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LeaderNotes

A newsletter for Foundation Directors and friends of higher education in Maryland
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Volume 4, Number 6Fall 2010
Dear Friends and Colleagues:

We are currently engaged in a full agenda here at the USM Foundation.  At the upcoming November 12 meeting, members of the Foundation Board will be hearing about the new USM strategic plan which will guide Maryland public higher education for the next ten years.  Some of the issues which will figure prominently are access and completion, affordability, and workforce development.  In June, the Board provided some great insights that have been very helpful to our planning efforts so far.  I will continue to keep you apprised as the plan comes together.

We are very much looking forward to the arrival of incoming University of Maryland President Wallace Loh and his wife, Barbara, who will begin in his new role on November 1 (see articles).  Dr. Loh's selection is an indication of the search committee's commitment to the continued elevation of the university on both a national and international level.  I know you all will join me in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Loh and his wife as he joins the University System of Maryland family.

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the loss of two Foundation Board members and friends recently.  Last month, we were stunned by the sudden passing of my dear friend and longtime USM Foundation board member, Dr. Erv Raffel.  Erv and I first met in 1985 when I served as Director of Alumni Services at the University of Maryland, College Park.  He was living in the greater Cleveland, Ohio, area at the time, running a very successful periodontal practice.  Erv's avocation outside of his family and work was the University of Maryland, his beloved alma mater.  He was the most enthusiastic Maryland ambassador I knew in the State of Ohio.  Erv worked hard to recruit an average of 20 or more students each year from the Cleveland area to attend Maryland.  He was relentless in his pursuit of introducing promising young people to the possibilities of a world class education at Maryland.  It was not unusual for Erv to call me two or three times a day in his efforts to help to open doors for these students.

Erv became an active member of the USM Foundation Board in 1990, and served as an honorary director since 1999.  Erv loved his Terps, and he could be seen at most home and many away basketabll and football games (see article below for more biographical information.)  In addition to Erv's commitment to the University of Maryland and the USM Foundation, he was simply an incredible person who will be greatly missed by all who knew him.  Condolences may be sent to Erv's wife, Bonnie, at 2409 Still Forest Road, Baltimore, MD 21208.

James P. Low, a founding member of the USM Foundation Board in 1979 and an Honorary Director since 1995, passed away on October 11.  He was a dedicated member of the Committee on Directors, now the Governance Committee, for many years.  Jim was a pioneer of association management and advocacy.  He was most recently CEO of Dynamics America, Inc, and before that, he was the long-time president of ASAE, the American Society of Association Executives (see below for more biographical information.) 

Jim was a 1954 graduate of the University of Maryland, where he met his wife, Patti.  He was later a proud Terp parent when his daughter, Lisa, attended Maryland.  In addition to Patti and Lisa, he is also survived by daughter, Lori; two sisters; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.  Condolences may be sent to the family at 460 River Bend Road, Great Falls, VA 22066-4016.

As always, please contact me at raley@usmd.edu with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,
 
Leonard R. Raley

Investment Performance as of September 30, 2010

 

 

Endowment

S&P 500

Composite Benchmark

 

80/20

 

60/40

Latest Mo

3.9%

8.9%

6.0%

7.2%

5.4%

Fiscal 2010

5.8%

11.3%

8.1%

9.5%

7.8%

3 Yr AACR

-4.3%

-7.2%

-7.6%

-3.9%

-0.8%

5 Yr AACR

3.7%

0.6%

0.7%

2.1%

3.3%


Campaign Progress

Institution

Announced

Goal

8/31/10

Bowie

11/08

$15M

  $7.3M

Coppin

10/07

$15M

$5.4M

Frostburg

10/08

$15M

$13.6M

Salisbury

6/06

$35M

$35.6M

Towson

11/06

$50M

$45.4M

UB

3/09

$40M

$37.0M

UMB

10/07

$650M

$404.0M

UMBC

9/06

$100M

$107.3M

UMCES

11/07

$8M

$5.8M

UMCP

10/06

$1B

$752.6M

UMES

9/06

$14M

$12.5M

UMUC

2/08

$26M

$21.6M

USM Federated


-


$1.7B


 $1.47B
This Month's Board Member Profile
Dena Hudgins Gallagher
Vice President of Administration
The Edgar Lomax Company

Dena Hudgins Gallagher was elected to the USM Foundation board in November, 2003.  Ms. Gallagher joined The Edgar Lomax Company (ELC), an investment advisory firm, as vice president of administration and assistant portfolio manager in January 1996. In this role, she manages the day-to-day operations of the firm and maintains model investment portfolios used for investing clients' accounts. Ms. Gallagher also serves on ELC's investment and management committees and is its corporate secretary and controller. Prior to joining ELC, she was a business analyst and operations manager for Fidelity Investments.

In 1992, Ms. Gallagher graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with a bachelor's degree in economics and a certificate in finance. The following year she graduated from Loyola College with an master of science in finance. In 1998, Ms. Gallagher was granted the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Further, she is a licensed securities representative and investment advisor.
Wallace D. Loh Appointed President of
University of Maryland, College Park
Clifford M. Kendall, chair of the USM Board of Regents, has announced the appointment of Wallace D. Loh as president of the University of Maryland. Loh is currently executive vice president and provost of The University of Iowa. His appointment is effective November 1, 2010.  

Loh has more than 30 years of experience in higher education. As executive vice president and provost of The University of Iowa since 2008, Loh has oversight responsibilities for budgets, personnel, and planning in the university's 11 colleges and other academic units. The university enrolls 30,000 students and employs 4,895 faculty members. Its FY 2011 budget totals $2.8 billion, including $440 million in sponsored research. 

Before joining The University of Iowa, Loh served as dean and professor of public service and psychology at Seattle University, director of policy and chief policy adviser for the State of Washington's Office of the Governor, vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of faculties at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and dean and professor of law at the University of Washington Law School.

Loh was born in Shanghai, China. He emigrated with his family to Lima, Peru, graduated from high school there, and emigrated alone to Iowa in 1961. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, an M.A. in psychology from Cornell University, and a B.A. in psychology from Grinnell College.

Loh and his wife Barbara have been married for 25 years. They have a daughter, Andrea, who is in college.

Loh will succeed C.D. (Dan) Mote Jr., who stepped down from the presidency on August 31 after leading the university through a 12-year period of steady advancement to become one of the nation's top public universities. Mote will continue at the university in his academic appointment as Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering in the A. James Clark School of Engineering. 

Incoming President Loh and Mrs. Loh Make Gift to Help Students Stay at the University of Maryland
Incoming University of Maryland President, Wallace D. Loh, and his wife, Barbara, recently pledged $100,000 to help need-based undergraduate and graduate students stay in school. The gift will be spread over four years. Of the first year's gift, $10,000 will support Keep Me Maryland, the university's emergency student fund. Dr. and Mrs. Loh have also become Lifetime Members of the University of Maryland Alumni Association with a gift of $1,000.

Typically, a relatively modest award, between $500 and $1,500, can make a difference between a student dropping out and remaining in school. 

In creating Keep Me Maryland (KMM), the University of Maryland made an appeal across the campus community and among alumni and friends for scholarship and student assistance beyond other campaigns. KMM became part of the university's $1 billion capital campaign, Great Expectations: The Campaign for Maryland, one-third of which is targeted for student support. More than than $500,000 has been raised to help Maryland students stay in school.

According to Brodie Remington, vice president for university relations, Dr. and Mrs. Loh's gift to KMM has been matched by others, with donors Murray and Suzanne Valenstein in the lead, to establish a $50,000 fund. This will be used to match dollar-for-dollar gifts from students and young alumni, and hence, the total raised will reach or exceed $100,000.
Family Establishes FSU Scholarship in Honor of their Mother, Margaret Ager Smith
When Henry Smith '75 was growing up in Prince George's County, his life was accompanied by a constant soundtrack: going to summer band camp, music practice, playing rock n' roll with his friends. "That rattled the window glass in the house, but my mom never said a discouraging word!" he laughed. "In addition to the individual musical pursuits of my siblings and me, our family - my mom, my dad, the kids and various relatives - regularly had sing-a-longs around the piano with my mom, with everyone singing and playing something - even if it was the spoons!"

Smith's mom, Margaret Ager Smith, was indeed at the heart of the family's long-standing love for music. She began with the basics, making sure Smith and his two brothers and sister were all introduced to music early on with piano lessons and later encouraging them to play different instruments at their schools and taking them to lessons all over town. 

When Smith and his wife, Donna Rae, read a story about Frostburg State University's Charlie and Wanda Steiner Memorial Scholarship, they were "inspired to honor my mom - and to thank her for her lifelong musical inspiration - in a similar way," he said. So they established the Margaret Ager Smith Music Scholarship, which supports students interested in majoring or minoring in music, with preference for applicants from Prince George's County. "We presented the news about the scholarship to my mom as an 86th birthday present - telling her that we were looking for an appropriate gift for the woman who has everything but who really loves music," Smith said.

"She was truly speechless when she heard that we planned to honor her with a scholarship in her name, and she was absolutely delighted to learn that it was focused on music students, and kids from Prince George's County." It's a fitting tribute to his mom that also reflects Smith and his wife's personal passion for music and their roots in Prince George's County. "My wife and I wanted to try to use my mom's scholarship both to benefit students from the county where we all attended school, and also to try to encourage talented kids from Prince George's County to consider Frostburg as a college option," he said.

USM Schools Among Nation's Best in Latest U.S. News & World Report Rankings
USM schools have been recognized among the nation's top universities in the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report's annual college rankings.

According to the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges released August 17, 2010:

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) ranked No. 1 among "up-and-coming" national universities for the second straight year. 

The University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) finished No. 56 in the overall rankings of national universities. Its undergraduate business program ranked No. 19 in the country.

Towson University and Salisbury University were tied for 10th in the Public Regional Universities (North) category.

Towson ranked fifth in its peer assessment score, a survey of other college presidents provosts, and deans. Salisbury was ranked by the magazine for the 14th consecutive year.
The U.S News report is available here.
USM Regents Staff Awards Announced 
In September, USM Board of Regents Chairman Clifford Kendall and Chancellor William E. Kirwan honored winners of the 2010 USM Regents' Staff Awards. The awards recognize staff members who have made exceptional contributions to their organizations, students, and the university community.

 

Award winners are selected based on nominations and letters of support from colleagues, culminating in a formal recommendation from the Council of University System Staff, which provides non-faculty USM employees with a voice in system governance. Each award carries a $1,000 prize, provided by the institutions and the University System of Maryland Foundation. The following USM staff members were honored:

 

Regents' Staff Award for Outstanding Service to Students in an Academic or Residential Environment - Exempt: Mary Tola, Director of Health Services at Frostburg State University. Non-Exempt: Deborah Pusey, Program Management Specialist in the Financial Aid Office at Salisbury University.

 

Regents' Staff Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Institution or Unit - Exempt: Colleen Stump, associate vice president for University Advancement and director of publications at Frostburg State University. Non-Exempt: Myrle Combs, Business Services Specialist in the Student Affairs Division at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. 

Regents' Staff Award for Extraordinary Public Service to the University or to the Greater Community - Exempt: Kim Nechay, Director of Development at Salisbury University. Non-Exempt: Julia Heng with the University of Maryland Police Department at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

USM News Briefs
Governor Martin O'Malley has announced the appointment of Chancellor William E. "Brit" Kirwan to two education boards:  the Maryland Longitudinal Data System Center Governing Board and the Governor's P-20 Council of Maryland

Kevin Anderson has been hired as the new director of athletics at the University of Maryland, Acting President Nariman Farvardin and President-Designate Wallace Loh announced Saturday, September 4. Anderson comes to Maryland from the United States Military Academy, where he has directed Army's athletics department since 2004. At Army, Anderson has been responsible for a 25-sport program that served more than 900 cadet-athletes.

Ahmed El-Haggan of Coppin State University, Carol Espy-Wilson of the University of Maryland, College Park; Chris Geddes of the Institute of Fluorescence at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Ellyn Sheffield of Towson University have received The Daily Record "Innovator of the Year" award.  The awards will be presented at a dinner at the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore on October 21.  For more information and to purchase tickets, see the website.

The USM was among 15 institutions who will take the lead in planning collaborations across the United States as part of the National Science Foundation's Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) program.  Vice Chancellor for Environmental Sustainability and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science President Donald Boesch is the principal investigator for the project.  CCEP-I: MADE-CLEAR: Maryland Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment, and Research is a natural outgrowth of Maryland's and Delaware's shared regional climate change and education environments. The primary goal of the project is to build the partnerships among these two states' research and teaching universities, public schools, federal agencies, and public and private sectors required to implement an innovative P-20 climate change curriculum, create new pathways for teacher education, and promote public understanding of climate change.

E.R. Braithwaite - physicist, social worker, U.N. ambassador - received an honorary degree on September 14, during the University of Maryland Eastern Shore's annual Founders' Week convocation. Braithwaite is best known for writing To Sir, With Love, an autobiography of his experience teaching churlish teens at a private London school in the 1950s.  The book inspired a 1967 movie of the same name, starring Sidney Poitier, as well as the year's best-selling pop music song.

Towson University seniors Meredith Budner and Brooke Golden of the Tiger women's swimming and diving team have qualified to compete at the 2012 United States Swimming Olympic Trials. The 2012 United States Swimming Olympic Trials will be held from June 25 to July 2, 2012, at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Coppin State University has opened its second community health center in East Baltimore.  It has run a community health center on its campus in West Baltimore for 16 years.  The center has become an invaluable resource for underserved residents of the neighborhood.  The East BAltimore facility will provide similar services for neighborhood residents.  For more information, please see the article on the university website.

The University of Maryland's communications program now offers three new courses at the Universities at Shady Grove: Communication and Digital Media, Visual Communication and Web Design, and Selected Topics in Communication: Digital Communication & Strategic Message Design.
Staff News
USM Prospect Researcher Sapna Jacob and her husband, Varghese "Juby" Thomashave announced the birth of their first child, Mikael Thomas Varghese on September 2, 2010.  He was 19 inches long and 6 pounds, 10 ounces.
In Memoriam
Erwin S. Raffel, D.D.S.
USM Foundation Board member Erwin "Erv" Raffel, D.D.S. passed away suddently on September 13, 2010. 
 
Dr. Raffel was president of Dental One Associates for the last 10 years.  Prior to becoming president of Dental One, Dr. Raffel was a practicing periodontist in Cleveland, Ohio from 1963 until 1992. He has also been with Dental Practice Management and DentalCo in Baltimore, Maryland; Monarch Dental Corporation in Dallas, Texas; and Interdent in Sarasota, Florida.

Dr. Raffel was a member of the Cleveland State University development program, the Brandeis University Men's Committee, and the University of Maryland Alumni Association. He had also been a board member of Sinai Hospital, the University System of Maryland Foundation, the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, the Maryland Educational Foundation, the University of Maryland Student Athletic Council, and President of the Terrapin Club.

Dr. Raffel received his B.S. degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1956, and he graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1961.  He received a Certificate in Periodontology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963.

Dr. Raffel was the beloved husband of Bonnie Raffel (nee Kane); devoted father of Debbie Raffel of Arlington, Va., Cindy Dannenbaum of Villanova, Pa., and Betsy Bender of West Bloomfield, Mich.; dear father-in-law of Alan Dannenbaum and Steve Bender; devoted brother of Susan Steinberg of Charleston, S.C.; dear brother-in-law of Bernard Steinberg and Kathie Kraft; loving grandfather of Jordyn, Eric and Drew Dannenbaum, Joshua and Jayne Bender.

James P. Low
USM Foundation Board Member James P. Low, Chief Executive Officer of Dynamics America, Inc., passed away at his residence in Great Falls, Virginia, on Monday, October 11, 2010.  Mr. Low was a past president of ASAE - The Center for Association Leadership, a lifetime member of Congressional Country Club, a Third Degree member of Knights of Columbus, and an usher at St. Catherine of Siena. USM Foundation Board Member James P. Low, Chief Executive Officer of Dynamics America, Inc., passed away at his residence in Great Falls, Virginia, on Monday, October 11, 2010.  Mr. Low was a past president of ASAE - The Center for Association Leadership, a lifetime member of Congressional Country Club, a Third Degree member of Knights of Columbus, and an usher at St. Catherine of Siena.  

ASAE President and CEO John H. Graham, IV, released the following statement regarding Mr. Low's leadership:

 

"ASAE joins the association community as we mourn together the loss of our close friend and mentor, Jim Low.

Jim served as president of ASAE from 1965 to 1981 and accomplished a tremendous deal of work for our community. During his strong and dynamic tenure, he elevated the image of our profession and the important role associations play in America. His achievements and life-long commitment to the association profession left a significant mark on our community, and will continue to shape our work. Please join ASAE in expressing our sincere condolences to the Low Family."

Mr. Low was the beloved husband of Patricia M. Low for 53 years; devoted father of Lisa Lawson (Craig); and Lori Low (John LaMorte). He is also survived by his two sisters Angela Meyers and Mari Myers (Capt. Randy); seven grandchildren Marissa, Colin, Lea, James, Marshall, Joseph, Michael and one great-grandchild Tyler.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in memory of James Low to either HEROES, Inc., 1100 G Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20005 or St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.
Diana White
Editor
301-445-1999