University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park
Former names
Maryland Agricultural College (1856–1916)
Maryland State College (1916–1920)
Motto
Fatti maschii, parole femine (Italian) (unofficial)
Motto in English
"Strong deeds, gentle words"
TypePublic land-grant research university
EstablishedMarch 6, 1856; 168 years ago (1856-03-06)
Parent institution
University System of Maryland
AccreditationMSCHE
Academic affiliations
Endowment$997 million (2022)
PresidentDarryll Pines
ProvostJennifer King Rice
Academic staff
4,610 (Fall 2016)
Administrative staff
5,481 (Fall 2016)
Students41,200 (Fall 2018)
Undergraduates30,762 (Fall 2018)
Postgraduates10,438 (Fall 2018)
Location, ,
United States

38°59′17″N 76°56′35″W / 38.988°N 76.943°W / 38.988; -76.943
CampusLarge suburb, 1,340 acres (5.4 km2)
NewspaperThe Diamondback
ColorsRed, white, gold, and black
   
NicknameTerrapins
Sporting affiliations
MascotTestudo
Websiteumd.edu

The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. It is also the largest university in both the state and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Its 12 schools and colleges offer over 200 degree-granting programs, including 113 undergraduate majors, 107 master's programs, and 83 doctoral programs. UMD is a member of the Association of American Universities and competes in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

The University of Maryland's proximity to Washington, D.C., has resulted in many research partnerships with the federal government; faculty receive research funding and institutional support from many agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and has been labeled a "Public Ivy".

In 2016, the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore formalized their strategic partnership after their collaboration aimed to create more innovative medical, scientific, and educational programs, as well as greater research grants and joint faculty appointments than either campus has been able to accomplish on its own. According to the National Science Foundation, the university spent a combined $1.14 billion on research and development in 2021, ranking it 17th among American universities. As of 2021, the operating budget of the University of Maryland is approximately $2.2 billion.

Northeast entrance to the University of Maryland Campus

History

Early history

Charles Benedict Calvert (1808–1864), founder of the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856, the predecessor to UMD

On March 6, 1856, the forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College. Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert (1808–1864), a future U.S. Representative (Congressman) and descendant of the first Lord Baltimore, purchased 420 acres (1.7 km2) of the Riversdale Mansion estate nearby today's College Park, Maryland. Later that year, Calvert founded the school and was the acting president from 1859 to 1860. On October 5, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College. The school became a land grant college in February 1864.

Civil War

Morrill Hall, built in 1898, is the oldest academic building on campus.

During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers under Brigadier General Bradley Tyler Johnson moved past the college on July 12, 1864, as part of Jubal Early's raid on Washington, D.C. By the end of the war, financial problems forced the administrators to sell off 200 acres (81 ha) of land, and the continuing decline in enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. The campus was used as a boys' preparatory school for the next two years.

The Maryland legislature assumed half ownership of the school in 1866. The college thus became, in part, a state institution. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In 1868, the former Confederate admiral Franklin Buchanan was appointed president of the school. Enrollment grew to 80 at the time of his resignation, and the school soon paid off its debt. In 1873, Samuel Jones, a former Confederate Major General, became president of the college.

Twenty years later, the federally-funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. During this same period, 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 forestry board. Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.

Great Fire of 1912

The campus during The Great Fire of 1912

On November 29, 1912, a fire destroyed student housing, school records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. There were no injuries or fatalities, and all but two students returned to the university and insisted on classes continuing. A new administration building was not built until the 1940s.

20th century

The University of Maryland campus as it appeared in 1938 before the dramatic expansion engineered by President Byrd

The state took control of the school in 1916 and renamed it Maryland State College. That year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9, 1920, the college became part of the existing University of Maryland, replacing St. John's College, Annapolis as the university's undergraduate campus. In the same year, the graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees and the university's enrollment reached 500 students. In 1925 the university was accredited by the Association of American Universities.

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. Before 1951, many black students in Maryland were enrolled at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.

In 1957, President Wilson H. Elkins pushed to increase the university's academic standards. His efforts resulted in creating 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.

On October 19, 1957, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended her first and only college football game at the University of Maryland after expressing interest in seeing a typically American sport during her first tour of the United States. The Maryland Terrapins beat the North Carolina Tar Heels 21 to 7 in the historical game now referred to as "The Queen's Game".

Memorial Chapel

Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at The University of Maryland 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. Like many colleges during the Vietnam War, the university was the site of student protests and had curfews enforced by the National Guard.

In a massive restructuring of the state's higher education system in 1988, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University of Maryland System (later changed to the University System of Maryland in 1997). It was formally named the University of Maryland, College Park. All five campuses in the former network were designated distinct campuses in the new system. 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.

In 1994, the National Archives at College Park completed construction and opened on a parcel of land adjoining the campus donated by the University of Maryland, after lobbying by President William Kirwan and congressional leaders to foster academic collaboration between the institutions.

21st century

In 2004, the university began constructing the 150-acre (61 ha) "M Square Research Park", which includes facilities affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense, Food and Drug Administration, and the new National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, affiliated with The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In May 2010, ground was broken on a new $128-million, 158,068-square-foot (14,685.0 m2) Physical Science Complex, including an advanced quantum science laboratory.

The university suffered multiple data breaches in 2014. The first resulted in the loss of over 300,000 student and faculty records. A second data breach occurred several months later. The second breach was investigated by the FBI and Secret Service and found to be done by David Helkowski. Despite the attribution, no charges were filed. As a result of the data breaches, the university offered free credit protection for five years to the students and faculty affected.

In 2012, the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore united under the MPowering the State initiative to leverage the strengths of both institutions. The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership Act of 2016 officially formalized this partnership.

The University of Maryland's University District Plan, developed in 2011 under President Wallace Loh and the College Park City Council, seeks to make the City of College Park a top 20 college town by 2020 by improving housing and development, transportation, public safety, local pre-K–12 education, and supporting sustainability projects. As of 2018, the university is involved with over 30 projects and 1.5 million square feet of development as part of its Greater College Park Initiative, worth over $1 billion in public-private investments.

In 2017, the university received a record-breaking donation of $219.5 million from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, ranking among the country's largest philanthropic gifts to a public university.

Darryll J. Pines became the 34th president of the university in 2020. Pines was a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the university before becoming president.

In 2021, the university announced it had raised $1.5 billion in donations since 2018.

Academics

Profile

As of 2023, The University of Maryland ranked #46 in National Universities and #19 in Top Public Schools in the United States. The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in thirteen colleges and schools:

Faculty

The university's faculty has included four Nobel Prize laureates. The earliest recipient (1956), was Juan Ramón Jiménez, a Spanish language and literature professor. Four decades later, physics professor William Daniel Phillips won a prize in physics for his contributions to laser cooling. In 2005, Thomas Schelling was awarded the prize in economics for his contributions to game theory. In 2006, John C. Mather was awarded the prize in physics alongside George Smoot for their work in the discovery of blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation. In addition, two University of Maryland alumni are Nobel Prize laureates; Herbert Hauptman won the 1985 prize in chemistry, and Raymond Davis Jr. won the 2002 prize in physics.

The university has many notable academics. Professor of mathematics, Sergei Novikov won the Fields Medal in 1970, followed by alumnus Charles Fefferman in 1978. Alumnus George Dantzig won the 1975 National Medal of Science for his work in the field of linear programming. Professor of physics Michael Fisher won the Wolf Prize in 1980 (together with Kenneth G. Wilson and Leo Kadanoff) and the IUPAP Boltzmann Medal in 1983. James A. Yorke, a distinguished university professor of mathematics and physics and chair of the mathematics department, won the 2003 Japan Prize for his work in chaotic systems. In 2013, professor of physics Sylvester James Gates was awarded the National Medal of Science.

Research

UMD is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In FY 2020, the university spent about 1.103 billion dollars in total R&D expenditures, ranking it 16th in the nation.

On October 14, 2004, the university added 150 acres (61 ha) in an attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C. Capital Beltway, formerly known as "M Square" and now known as the "Discovery District."

Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology

Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Security Agency.

The Space Systems Laboratory researches human-robotic interaction for astronautics applications and includes the only neutral buoyancy facility at a university.

The Joint Global Change Research Institute was formed in 2001 by the University of Maryland and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The institute focuses on multidisciplinary approaches to climate change research.

The Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) was formed in 1985 at the University of Maryland. CALCE is dedicated to providing a knowledge and resource base to support the development of electronic components, products, and systems.

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) launched in 2005 as one of the Centers of Excellence supported by the Department of Homeland Security in the United States. START is focused on the scientific study of the causes and consequences of terrorism in the United States and worldwide.

Living-Learning Programs

A stairway in South Campus

The university hosts "living-learning" programs (LLPs) that allow students with similar academic interests to live in the same residential community take specialized courses and perform research in those areas of expertise. These include CIVICUS, focused on politics and community service; Hinman CEOs, an entrepreneurship program; and the Language House, where students learning a shared target language live together. Several LLPs exist under the university's Honors College, with focuses in topics including cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, and life sciences. College Park Scholars is another LLP umbrella that includes programs in the arts, public health, and legal thought, among other things.

Admissions

Undergraduate

Undergraduate admissions statistics
2022 entering
classChange vs.
2017

Admit rate34.3
(Neutral decrease −10.2)
Yield rate24.4
(Decrease −3.1)
Test scores middle 50%*
SAT Total1380-1520
(among 49% of FTFs)
ACT Composite31-34
(among 8% of FTFs)
  • *Among students who chose to submit

Admission to Maryland is rated "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report. For the Class of 2026 (enrolled fall 2022), Maryland received 56,766 applications and accepted 19,451 (34.3%). Of those accepted, 4,742 enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 24.4%. Maryland's freshman retention rate is 95.5%, with 88.3% going on to graduate within six years.

Of the 34% of the incoming freshman class who submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1340–1490. Of the 9% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 30 and 34.

The University of Maryland, College Park is a college sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 58 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 69 freshman students were National Merit Scholars.

Fall First-Time Freshman Statistics
2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Applicants 56,766 50,306 32,211 32,987 33,461 33,907
Admits 19,451 20,382 16,437 14,560 15,760 15,081
Admit rate 34.3 40.5 51.1 44.1 47.1 44.5
Enrolled 4,742 4,861 4,313 4,285 4,712 4,141
Yield rate 24.4 23.8 26.2 29.4 30.0 27.5
ACT composite*
(out of 36)
31–34
(8%)
30–34
(9%)
29–34
(28%)
29–33
(31%)
28–33
(35%)
29–33
(45%)
SAT composite*
(out of 1600)
1380–1520
(49%)
1340–1490
(34%)
1290–1460
(84%)
1290–1460
(82%)
1290–1480
(81%)
1290–1470
(75%)
* middle 50% range
percentage of first-time freshmen who chose to submit

In 2020, the university announced it was joining the Common App. Beginning with the 2017-18 admissions cycle, the University of Maryland uses the application provided by The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success. From 2026, the University of Maryland will make gender X option available on forms and documents alongside male and female options for student enrollment - as announced in May 2022.

Rankings

Academic rankings
National
ARWU28
Forbes34
U.S. News & World Report46
Washington Monthly65
WSJ / College Pulse75
Global
ARWU50
QS169=
THE114
U.S. News & World Report57

USNWR graduate school rankings

Biological Sciences 62
Business 44
Chemistry 41
Clinical Psychology 33
Computer Science 16
Criminology 1
Earth Sciences 28
Economics 21
Education 27
Engineering 20
English 30
Fine Arts 110
History 27
Library & Information Studies 8
Mathematics 22
Physics 14
Political Science 29
Psychology 39
Public Affairs 32
Public Health 32
Sociology 24
Speech–Language Pathology 16

The university is tied for 46th in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings of "National Universities" across the United States, and it is ranked tied for 19th nationally among public universities. The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Maryland as 43rd in the world in 2015. The 2017–2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Maryland 69th worldwide. The 2016/17 QS World University Rankings ranked Maryland 131st worldwide.

The university was ranked among Peace Corps' 25 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges for the tenth consecutive year in 2020. The University of Maryland is ranked among Teach for America's Top 20 Colleges and Universities, contributing the greatest number of graduating seniors to its 2017 teaching corps. Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked the University 10th for in-state students and 16th for out-of-state students in its 2019 Best College Value ranking. Money Magazine ranked the university 1st in the state of Maryland for public colleges in its 2019 Best College for Your Money ranking.

For the fourth consecutive year in 2015, the university was ranked 1st in the U.S. for the number of Boren Scholarship recipients – with nine students receiving awards for intensive international language study. The university is ranked as a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. Students and Scholars for the 2017–2018 academic year by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

In 2017, the University of Maryland was ranked among the top 50 universities in the 2018 Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report based on its high academic research performance and global reputation.

In 2021, the university was ranked among the top 10 universities in The Princeton Review's annual survey of the Top Schools for Innovation & Entrepreneurship; this was the sixth consecutive such ranking.

Campus

Map
Map of the University of Maryland, College Park's campus
 Academic instruction
 Administration and services
 Arts venues
 Housing and dining
 Open spaces
 Sports and recreation
  University of Maryland, College Park boundary
McKeldin Mall in autumn

The university's campus is noted for its red-brick Georgian buildings and its large central lawn, named McKeldin Mall and nicknamed "The Mall", which is the largest academic mall in the United States. White columns decorate many buildings, with around 770 columns on campus. Spanning the university's 1,250 acres (5.1 km2) are 7,500 documented trees and garden plantings, leading the American Public Gardens Association to designate the campus the University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Garden in 2008. The designation has allowed the university to showcase species and gardens, including native plantings. There are arboretum tours, such as the centralized Tree Walking Tour, which is based around McKeldin Mall and features 56 specimen trees.

There are also nearly 400 acres (1.6 km2) of urban forest on campus and the Arbor Day Foundation has named the university to its 'Tree Campus USA' list. The recreational Paint Branch Trail, part of the Anacostia Tributary Trails system, cuts through campus, as does the Paint Branch stream, a tributary of the Northeast Branch Anacostia River.

McKeldin Mall serves as the center of campus. On the east and west of McKeldin Mall lies the Thomas V. Miller, Jr. Administration Building and McKeldin Library. Academic buildings surround McKeldin Mall on the north and south ends. They are the homes to many departments in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. West of McKeldin Mall is the North Hill Community, and south of McKeldin Mall lies Morrill Hall and the Morrill Quad, which was the original center of campus. South of the Morrill Quad are the South Hill and South Campus Commons Communities, and the Southwest Mall and the Robert H. Smith School of Business to the southwest. Running parallel to McKeldin Mall to the north is Campus Drive, the main thoroughfare through campus.

The Armory
Campus walkway in the winter

Another thoroughfare, Regents Drive, runs perpendicular to McKeldin Mall and is home to the Memorial Chapel and the Campus Farms. Regents Drive crosses Campus Drive at the campus hallmark, "M" Circle, which is a traffic circle with a large "M" formed by flowers in its center. The northeast quadrant of campus, formed by Campus and Regent Drives, is home to many of natural sciences and applied sciences departments.

The Rossborough Inn, which, was built during the years 1798 to 1812, is the oldest building on campus (and is older than the university itself). There are five regularly used entrances to campus; the main entrance, off of Baltimore Avenue and onto Campus Drive, is referred to as North Gate and features the Gatehouse, an ornate gateway honoring the university's founders. The 140-acre (57 ha), 18-hole University of Maryland Golf Course sits at the northern edge of campus, as does the Observatory.

An Office of Sustainability was created in the summer of 2007 after University President Dan Mote became a charter signatory of the American College and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The university's first Leed Gold building, Knight Hall, opened in April 2010 as the new home for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. In 2021, President Pines pledged that the University of Maryland would achieve carbon neutrality by Earth Day 2025.

Student life

Student body composition as of May 2, 2022
Race and ethnicity Total
White 47% 47
 
Asian 19% 19
 
Black 12% 12
 
Hispanic 10% 10
 
Other 8% 8
 
Foreign national 4% 4
 
Economic diversity
Low-income 14% 14
 
Affluent 86% 86
 

Residential life

There are two main residential areas on campus, North Campus and South Campus, further divided into seven residential communities. North Campus is made up of Cambridge Community (which consists of five residence halls and houses the College Park Scholars program), Denton Community (which currently consists of four halls, including Oakland Hall, which opened in the fall semester of 2011), and Ellicott Community (consisting of three halls). The new Heritage community features two new halls for students (Pyon-Chen Hall and Johnson-Whittle Hall) and a new dining hall. Pyon-Chen opened in 2021 and Johnson-Whittle opened in 2022.

South Campus includes the North Hill Community, made up of nine Georgian-style halls and Prince Frederick Hall (which opened in the fall semester of 2014) immediately west of McKeldin Mall, South Hill Community, made up of fourteen small residence halls for upper-level students, Leonardtown Community, which offers apartment-style living and is further divided into Old Leonardtown (consisting of six buildings) and New Leonardtown (also composed of six buildings), the South Campus Commons Community, which consists of seven apartment-style buildings (the seventh and most recent building being opened in January 2010), and the Courtyards, a garden-style apartment community in north campus consisting of seven buildings.

Dining

There are three dining halls on campus. In addition, a food court in the Stamp Student Union provides many fast food dining options for the university community. The university's newest dining facility, Yahentamitsi Dining Hall, is the first building on campus named in honor of Indigenous people. The word “Yahentamitsi” means A Place to Go to Eat in the native Algonquian language.

Transportation

College Park-University of Maryland Metro station provides access to Downtown, Washington, D.C.

The university is accessible through the three airports in the greater Washington metropolitan area: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. A small public airport in College Park, College Park Airport, lies nearly adjacent to campus, but operations are limited. This airport is the world's oldest continually operating airport[non-primary source needed] and the site of many significant aviation firsts.

A free shuttle service, known as Shuttle–UM, is available for UMD students, faculty, staff, and some residents of College Park and Greenbelt. The university is served by an off-campus stop on the Washington Metro's Green and Yellow Lines called College Park – University of Maryland. The station is also served by the Camden Line of the MARC Train and Route 104 of the Shuttle-UM bus system.

The university has attempted to make the campus more bike-friendly by installing covered bike parking and bike lockers on campus, introducing a bike-sharing program, and plans to add more bike lanes on campus. As of Spring 2011, the university has encouraged cycling on campus by installing covered bike storage outside of the newly built Oakland dorm as well as security lockers in the Mowatt Lane Garage.

In 2011, the university signed on to the state's Purple Line program. The Purple Line route will have five stops on and around the university's campus: M Square, the College Park Metro station, the main entrance to the campus on Route 1, near Stamp Student Union on Campus Drive, and on the other edge of campus on Adelphi Road, along with a parallel running bike path.

The Diamondback

Atrium of Stamp Student Union, near the food court and co-op

The Diamondback is an independent student newspaper. It was founded in 1910 as The Triangle and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the Diamondback terrapin, which became the school mascot in 1933. The newspaper is published daily during the spring and fall semesters, with a print circulation of 17,000 and annual advertising revenues of over $1 million.

For the 2008–2009 school year, The Diamondback earned a Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists, placing second nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and first in its region in the same category. Three years earlier the newspaper had finished third place nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and first in its region.

Notable journalists who have been with the paper include David Simon of HBO's The Wire and NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street; Jayson Blair, editor-in-chief in 1996 (he did not graduate, taking a job with The New York Times and then leaving amid a plagiarism scandal); Norman Chad, who was editor-in-chief in 1978; cartoonists Jeff Kinney, who created the Diary of a Wimpy Kid fiction series and whose Igdoof strip appeared in The Diamondback; Aaron McGruder, who first published his cartoon The Boondocks in The Diamondback; and Frank Cho, who began his career with the popular University Squared for The Diamondback.

Other student activities

WMUC-FM (90.5 FM) is the university's non-commercial radio station, staffed by UMD students and volunteers. WMUC is a freeform and sports broadcasting station broadcast at 10 watts. Its broadcasts can be heard throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Notable WMUC alumni include Connie Chung, Bonnie Bernstein, Peter Rosenberg and Aaron McGruder.

Thomas V. Miller, Jr. Administration Building, seen from the end of the reflecting pool

Approximately 15% of men and 20% of women in Maryland's undergraduate student body are involved in Greek life.

Athletics

XFINITY Center, home of Maryland basketball

The university sponsors varsity athletic teams in 20 men's and women's sports. The teams, named the "Terrapins", represent Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I competition. Maryland became a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1952 but left to join the Big Ten Conference on July 1, 2014. As of 2017, Maryland's athletic teams have been awarded 44 national championships by the NCAA, USILA, AIAW, and NCA. In 2008 and 2010, The Princeton Review named the University of Maryland's athletic facilities the best in the nation. The Terrapins nickname (often shortened to "Terps") was coined by former university president, football coach, and athletic director H. C. "Curly" Byrd in 1932. The mascot is a diamondback terrapin named Testudo, which is Latin for "tortoise". Since the early 20th century, the school athletic colors have been some combination of those on the Maryland state flag: red, white, black, and gold. Maryland is the only NCAA Division I school to have four official school colors.

Basketball and football

Maryland Stadium on game day

Men's basketball is the most popular sport at the university. Long-time head coach Lefty Driesell began the now nationwide tradition of "Midnight Madness" in 1971. Beginning in 1989, alumnus Gary Williams revived the program, which was struggling in the wake of Len Bias's death and NCAA rules infractions. Williams led Maryland basketball to national prominence with two Final Four appearances, and in 2002, a national championship. On February 7, 2006, Williams won his 349th game to surpass Driesell and became Maryland's all-time leader among basketball coaches. Mark Turgeon became head coach in 2011. Maryland football is also popular at the university. The Terrapins were awarded the national championship by the wire services in 1953, and 1951, by several retroactive selectors. Women's basketball has become one of the most celebrated sports on campus, due to significant success in the Brenda Frese era. After experiencing a period of national prominence under head coach, Chris Weller in the 1980s, including a pair of trips to the Final Four in 1982 and 1989, the Maryland Terrapins reached their full potential in 2006, winning the NCAA national championship. In the ACC, Maryland was regularly a threat to win regular season and conference tournament championships, doing so on five and ten occasions, respectively. Since joining the Big Ten in the 2014–2015 season, Maryland has featured in every Big Ten Tournament Championship game (as of 2021), winning five titles, and has won six of seven regular season championships.

Lacrosse

Maryland fields one of the nation's premier lacrosse programs.

Maryland men's lacrosse remains one of the sport's top programs since its beginnings as a squad in 1865. The team most recently won the national championship in 2022, completing an undefeated season, the first since Virginia in 2006, and the first to go undefeated across 18 games. The team has won ten USILA and NCAA national championships since its promotion to varsity status in 1924 and is a regular fixture in the NCAA tournament. The Maryland women's lacrosse team has won 15 national championships, the most of any program in the nation. The team has produced the National Player of the Year/Tewaaraton Award winner eight times, more than any other collegiate program. The Terrapins have also made the most NCAA tournament appearances, won the most tournament games, and made the most NCAA championship game appearances of any program. They most recently won the NCAA championship in 2019.

Soccer

The men's soccer team has won four NCAA Division I College Cup national championships, most recently in 2018. Under the guidance of head coach Sasho Cirovski, the soccer team has reached nine Final Fours and won three College Cups since 1997. The soccer team has developed a large, devoted fan base among students and the local community. The attendance record at Ludwig Field was set in 2015 when 8,449 fans saw Maryland win over top-ranked UCLA in extra time. The annual total attendance increased dramatically from 12,710 in 1995 to 35,631 in 2008.

Field hockey

The Maryland field hockey team has won a total of eight NCAA national championships and 13 conference championships (10 in the ACC and 5 in the Big Ten).

Marching band

The Mighty Sound of Maryland marching band attends all home football games and provides pre-game performances. During basketball season, the marching band provides music in the stands.

Notable alumni


Kappa Kappa Gamma Memorial Fountain in front of the Riggs Alumni Center

Notable alumni include House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer; Google co-founder Sergey Brin; The Muppets creator Jim Henson; The Wire creator David Simon; former NFL Quarterback Norman "Boomer" Esiason; CBS host Gayle King; journalist Connie Chung; and Seinfeld co-creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David. Prominent alumni in business include Ed Snider, former chairman of Comcast Spectacor and former owner of the Philadelphia Flyers; journalist Jim Walton, former president and CEO of CNN; Kevin Plank, founder and executive chairman of the athletic apparel company Under Armour; Chris Kubasik, former president of Lockheed Martin; and Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Journalist Carl Bernstein, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for his coverage of the Watergate scandal, attended the university but did not graduate.

An arched gateway on campus, located between Montgomery Hall and South Campus Commons #3

Attendees within the fields of science and mathematics are Nobel laureates Raymond Davis Jr., 2002 winner in Physics; Herbert Hauptman, 1985 winner in Chemistry, and Fields Medal winner Charles Fefferman. Other alumni include George Dantzig, considered the father of linear programming; late NASA astronaut Judith Resnik, who died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger during the launch of mission STS-51-L; and NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin.

Several donors have distinguished themselves for their sizable gifts to the university. Businessman Robert H. Smith, who graduated from the university in 1950 with a degree in accounting, gave 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, who graduated with an engineering degree in 1950, donated over $45 million to the college of engineering, which also bears his name. Another engineering donor, Jeong H. Kim, 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, a media figure, donated $10 million to the College of Journalism. Robert E. Fischell, physicist, inventor, and holder of more than 200 U.S. and foreign medical patents donated $30 million to the A. James Clark School of Engineering, establishing the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Brendan Iribe, a co-founder of Oculus VR, donated $31 million to the university in 2014 towards a new computer science building and scholarships.

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Other consists of Multiracial Americans & those who prefer not to say.
  2. ^ The percentage of students who received an income-based federal Pell grant intended for low-income students.
  3. ^ The percentage of students who are a part of the American middle class at the bare minimum.

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