Celebrating Our Honorees
2001 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III has served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1992. As president, Hrabowski oversees a campus of 10,000 students, 425 full-time faculty, an operating budget of $193 million, and more than $50 million in external contracts and grants for research and training. He joined UMBC in 1987, serving first as vice provost, then as executive vice president.
Dr. Hrabowski was instrumental in the formation of the Governor’s Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Technology. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with a special emphasis on issues involving minority participation.
He is co-author of two books, Beating the Odds, which focuses on parenting high-achieving African-American males, and Overcoming the Odds, which focuses on successful AfricanAmerican females in science.
Dr. Hrabowski serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education, and universities and school systems nationally.
He is a member of numerous boards including the American Council of Education, the Baltimore Equitable Society, Center Stage, the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Maryland High-Technology Council, and the University of Maryland Medical System.
Dr. Hrabowski’s recent awards include Baltimore’s Extraordinary Technology Advocate (BETA) Award, the Boy Scouts of America’s Henry A. Rosenberg, Sr. Distinguished Citizen Award, the National Science Foundation’s Educator Achievement Award, the Eli Lilly & Company’s Outstanding Science Educator, and the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (awarded to UMBC in recognition of the nationally acclaimed, multimillion dollar Meyerhoff Scholars Program for gifted African-American undergraduates in science and engineering).
Dr. Hrabowski earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Hampton Institute, and a master’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in higher education/statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.