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Sixteen of the University's Brightest to Receive Alumni Association's Highest Honor
Written by MARK WALDEN Reported by ELLEN TERNES
SUNSHINE STREAMS through a glass wall, bouncing off marble floors in the
Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Cent Rever Alumni Hall of Fame. Interior walls
supply additional illumination: the names, likenesses and achievements
of Maryland's 35 extraordinary Hall of Fame graduates.
This June, in a ceremony that occurs only once every five years,
the Maryland Alumni Association will bestow its highest honor on a third
Hall of Fame Class, the first to be inducted in the Riggs Alumni
Center.
These 16 new inductees—entertainers, athletes,
artists, journalists, teachers and researchers—have used their education
and talents for the benefit of society. They have earned honor and
respect that reflects back on their alma mater like sunbeams off marble.
Jon Franklin '70
Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist
"To define [science] in words is to be...a writer, working the historical mainstream of literature," said Jon Franklin in a 1997 speech at the University of Tennessee. At Maryland, he "learned to tell a story, studying what a story was." Now, with two Pulitzers for science writing, Franklin teaches the art of narrative in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Connie Chung '69
Prominent Broadcast Journalist
Connie Chung also started her career writing the news. Though a radio news director told her, "You're never going to make it," she exchanged pen for microphone and has spent 35 years knocking down barriers, becoming only the second woman—and the first Chinese-American—to anchor the network evening news.
Carly Fiorina '80 M.B.A.
Trailblazing Executive
Technology executive Carly Fiorina has used her leadership skills to climb over professional barriers, right to the top of the business world. At the Smith School's CIO Forum in 2003, she gave her own definition of leadership: "... helping other people achieve more than they think is possible; helping people see a different set of possibilities for themselves."
Robert H. Smith '50
Developer of Crystal City
Robert H. Smith's philanthropy has allowed his alma mater to see and achieve new possibilities. This past February, he launched Maryland into its newest fund-raising campaign with a record-setting $30 million gift. Smith, a real estate developer, built Virginia's Crystal City and named the university's Robert H. Smith School of Business. "Financial success," he explains, "is only a way to give something back ..."
Thomas V. Miller '64, '67 (Law)
Long-standing President of the Maryland Senate
Thomas V. "Mike" Miller has been leading the Maryland Senate since 1987 and giving back through public service since 1971. His inspiration: Atticus Finch from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. "He was a lawyer who went back to his community, raised his family and stood up for what was right," explains Miller.
Tom Norris '67
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
By standing up for downed airmen as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam, Tom Norris earned the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1972. Despite wounds received in combat, Norris took up a second career as an undercover FBI agent in 1979. "All in all I've had a pretty interesting life," he says. "I've always gone after the challenge."
Morgan Wootten '56
Basketball Hall of Fame Member
As DeMatha High School's basketball coach, Morgan Wootten went after the challenge, too, and won a world-record 1,274 games in the process. "I got to work with America's greatest resources—our young people," he says. Between 1956 and 2002, his young people earned five national and 31 conference titles. In 2002, Wootten was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Michael Olmert '62, '80 Ph.D.
Emmy Award-winning Writer
Thanks to his ability to entertain while educating, Michael Olmert also has two Emmies on the mantle: one each for his writing on the Discovery Channel's Allosaurus: A Walking With Dinosaurs Special (2001) and Walking With Prehistoric Beasts (2002). "When I write something, I feel privileged to give new information ... If I think it's cool, it goes in," says Olmert, who teaches in Maryland's Department of English.
Liz Lerman '70
American Choreographer
Liz Lerman also teaches through her performances, inviting the young, old and marginalized to express themselves in dance—to use movement to highlight social issues. For her efforts, she has received numerous awards including a MacArthur Fellowship (commonly known as the "genius" award) in 2002 and the American Choreographer Award in 1989.
Manning Marable '76 Ph.D.
Authority on African American History
Columbia University professor, African American Studies scholar and activist Manning Marable uses words to lobby for social justice. In a 1999 edition of his syndicated column, Along the Color Line, he wrote, "Only a leadership that learns from the past is capable of articulating a vision for the future." Through books, articles and his current work as an educator, Marable sets the curriculum.
Renaldo Nehemiah '81
Track and Field World Record Holder
Renaldo Nehemiah entered the Track and Field Hall of Fame thanks to low numbers. "I loved to perform," he remembers. Those performances were the Minute Waltzes of sport. In 1981, the three-time NCAA Title winner and multiple world-record holder became the first to run the 110-meter high-hurdles in 13 seconds.
Gary Williams '68
Championship-winning Coach
"I thought I would be working for IBM," recalls Maryland Men's Basketball Coach Gary Williams. Technology's loss is the university's gain: since 1989, Williams has netted one of the ACC's highest win records, taking his Terps to 11 NCAA tournaments and earning the 2002 national title as well as the 2004 ACC title.
Larry David '69, '70
Seinfeld Creator
"I had a wonderful childhood," Larry David says, "which is tough because it's hard to adjust to a miserable adulthood." Many would love to share his misery: David's adulthood includes two 1993 Emmy Awards for Seinfeld and numerous nominations for HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Tobin Marks '66
World-renowned Chemist
As a chemistry researcher and professor at Northwestern University, Tobin Marks is also leaving his fingerprints on the future. "I smile inside when I see what students have learned," he says. Marks' professional awards are as diverse as his research, which has been used to enhance plastics, high-speed data transmission and anti-cancer drugs.
Raymond Davis '37, '40 M.S.
Nobel Laureate (Physics)
The Nobel Prize is the acme of science awards—Raymond Davis won his in 2002 for trapping solar neutrinos. Davis goes a long way for his groundbreaking research, analyzing lunar rocks from the Apollo missions and building his neutrino detector in a mine, nearly a mile beneath Barberton, Ohio.
Russell Marker '23*
Pioneering Chemist
*Inducted posthumously.
Russell Marker only excavated a few inches for the yams that yielded his pioneering discoveries. By isolating chemical compounds in the tubers, Marker was able to help develop inexpensive oral contraceptives and cortisone medications that have eased the suffering of those with arthritis, fertility problems and kidney dysfunction.
A Home for Honorees
The Phillip R. Rever Alumni Hall of Fame at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center was named after Class of 1964 graduate Philip Rever, whose efforts as a member of the center's development committee transformed the hall from an architect's drawing into a three-dimensional tribute to Maryland's most famous graduates.
The hall is located outside Alumni Hall on the center's first floor. Its exterior glass wall provides plenty of natural light, allowing visitors to take in the view of the center's Moxley Gardens.
Images and biographies of the university's Hall of Fame members will be exhibited permanently on the walls of the Rever Alumni Hall of Fame to enlighten and educate all who visit the Riggs Alumni Center.—MW
For a complete list of Hall of Fame members, visit www.alumni.umd.edu.
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