--- title: December 2020 date: 2020-12-01T00:00:00-05:00 author: Lauren Stephenson canonical_url: "https://govrelations.umd.edu/news/december-2020" section: News --- # December 2020 *December 1, 2020* — by Lauren Stephenson > December 2020 *Holiday video still of Dr. Pines with his wife and dog* **Season's Greetings From UMD | 2020** Season's greetings from the University of Maryland. Happy holidays from our Terrapin family to yours, and best wishes for a #TerrapinSTRONG new year! - [Watch the holiday video message from President Pines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQVxIzU2Lys) --- *President Pines* **UMD Administrators Partner With Black Student Leaders on Campus Climate** The University of Maryland recently assembled a group of Black student leaders, to help advise the administration on how to set an "anti-racist agenda." - [Learn about UMD's efforts to create an anti-racist agenda](https://diverseeducation.com/article/197967/) *UMD M circle* **UMD Ranked in Top 10 for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education for Sixth Straight Year** The 2021 rankings, released by The Princeton Review and featured in the December issue of Entrepreneur, placed UMD at No. 6 for undergraduate entrepreneurship education and No. 3 among public universities. - [Read more about UMD rankings](https://today.umd.edu/articles/umd-ranked-top-10-innovation-and-entrepreneurship-education-sixth-straight-year-6526cb3d-72e8-421c-a7b5-06a9f1fb4765) --- **Highlights** *Dominique Dawes* **UMD Alumna and Olympic Gymnast Dominique Dawes to Address University of Maryland’s 2020 Winter Graduates:** Three-time Olympian and Olympic Gymnastic Gold Medalist, Dominique Dawes will deliver the university’s commencement address on Dec. 20, 2020. - [Read about the UMD commencement speaker](https://www.umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/umd-alumna-and-olympic-gymnast-dominique-dawes-address-university-maryland%E2%80%99s-2020-winter) *lightbulb graphic* **UMD Spinoffs Star on State’s New List of Hottest Innovative Companies:** 7 out of the 20 companies Gov. Larry Hogan named to a new list of innovative startups in the state were born at the University of Maryland. The university also had a role in developing six other startups on Maryland’s Future 20. - [Learn more about innovative startups at UMD](https://today.umd.edu/articles/umd-spinoffs-star-states-new-list-hottest-innovative-companies-f3503110-8e97-4f86-b6fe-9cc670ed2702) *UMD logo* **UMD Announces A "Grow-Your-Own" Teacher Pipeline:** The Middle College Program enables high schoolers from county schools to earn an associate of arts degree in teaching while completing their high school requirements. Students can then transfer seamlessly into the UMD College of Education’s undergraduate teaching program. - [Read more about a teacher pipeline at UMD](https://today.umd.edu/articles/68m-gift-extend-opportunities-underserved-montgomery-county-students-2c2b1061-e2c4-4e29-81b9-6e6b44f0fd3b) *UMD grad* **$6.8M Gift to Extend Opportunities to Underserved Montgomery County Students:** A new $6.8 million gift will fund full scholarships for five students yearly from Montgomery County. It is the largest gift ever to the Incentive Awards Program, which helps underserved students in Maryland and D.C. - [Read more about scholarships for UMD students](https://today.umd.edu/articles/68m-gift-extend-opportunities-underserved-montgomery-county-students-2c2b1061-e2c4-4e29-81b9-6e6b44f0fd3b) *UMD building* **Spring 2021 Plans to Look Much Like Fall's:** President Pines announced that similar to this semester, most classes in the spring will be held online, a thorough COVID testing program will be in place and students will live in single residence hall rooms. - [Read more about COVID-19 plans](https://today.umd.edu/articles/spring-2021-plans-look-much-falls-551e9c86-c920-421d-b924-8d7730544f0f) --- **Research Impact** *AAAS logo* **Five Faculty Members Named AAAS Fellows:** The awardees, Charles Delwiche (Biological Sciences), George Helz (Geology and Geography), William Lau (Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences), Colin Phillips (Linguistics and Language Science) and William Regli (Information, Computing and Communication) were recognized for their important contributions to STEM disciplines. - [Read more about UMD AAAS Fellows](https://today.umd.edu/briefs/five-faculty-members-named-aaas-fellows-06a93775-3d1d-4770-83cc-b11e18873a22) *global map* **University of Maryland, Carnegie Mellon, and Facebook Team Up to Forecast Coronavirus Spread:** Social data researchers at the University of Maryland Social Data Science Center (SoDA) and Carnegie Mellon University Delphi Research Group have forged a unique partnership with social media giant Facebook to predict the spread and future hotspots of COVID-19 as well as identify patterns in preventative measures. - [Read about attempts to stop covid-19](https://ischool.umd.edu/news/university-maryland-carnegie-mellon-and-facebook-team-forecast-coronavirus-spread) *vaccine* **Expert Warns of "A Steep Challenge for Delivery":** The announcement that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE was shown to be more than 90% effective and on track to potentially become widely available in 2021 is being hailed as a momentous breakthrough. But Maryland Smith’s Sandor Boyson warns that "coordination and funding" across the coronavirus supply chain will need to be better developed. - [Read more about covid-19 vaccines](https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/faculty-research/smithbraintrust/insights/after-vaccine-breakthrough-eyes-turn-covid-supply-chain) *graphic* **$4.96M for Maryland Researchers in DARPA AISS Semiconductor Security Project:** Researchers in UMD’s Institute for Systems Research (ISR) and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) will assess the strength of Automated Implementation of Secure Silicon (AISS) security protections for computer integrated circuit chips. - [read about a semiconductor project](https://umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/496m-maryland-researchers-darpa-aiss-semiconductor-security-project) --- **Alumni Spotlight** *Randy Ortanez* **Terp Telecom Entrepreneur Gives $1.25M to IDEA Factory:** Randy Ortanez '82 hopes to inspire a new generation of engineers at UMD with a $1.25 million gift to support The E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory. - [Read more about a gift to the IDEA Factory](https://today.umd.edu/articles/terp-telecom-entrepreneur-gives-125m-idea-factory-62e389e5-096f-4495-b055-5bdbc835e109) --- **Fearless Ideas** [End Racism Now.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5MsLKPTwVA)