News

When the Scholars Citation Class of 2021—all 930 of them—stepped onto the University of Maryland campus in August of 2019, spirits were undoubtedly high. College Park Scholars was celebrating its 25th anniversary, with branded #ScholarsAt25 shirts, buttons and laptop stickers, and even a Maryland Dairy ice cream flavor created specifically for the occasion. But spirits sank in March of 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the cohort into a virtual experience for the rest of their time in the program.

Three College Park Scholars alumni were among the 19 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars named by the University of Maryland (UMD) this past week: Sam Varga, Science, Discovery and the Universe Scholars Rina Torchinsky, Science, Technology and Society Scholars Selena Cen, Global Public Health Scholars Merrill Scholars, which are selected by the academic college and schools with undergraduate major programs, annually honors the university’s most successful seniors and their designated university faculty and K–12 teachers for their mentorship.

David Tomblin, director for the Science, Technology and Society Scholars program and the new Science, Technology, Ethics and Policy minor, has received the Dean’s Outstanding Performance for Professional Track Faculty by the A. James Clark School of Engineering. The award, instituted in 2020, recognizes exceptionally influential accomplishments in one, or both, the areas of research and teaching.

The Science, Technology and Society (STS) Scholars program has long pushed students to consider the ethical, social and political implications of science, research and technology. It’s the kind of thinking that isn’t readily incorporated into most STEM curricula, despite the high likelihood that these students will one day design or introduce innovations that could significantly impact society. Thanks to a new minor, however, more University of Maryland students will soon be exposed to STS teachings.

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.