

    American Morning is the breakfast television on CNN. It premiered in 2002....
    , graduated with a bachelors of arts in broadcast journalism. Heidi Collins
    Heidi Collins

    Heidi Collins born Heidi Elmquist on June 1, 1967 is an American correspondent and anchor on CNN. Collins anchors CNN Newsroom from 9 AM to 11AM EST on weekdays and is an occasional substitute anchor for several of CNN's prime time programs....
     of CNN Newsroom
    CNN Newsroom

    CNN Newsroom is an United States news program on CNN.Broadcasting throughout the week, Newsroom features live and taped news reports, in addition to analysis from experts on the issues being covered, and headlines throughout each hour....
     also graduated with a bachelors of science.

    Within the fields of science and mathematics, Nobel Laureates Raymond Davis Jr.
    Raymond Davis Jr.

    Raymond Davis, Jr. was an American chemist, physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics Nobel Prize laureate....
    , 2002 winner in Physics; Herbert Hauptman, 1985 winner in Chemistry, and Fields Medal
    Fields Medal

    The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of Mathematicians of the International Mathematical Union, a meeting that takes place every four years....
     winner Charles Fefferman
    Charles Fefferman

    Charles Louis Fefferman is an United States mathematician at Princeton University. His primary field of research is mathematical analysis.A child prodigy, Fefferman entered college by twelve and had written his first scientific paper by the age of 15 in German language....
     attended the University. Other alumni include George Dantzig
    George Dantzig

    George Bernard Dantzig was an United States mathematician, and the Professor Emeritus of Transportation Sciences and Professor of Operations Research and of Computer Science at Stanford....
    , considered the father of linear programming; and NASA
    NASA

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
     Administrator Michael D. Griffin
    Michael D. Griffin

    Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist, aerospace engineer and the former Administrator of NASA, from April 13, 2005 to January 20, 2009....
    .

    Several donors have distinguished themselves for their sizable gifts to the University. Businessman Robert H. Smith
    Robert H. Smith

    Robert H. Smith is a successful builder-developer. Smith is chairman of Charles E. Smith Co. Commercial Realty, a division of Vornado Realty Trust, and chairman of Charles E....
    , who graduated from the university in 1950 with a degree in accounting, has given over $45 million to the business school that now bears his name, and to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, which bears his wife's name. Construction entrepreneur A. James Clark
    A. James Clark

    A. James Clark, an engineer and business executive, is chairman and chief executive officer of Clark Enterprises, Inc., headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Maryland....
    , who graduated with an engineering degree in 1950, has also donated over $45 million to the college of engineering, which also bears his name. Another engineering donor, Jeong H. Kim
    Jeong H. Kim

    Dr. Jeong H. Kim is a Korean-American electrical engineering and administrator who, since 2005, has served as president of Bell Labs.Jeong Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea....
    , earned his Ph.D. from the university in 1991 and gave $5 million for the construction of a state-of-the-art engineering building. Philip Merrill
    Philip Merrill

    Philip Merrill was an United States diplomat, publisher, banker, and philanthropist who committed suicide while traveling alone on his boat in the Chesapeake Bay....
    , a media figure, donated $10 million to the College of Journalism..

    Filmography

    The University of Maryland, College Park Campus has been featured in several films.
    • National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
    • Life 101
      Life 101

      Life 101 is a 1995 drama/comedy film, starring Corey Haim, Keith Coogan and Ami Dolenz....
       (1995)
    • St. Elmo's Fire
      St. Elmo's Fire (film)

      St. Elmo's Fire is a 1985 in film coming-of-age film directed by Joel Schumacher. The film, starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham, is one of the defining film of the Brat Pack genre, and revolves around a group of friends that have just graduated from Georgetown Uni...
       (1985)


    External links

    • – official website
    • - the student newspaper
    • - the college radio station
    • - official athletic website
    • - Timeline of Black progress at the University of Maryland