A mind is a terrible thing to waste, yet back in the mid-’70’s, I, personally, witnessed, the waste of countless of brilliant minds at UMCP. This was before CMSE and BES were formulated. We decided that we needed to do something to stop the wasteful trend, so we founded CMSE and BES to help to achieve the 3R’s, recruit, retain and release qualified minorities from the University of Maryland, into the fields of science and engineering. Over the past 40 years, I have witnessed many academic and career success stories of minority graduates from UMCP, and I am committed to helping this trend continue. I believe that the achievement of the 3 R’s remains an important goal at UMCP, the CMSE, and the BES and I am looking for others who share my vision.