News

College Park Scholars is mourning the passing last week of Dr. John Lee Hellman, the founding director of the Life Sciences Scholars program—one of the four original programs in College Park Scholars. He served as director of Life Sciences from its launch in 1994 until 2009. Hellman was a lifelong Terp, having earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as his doctorate, from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). After earning his Ph.D. in 1975, he went on to serve as a professor in the Department of Entomology in the then–College of Life Sciences. (Entomology is now a joint department of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences.)

A significant number of Scholars alumni will be serving as Senior Marshals at the University of Maryland commencement this Friday, May 21, 2021. Senior Marshals are graduating seniors who display the highest levels of scholarship, service, extracurricular activity and personal growth.

For most University of Maryland (UMD) students, the end of the spring semester heralds the start of finals. But for sophomores in College Park Scholars, for the past 24 years, this time of year has signified Academic Showcase. The event, one of the largest exhibitions of undergraduate student learning on campus each year, typically involves more than 600 Scholars sophomores presenting on their capstone projects to fellow students, faculty, parents and other members of the UMD community.

Several Scholars alumni were named to the Maryland Medallion Society during the 40th Annual University of Maryland Student Leadership Awards this month. The Medallion Society is a prestigious group consisting of 20 of the brightest student leaders at the university:

Kristen Wolfe Alum of: Life Sciences Year graduated: 1998 A 1998 graduation year must mean you were in the first class of Scholars. What was it like? Did you understand what Scholars was about when you accepted the invitation? Yes, I was the first class. For me, I didn’t realize what Scholars was. I had applied to the University of Maryland, and this letter came in the mail that they were offering me this program. Once I came for Orientation, I started to realize it was something new and different. They explained that it was a program that helped people with adjusting to college, and you'd have other students in your classes that you lived with and would be able to get help from along the way.

It’s a perennial back-to-school query from teachers: What did you do on your summer vacation? When we asked some of our Scholars students and alumni, they had a lot to tell us… and not surprisingly, they made the most of their summer break. Now that students have settled in on campus and the semester is a few weeks in, we highlight some of our impressive Scholars accomplishments from over the summer. Amit and Erin Koppel Year: Sophomore (Amit), Senior (Erin)