Dr. Freeman Hrabowski
President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, President of UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
since 1992, is a consultant on science and math education to national agencies, universities, and
school systems. He was named by President Obama to chair the President’s Advisory
Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He also chaired the National
Academies’ committee that produced the report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority
Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2011). His 2013
TED talk highlights the “Four Pillars of College Success in Science.”
Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME (2012) and one of
America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report (2008), he also received TIAA-
CREF’s Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence (2011), the Carnegie
Corporation’s Academic Leadership Award (2011), and the Heinz Award (2012) for
contributions to improving the “Human Condition.” UMBC has been recognized as a model for
inclusive excellence by such publications as U.S. News, which the past eight years has
recognized UMBC as a national leader in academic innovation and undergraduate teaching. Dr.
Hrabowski’s most recent book, Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil
Rights Crusade to STEM Achievement, describes the events and experiences that played a central
role in his development as an educator and leader.