Friday, October 29
Plenary Session
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Memorial Fieldhouse
“Beating the Odds: Higher Education’s Role in Preparing Minority Students for Success in
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)”
Plenary Speaker:
President Freeman Hrabowski III University of Maryland Baltimore County
President Hrabowski of University of Maryland Baltimore County has been recognized for his
effective stewardship of this 36-year-old institution. He is a national authority on the issue of
recruiting and nurturing excellence in mathematics and science among African-Americans at the
college level. This endeavor represents an effective response to the enduring national challenge
of providing broad access among historically underrepresented groups to college education and
to the preparation for leadership in a range of disciplines including mathematics and the sciences.
This issue is at the heart of our national deliberations about higher education and its partners and
their role in the nation’s effort to sustain a thriving democracy. According to the Baltimore Sun,
President Hrabowski undertakes this task with “energy and missionary zeal.” Hrabowski’s
leadership and innovative partnerships with private business to address this issue of common
concern is exemplary. He shows the way for any effort committed to engaging the broader polity
in focused and informed approaches to solving longstanding problems of underrepresentation
and cultural isolation among some groups in the society.
Panel Discussion with Regional College & University Presidents
Moderator:
President Ronald Thomas, University of Puget Sound
Panelists:
President Freeman Hrabowski III, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
President Lyle Quasim, Bates College
Chancellor Patricia Spakes, University of Washington, Tacoma
Executive Director Artee Young, The Evergreen State College, Tacoma Campus