The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities.
A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, UMD is home to more than 41,000 students, 14,000 faculty and staff, and 431,000 alumni all dedicated to the pursuit of Fearless Ideas.
Located just outside Washington, D.C., we discover and share new knowledge every day through our renowned research enterprise and programs in academics, the arts and athletics.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are embedded into and across the University of Maryland. UMD has been leading the way in entrepreneurship education and innovation programming.
The legacy of changemakers, creatives, enTERPreneurs, innovators, and inventors who have come through UMD is significant and impressive. The collective impact they have made on society is even more astounding.
Selection of UMD's Distinguished Artists, Creatives, EnTERPreneurs, Innovators & Inventors
Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’00, retired NASA Astronautconducted and maintained science experiments aboard the International Space Station, where she was the second Black woman to join the orbiting laboratory, and sheset the record for the longest continuous space mission by an African American woman.
Robert E. Fischell M.S. ’54, Sc.D. Honorary ’96, invented vital health care devices: the first implantable insulin pump, the rechargeable pacemaker; flexible stents for coronary arteries, and an implantable device to preempt epileptic seizures that he co-invented.
Glenn Ricart Ph.D. ’80created the first internet exchange point in College Park, connecting federal, commercial and non-commercial networks for the first time into a larger online universe. He also made UMD the first college campus fully wired for internet protocols. He was inducted into Internet Hall of Fame in 2013, 2016-2021 Advisory Board Member, and 2022 Emeritus Advisor.
Anne Simon, Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics Professor, co-founded Silvec Biologics to address citrus greening disease, recipient of the International Franski Prize for Research in Plant Virology, the Norma Allewell Prize for Entrepreneurship, and was the science advisor on the television series, The X-Files, for all 11 seasons and has a story writing credit for one episode.
Bernice “Bunny” Sandler Ed.D. ’69 is recognized as the “Godmother of Title IX” paved the way for millions of girls and women to achieve educational, athletic and professional equality.
Joseph Weber, the late Physics Professor, co-invented the maser(which led to the laser—a related device using optical light); he’s better remembered as the father of gravitational wave detection. The massive devices he invented to measure these ripples in spacetime did not succeed, but technology inspired by his work in 2015 detected the merger of two neutron stars a billion light years away.
Min Wu, Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in electrical and computer engineering with an appointment in UMIACS, recognized for her innovations in signal processing, particularly for safeguarding multimedia content and forensics.
