Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month

We are proud to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month.

In 2023, UMD was named the top college in the nation for LGBTQ+ students by Campus Pride and BestColleges. In 2024, Newsweek named UMD among America’s Greatest Workplaces for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Those accomplishments are direct results of the purpose-driven work of our LGBTQ+ community and the students, faculty, and staff who stand in solidarity.

Our society is healthier thanks to LGBTQ+ Maryland engineers, such as bioengineering Ph.D. student Alison Veintimilla, whose research in the lab of Assistant Professor Erika Moore and advocacy on Capitol Hill and on campus addresses health disparities. Likewise, senior bioengineering major Marsh Hessler, who works in the lab of Associate Professor Katharina Maisel, was drawn to the discipline for its potential to treat genetic diseases once considered untreatable.

We are also safer thanks to LGBTQ+ engineers, like Samantha Farren, a senior fire protection engineering major and volunteer firefighter and EMT, who works to save lives in her community.

These are a few examples of impact from across Maryland Engineering, and there are many more. During LGBTQ+ History Month, we encourage you to engage with and share the stories of these and other Maryland engineers on our digital platforms, and join in related campus activities.

Recognizing, celebrating, and learning from LGBTQ+ examples of excellence within our community is a crucial part of our common purpose. Working together, we are building a future benefited by bold engineering innovation made possible through a diversity of backgrounds, identities, experiences, and ideas.

Campus partners, including the LGBTQ+ Equity Center, Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy (MICA), the Counseling Center, and the University Health Center are vital to such progress; as are the scholarship, advocacy, and support that make UMD more welcoming to LGBTQ+ students, faculty, staff, alums, and community members. Collectively, we are proud to work on fostering a truly equitable campus environment.

Sincerely,

Samuel Graham, Jr. (he/him/his)

Dean and Nariman Farvardin Professor

Published October 1, 2024