Alumni & Giving
Events & Opportunities
Stay connected with fellow alumni and with your alma mater through an engaging mix of programs, activities and engagement opportunities.
BSOS Alumni
BSOS alumni from every department and discipline develop lasting relationships with one another—and with students, faculty, administrators and staff—that enrich their lives and their careers.
The Board of Visitors of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences advises the dean and other College leadership on a broad range of topics, and also serves the student and alumni communities.
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Karen Albert serves as the Vice President and Head of Internal Audit and Internal Control at Constellium. Constellium, headquartered in Paris, France, is a global leader in the manufacturing of high value-added aluminum products and solutions. She also serves as Chair of the Marian House board of directors since July 1, 2021. Karen has been involved with Marian House since 2008, when she joined the board and the advancement committee. Karen is a member of Executive Alliance, a Maryland-based organization focused on accelerating the success and leadership of accomplished women by expanding their impact and influence through advocacy, education, and mentorship. She was recognized as a Daily Record Top 100 Woman in 2020. |
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Brandon Cole is a Principal Cyber Security Analyst with the U.S. Army and is an 18-year member of the Intelligence Community. He previously served in engineering roles with Boeing and the U.S. Department of State. He and his wife also own and operate Choice Clinical Services, a group mental health practice with offices in College Park and Greenbelt serving the UMD community. The Coles established an endowed scholarship supporting the Department of Psychology in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences in 2018. The Taylor and Brandon Cole Student Experience Scholarship supports undergraduate student stipends for experiential learning opportunities. Mr. Cole is a life member of the UMD Alumni Association, serves as the current President of the BSOS Alumni Chapter Board and as the BSOS College Representative on the Alumni Association’s Board of Governors. He and his wife are both graduates of BSOS, The University of Maryland and have great passion for all things UMD. Go Terps! |
Steve Cooker |
Steve Cooker recently served as the executive vice president of Monster Worldwide’s Monster Government Solutions. In that role, he was responsible for Monster Worldwide’s global government business, and oversaw Monster Government Solutions as well as the Public Sector and Education programs. Additionally, Mr. Cooker manages Military.com, the largest online military and veteran resource with 10 million members. He also is an active member of key technology organizations including TechAmerica and the Information Technology Industry Council. Prior to joining Monster Worldwide, Mr. Cooker was vice president and general manager of IBM/ISS, a network security company. He held executive positions at Nortel and AT&T, and also served as president of ATT/NCR’s government business. Mr. Cooker served as chair of the BSOS Board of Visitors from 2017 to 2021. |
Dr. Yamalis Diaz, PSYC M.A. '05, Ph.D. '09 NYU Child Study Center, NYU Langone |
Dr. Yamalis Diaz is a Clinical Child Psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the NYU Child Study Center at NYU Langone. She joined NYU in 2011, after receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2009, and completing a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. |
Greg Feldman, GVPT '90 |
Greg Feldman serves as the President of Three Wire Systems and has 25+ years of experience in technology and telecom in the federal and commercial sectors. He leads with great vision and insight in developing market trends and builds opportunities that drive value for the organization, joint win scenarios with strategic partnerships, and most importantly solve key customer priorities. Founded in 2006, Three Wire Systems is the leader in innovative and efficient technology solutions for government agencies and large enterprise corporations. Their foundation has been built upon solid program management and process improvement principles. With those principles in mind, Three Wire Systems designs solutions to support business goals and deliver superior results in a cost-efficient manner. Greg’s son Wesley is a current student in BSOS. In March 2021, Greg created the Feldman Family Maryland Promise Scholarship supporting undergraduate students in BSOS. |
Felecia Love Greer, B.A. PSYC ’79 |
Felecia Love Greer recently served as the Vice President for Large Customer Strategic Solutions and Customer Advocacy with Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI), a regional energy holding company that provides utility service to approximately 2 million customers. In this role, she interacted directly with customers as well as governmental and regulatory officials on a variety of energy issues with the goal of ensuring customer satisfaction. Prior to that, Ms. Greer was a group manager in PHI’s Regulatory Affairs Division, where she directed managers responsible for regulatory relationships, case filings, compliance and reporting. Before joining PHI, Ms. Greer worked for the Maryland Public Service Commission, where she held a number of executive and legal positions. In addition, she clerked for the Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland; the Office of the Attorney General and the Honorable Clifton J. Gordy, Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Ms. Greer also held various management positions with Shawmut Bank, National Bank of Washington and Maryland National Bank. Ms. Greer currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Calverton School; the Board of Directors of the Capital Area Food Bank and the Washington Performing Arts. |
Matthew J. Haas |
Matthew J. Haas is senior vice president of tenant representation for Jones Lang LaSalle. He has more than 17 years of commercial real estate experience. Previously, he was a principal with the Baltimore office of Colliers International. Among numerous awards and points of recognition, Mr. Haas has been named CoStar’s Power Broker of the Year, has been listed among the Baltimore Business Journal’s list of “Heavy Hitters,” and has also been named one of the Baltimore Business Journal’s Top 25 Real Estate Brokers in Baltimore |
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Aja Hill is the Modern Work Federal Civilian Customer Success Leader at Microsoft, supporting premier federal civilian government entities across the United States. Aja is responsible for Microsoft Teams adoption and support at all federal civilian agencies. Through her team, Aja works to help customers transition value from the Office of the CIO to the broader organization. Customers that Aja’s team supports include United States House of Representatives, Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and many others. |
Akash Magoon, Computer Science '18 Co-Founder and CEO, Adonis |
Akash Magoon is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Adonis, a revenue intelligence and automation platform for medical practices and digital health clinics. He also served as the CTO and Board Member, as well as a Co-Founder, at Nayya, an AI platform for insurance benefits. |
Sorabh Maheshwari |
Sorabh Maheshwari is a founding partner of Churchill Real Estate Holdings. Most recently prior to Churchill, he was a principal at Onex Real Estate, a multi-billion-dollar private equity firm located in New York. At Onex, Sorabh had complete responsibility for acquisitions, dispositions, and asset management of Onex’s rent-regulated housing portfolio starting in 2010. Sorabh has been involved in over $500 million of transactions in the New York multifamily sector including equity investments, recapitalization, and distressed debt purchases. While at Onex, Sorabh ran Onex Real Estate High Yield Debt Fund which invested in distressed debt opportunities and was one of Onex Real Estate’s top performing investment vehicles. Prior to Onex, Sorabh worked as an investment banker at Credit Suisse and DLJ in the real estate investment banking group. Sorabh received an MBA from Columbia Business School and an MBA from London Business School. Sorabh completed his undergraduate education at the University of Maryland where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics and B.S. in Finance. |
Michael Mann |
Michael Mann is a partner in Sidley’s White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations practice, where he strategically counsels and defends companies, financial institutions and related individuals in internal, criminal and regulatory investigations, prosecutions and litigations. He is a trusted advisor to senior management and boards of directors faced with some of their most complex and sensitive enforcement and investigation-related issues, including matters concerning alleged bribery and corruption, money laundering, and other forms of financial and ethical misconduct. Michael was recently recognized as one of five white collar “Rising Stars” by Law360. He was also recognized with the “Best in white collar crime” award at both the inaugural and second annual Euromoney LMG Americas Rising Star Awards. |
Joseph H. Meltzer |
Joseph H. Meltzer is a founding partner at the firm Kessler Topaz Meltzer Check, LLP and leads the firm’s Fiduciary, Consumer Protection and Antitrust groups. A pioneer in prosecuting breach of fiduciary duty cases, Joe has been lead or co-lead counsel in numerous nationwide class actions brought under fiduciary laws including ERISA. Joe represents institutional investor clients in a variety of breach of fiduciary duty cases and has some of the largest settlements in fiduciary breach actions including several recoveries in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The firm also has a robust Consumer Protection department which represents individuals, businesses, and governmental entities that have sustained losses as a result of defective products or improper business practices. In his antitrust work, Joe represents clients injured by anticompetitive and unlawful business practices, including overcharges related to prescription drugs, health care expenditures and commodities. Joe has also represented various states in pharmaceutical pricing litigation as a Special Assistant Attorney General. Joe graduated, with honors, from the University of Maryland in 1993 with a degree in Government and Politics and he received his J.D., with honors, from the Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1997. |
Dwayne Middleton |
Dwayne is Global Head of Fixed Income Trading at T Rowe Price. Dwayne has responsibilities for the trading of FX, interest rate, investment-grade, high-yield, emerging market, municipal, mortgage, and structured product securities. Prior to joining T Rowe, Dwayne spent 10 years with Morgan Stanley Investment Management as Global Head of Fixed Income Trading and as a senior investor on the global credit team. Prior to MSIM, Dwayne was with JPMorgan Asset Management in various roles, most notably as Head of U.S. Investment Grade Credit leading portfolio construction, strategy implementation, sector allocation, and trading. Dwayne received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park and an M.B.A from Northeastern University in Boston. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts. |
Gary Lydell Rozier |
Gary Rozier is a Managing Director at Oak Street Real Estate Capital, LLC. Mr. Rozier is responsible for investor relations for institutional investors. Prior to joining Oak Street Real Estate Capital, Mr. Rozier served as Senior Vice President at Ariel Investments for almost 14 years where he was responsible for institutional business development, client services, and consultant relations. Prior to joining Ariel, Mr. Rozier spent more than five years with Rydex Investments. At Rydex, he held multiple positions in shareholder services and financial advisor sales before being promoted to regional vice president where he oversaw product development and distribution across nine states in the Midwest Region. Mr. Rozier is on the board of directors for City Colleges of Chicago Foundation, American Red Cross Chicago, a trustee for the Francis Xavier Warde School, and serves on the Investment Committee of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. Additionally, he is a 2011 Leadership Greater Chicago fellow. In addition to his service to the BSOS Board of Visitors, Mr. Rozier is a member of the college's Economics Leadership Council. Mr. Rozier earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Maryland, and was a captain of the rugby team. |
Sachin Sachdeva |
Sachin Sachdeva currently serves as the Head of Global Program Delivery for Digital, Data & Operations at AIG, a global insurance and financial services organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to this role, he acted as Managing Director for Client Experience Platform & the Atlanta iHub at BlackRock, where he oversaw the global client experience program to ensure it enhanced the company’s digital capabilities and Sachin’s extensive experience in the financial services sector further encompasses his 10 year term at SSA Company, where he served in the following roles: Associate Director, Director, Senior Director, Vice President, FS Lead, and Managing Director, Financial Services Practice Lead. In these positions, he managed financial services and client engagement while delivering significant results in the form of improved customer Sachin’s early career set the foundation for his current successes as he worked to develop his financial and customer service experience at Bank of America from 1997 to 2009. While working at Bank of America, he held the position of Senior Vice President, Consumer Leadership Program, Senior Vice President, Deposit Products, and more. Sachin earned his BA in economics from UMD in 1997 and subsequently, his MBA from Duke University in 2006. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. |
Ken Ulman |
Ken Ulman is the President of Margrave Strategies, an innovative strategic consulting firm that provides a comprehensive array of economic development, planning and visioning services to institutions, businesses and other groups throughout Maryland and the mid-Atlantic. The firm’s principal initial client is the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, where Ulman serves as Chief Strategy Officer for Economic Development. Ulman previously served two terms as Howard County Executive. Ken has won numerous awards, and was named a Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine, a Top 25 Doer, Dreamer and Driver by Government Technology Magazine and a Regional Visionary by the Greater Baltimore Committee for his leadership to bring broadband technology to Maryland. Ken served as president of the Maryland Association of Counties and as chairman of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. Ken and his wife, Jaki, established the Ulman Family Maryland Promise Scholarship, which supports need based scholarships for students in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. He and his wife—also a proud Terp—live in Columbia, with their daughters Maddie and Lily. |
Ph.D. GEOG ’95 |
Dr. Jingli Yang, Chief Executive Officer of ERT, is an accomplished marketer, strategist, and entrepreneur. She cultivates business relationships with partners and customers, while working to develop infrastructure and processes necessary to foster thegrowth of ERT, a high-value science and technology company. Under her leadership, the company has enjoyed continuous growth and expansion of its client base while maintaining a focus on both customer satisfaction and employee welfare. Dr. Yang holds a Ph.D. in Biogeography and Remote Sensing from the Geography Department of University of Maryland in 1995. |
Giving
Find out more about how your support shapes the present and future of the College through gifts of your resources, time and talents. The BSOS community is grateful to all our alumni, donors and friends for the many ways they contribute to our success today and in the future.
By giving to BSOS or to one of its departments, or by joining UMD’s Alumni Association, you are investing in the future of the College and the University and are supporting the next generation of scholars, academicians and thought leaders as they work to Be the Solution to the world’s great challenges. Thank you for your gift!
Make a Gift to the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
Make a Gift to African American and Africana Studies
Make a Gift to Criminology & Criminal Justice
Make a Gift to Geographical Sciences
Make a Gift to Government & Politics
Make a Gift to Hearing & Speech Sciences
Make a Gift to Centers and Programs
Donors may choose among many ways to make gifts to the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences throughout their lives. In addition to making an online gift, please consider the following gifting methods and opportunities. To discuss these options and other ways to give, please contact Interim Chief Development Officer for External Relations Kenny Beaver at beaver@umd.edu or 301.405.8607.
Outright Gifts
Cash Gifts
This method of giving is simple and flexible. Make out a personal check to the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, or use your credit card to make a gift online.
Checks made out to the University of Maryland College Park Foundation may be mailed to:University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc.
4603 Calvert Rd.
College Park, MD 20740Gifts of Appreciated Securities
Gifts of publicly traded stock are a convenient way to make a gift to the College. Such charitable transfers of readily marketable securities can be conducted by you directly or through a licensed financial advisor. A gift such as this has many benefits that are determined by each donor’s portfolio.
Gifts of Real Property
Gifts of real estate to benefit the College may be made after prior approval from the University’s Gift Acceptance Committee. A third party appraisal of the property is necessary.
Deferred Gifts
Bequests
This estate gift is the oldest method of charitable giving. One may designate the College in their will, providing a gift by specific dollar amount, a specific percentage of the estate, or the remainder interest, choosing a designation of either a general or specific purpose.
Life Income Gifts
Charitable Remainder Trusts
Make a deferred gift to the College and provide yourself and/or others an income for life or a term of years by contributing assets of cash, securities or other property to a trust designed by you in concert with your financial advisors. Charitable Remainder Unitrust permits additional gifts to be made to the trust over one’s lifetime.
Charitable Gift Annuity
In return for your gift to the College, receive an annual income for one’s life and the life of another. Often funded with cash or appreciated securities, this one page agreement is simple to execute.
The Office of External Relations supports the mission and operations of the BSOS community through alumni relations, development and gift coordination, communications and marketing, media outreach, alumni events, and other services. Please contact us or visit our offices in 0145 Tydings Hall for more information.
Alumni are also encouraged to share their news and programming ideas by contacting bsosalumni@umd.edu. Please send us a brief description of your idea or of your news such as births, marriages, promotions, and other professional and educational accomplishments, making sure to include your full name, former last name (if applicable), city/state, e-mail address, phone number, year of graduation and degree/major.
External Relations
Kenny Beaver
Chief Development Officer
Office: 301-405-8607
beaver@umd.edu
Ana Starr
Program Manager, External Relations
Office: 301-405-3475
astarr@umd.edu
Donor Relations and Stewardship
Susie Leong
Program Manager, Donor Relations and Stewardship
301-405-3887
sleong12@umd.edu
Communications and Marketing
Laura Ours
Senior Director of Communications and Marketing
301-405-5722
lours@umd.edu
Tom Bacho
Director of Creative Services
301-405-2171
tbacho@umd.edu
Rachael Grahame
Assistant Director of Communications and Media Relations
301-405-1733
rkg@umd.edu
Kevin Roach
Multimedia Coordinator, Creative Services
301-405-5889
kroach9@umd.edu
Development
Sameen Saeed
Director of Development
Office: 301.405.5334
dsaeed@umd.edu
Elyse Dillinger
Associate Director of Development
Office: 301.405.0464
edilling@umd.edu
Jennifer Kilberg
Assistant Director of Development
0145 Tydings Hall
Office: 301.405.2998
jkilberg@umd.edu
Support
Daria Powell
Graduate Assistant
dpowell@umd.edu
Launch UMD is a crowdfunding platform to help Maryland community members raise money so that their ideas and passions can take flight. Launch UMD projects advance innovation, teaching and learning at the university – including those focused on student groups, student experience, athletics, library or faculty-specific initiatives – and allow us to showcase fearless ideas from across campus.
The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences can help BSOS student groups or faculty/staff members apply for Launch UMD projects. When you partner with our office, we’ll walk you through the official application process, assist you in setting up a fund for donations (if one doesn’t already exist), work with you to develop a short video to advertise the project, and help coordinate your plan for solicitations.
If you have an idea for a Launch UMD project within BSOS, please fill out Launch UMD Application or contact Jenny Kilberg, Assistant Director of Development and Annual Giving for BSOS at jkilberg@umd.edu.
Check out past BSOS Launch Projects:
- Come Hear: A Summer Camp for Young Children with Hearing Loss
- Digging into History: Immigration Past and Present
- Help UMARC CLASS Support Families Impacted by Autism
- LEAP 25th Anniversary: Classroom Update
- Studying the Science of Protesting
- Support Terp DREAMers
- Fretz Memorial Fund for Counseling Psychology
General Launch FAQ
How do groups access the funds they raise?
All projects will keep any funds raised even if the goal isn’t achieved. Funds will only be deposited in University of Maryland College Park Foundation accounts. Launch UMD staff will work with project team leaders and, where appropriate, establish appropriate accounts and to make sure a proper University disbursement authority is in place.
Who is eligible to use Launch UMD?
Launch UMD is open to all students, faculty and staff at the University of Maryland, College Park who are raising money for University-based and affiliated initiatives and projects. Launch cannot be used to fund independent business or charity ventures, regardless of whether or not the people leading those ventures are members of the UMD community.
Who decides that a project will be added to UMD Launch?
A Launch UMD panel, comprised of University Relations marketing and fundraising staff, will review UMD Launch applications and approve them based on project essentials: team commitment, project appeal and goal achievement potential.
How much information do I need to provide on the application?
Provide as much as possible. It is easier to assess project potential if you answer each question specifically and explain why you possess the tools to run a successful crowdfunding project. Projects must be able to appeal to a broader audience and have the potential to become viral on social media. In your application, explain how your group is unique and what you would do with the funds that you raise.
What is an appropriate funding goal for projects?
Launch UMD recommends a fundraising goal of between $2,500 and $10,000. We will consider each project's goal on a case-by-case basis.
What kinds of projects can be submitted?
Anyone on campus can apply to Launch UMD, provided that they are either officially affiliated with an academic unit or recognized as a student group by Student Affairs. Launch welcomes applications from faculty, staff and student teams with at least six members. The best crowdfunding projects have a specific deadline that creates a sense of urgency to encourage donations during the 30 day period during which a project is live. If you are unsure about whether or not your project is suitable for Launch, please email launchumd@umd.edu.
Is my payment secure?
Absolutely. LaunchUMD utilizes a technology called Cybersource that is PCI Level 1-compliant. When making a gift on Launch you will be redirected to cybersource.com with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts all of the information you inupt to securely process payments.
Will my LaunchUMD project gift be tax-deductible?
Contributions to Launch projects support specific areas of the University of Maryland and are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Can I send a gift by mail or phone?
No. All gifts to LaunchUMD projects should be submitted online, unless you are able to make arrangements with the project leaders.