Freeman A. Hrabowski III
| Freeman A. Hrabowski III | |
|---|---|
Hrabowski at 2012 Time 100 Gala
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| President of University of Maryland, Baltimore County | |
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Assumed office 1992 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Hooker |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Freeman Alphonsa Hrabowski III August 13, 1950 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Jacqueline Coleman Hrabowski |
| Profession |
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| Website | president |
Freeman Alphonsa Hrabowski III is a prominent American educator, advocate, and mathematician. In May 1992 he began his term as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), one of the twelve public universities comprising the Maryland university system. Hrabowski has transformed a no-name, commuter university into a research institution recognized as one of the most innovative in the country. His administration continues to build a campus that’s first-rate in research and instruction, and that prepares students of all backgrounds for career success. Under his adept leadership, UMBC has been ranked the #1 Up and Coming University in the USA for six consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) by U.S. News and World Report magazine.
Hrabowski is the co-author of the books, Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males (1998), Overcoming the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Young Women (2001), and Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM (2015). His research and many publications focus on science and math education, with a special emphasis on minority participation and performance. His leadership, expertise and vision are integral to programs worldwide in science/technology/engineering/mathematics (STEM), and are used by universities, school systems, and community groups around the country. Hrabowski chaired the prestigious National Academies committee that produced the report Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. In 2012, President Barack Obama appointed Hrabowski to Chair of the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans, and he was also a candidate for Secretary of Education in his administration. He has been called one of America’s Best Leaders, one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents.
In 2011, Hrabowski received the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, one of the highest honors given to an educator. The award included a $500,000 grant, which he has directed to support and promote a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and student success at UMBC.
Hrabowski was born in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, the only child of busy, hard-working parents, both of whom were educators. His mother was an English teacher who decided to become a math teacher, and she used the young Hrabowski as a guinea pig at home. His father had been a math teacher and then went to work at a steel mill because, as Hrabowski is quoted as saying, "frankly, he could make more money doing that." Frequently asked about the origin of his unusual surname, Hrabowski explains that he is the great-great-grandson of Eaton Hrabowski, a Polish-American "slave master who lived in rural Alabama”, and his wife Rebecca McCord. In a CBS television interview, Hrabowski recounted that he is the third Freeman Hrabowski; his grandfather was the first Freeman Hrabowski born a free man, as opposed to having to be freed.
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