Education

Longtime UMBC president, who turned school into top producer of Black scientists and engineers, to retire

Freeman A. Hrabowski III is one of the longest-serving university presidents in the country



Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of University of Maryland Baltimore County, will retire in 2022 after 30 years of leadership. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

By Lauren Lumpkin
Today at 5:32 p.m. EDT

The longtime president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, who transformed a small school into one of the nation’s top producers of engineers and scientists of color, will retire at the end of this school year.

Since his rise to the presidency in 1992, Freeman A. Hrabowski III has developed a culture in which low- and middle-income minorities can excel in science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — fields. He is one of the nation’s longest-serving university presidents and among the most influential leaders in higher education.

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Hrabowski’s leadership has helped UMBC more than double its number of annual graduates, from 1,700 to nearly 3,500, officials said. The school has also expanded degree offerings during his tenure, grown the international student population and more than doubled the proportion of students from low-income households.

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After three decades of leadership, Hrabowski has become synonymous with the public university in Catonsville, notably molding the campus into one recognized nationally for its innovation in STEM — particularly for groups who have been historically shut out of those fields. UMBC graduates more Black students who go on to earn PhDs in the natural sciences and engineering than any other college, according to data from the National Science Foundation.

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By Lauren Lumpkin
Lauren Lumpkin is a reporter at The Washington Post covering local colleges and universities. Twitter https://twitter.com/laurenmlumpkin