[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 8, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5347-H5348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1215
CELEBRATING DR. FREEMAN HRABOWSKI'S RETIREMENT
(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, this week, a champion for STEM education,
[[Page H5348]]
and a dear friend of mine, will retire from his long-time role as
president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, more
affectionately known as UMBC.
Over the past 30 years, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski has transformed STEM
education at UMBC, most notably by expanding resources for women and
students of color.
UMBC was barely 10 years old when Dr. Hrabowski arrived as vice
provost in 1987. Later, he was chosen as executive vice president and
then named president in 1992, helping make UMBC a nationwide leader in
STEM learning and a nationwide leader in education generally as well.
Over the last decade, UMBC has graduated more African Americans with
doctorates in science and engineering than any other university in the
United States. The school also produces the highest number of African-
American undergraduates who go on to earn Ph.D.s in the natural
sciences and engineering.
These achievements occurred in no small part thanks to Dr.
Hrabowski's leadership, which made a critical difference as UMBC grew
and expanded its academic programs.
At UMBC and beyond, he has dedicated his career to realizing the
promise of students of color in STEM, and students generally as well,
no matter their background, are assured access to high-quality science
education.
In 2011, Madam Speaker, Dr. Hrabowski chaired the National Academies
committee that produced a key report on expanding minority
participation in science. In 2012, he was tapped by President Obama to
serve as the chair of the inaugural President's Advisory Commission on
Educational Excellence for African Americans.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Dr. Hrabowski sprang into
action. Not only did he work to ensure that UMBC was contributing to
research and taking safety measures, he and his wife, Jacqueline,
personally volunteered for the phase 3 Moderna vaccine trial. Together,
they campaigned to reduce vaccine hesitancy in Maryland, particularly
in communities of color.
Madam Speaker, one of the lead researchers who developed the Moderna
vaccine, Dr. Corbett, was a UMBC graduate and the keynote speaker at
our annual Maryland Fourth and Fifth Districts' Black History Breakfast
this year.
In addition to his leadership of UMBC, Dr. Hrabowski has authored
numerous books on STEM education and lifting up academically successful
students of color so they can reach for success in their careers.
In a field where representation is lacking and where opportunities
have not always been equitable, he has been at the forefront of the
effort to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, can
pursue their dreams and ambitions.
Dr. Hrabowski has been recognized nationally and internationally for
his impact. He was the recipient of the Carnegie Corporation of New
York's Academic Leadership Award in 2011, one of the highest honors for
an educator in this country.
He has been named as one of the 100 most influential people in the
world, as one of America's most impactful leaders, and as a top-tier
university president.
Indeed, many universities in the Big Ten, many universities in the
Ivy League, many universities in other parts of our country have
opportuned Dr. Hrabowski to come to be their president. His love and
commitment to UMBC, however, kept him there and focused on developing
it as an extraordinary institution of higher learning.
I believe that the last part is the one of which Dr. Hrabowski is
most proud; that is, a top-tier university president. While he has been
rightfully lauded as a global leader in STEM, first and foremost, he is
an educator.
Frederick Douglass once wrote that it is easier to build strong
children than it is to repair broken men. Over his long career in
education, Dr. Hrabowski has laid the foundation for many thousands of
young people to become the best version of themselves.
UMBC today graduates a diverse group of exceptionally bright and
capable students who are quick to follow their dreams in large part
because of Dr. Hrabowski's talent, focus, and effort. He has been
working so hard to make his dream of educational opportunity and
excellence a reality, and he has succeeded in many ways.
His legacy will surely be cemented in the innumerable achievements of
his students that they have made over the last 30 years and will surely
continue to do so for decades to come.
Madam Speaker, as he prepares to leave UMBC at the end of this year,
Dr. Hrabowski has set the school on a path of success and continued
innovation. All Marylanders, and all Americans, can be proud of his
unwavering commitment to his students, to UMBC, and to his unshakable
belief in the power of young people of color to achieve and contribute
in the fields of STEM.
The future of science, technology, engineering, and math education
nationwide is stronger not only at UMBC but throughout this country as
a result of his leadership.
Those of us fortunate enough to count Dr. Hrabowski among our friends
are all the better for knowing him. I hope my colleagues in the House
will join me, Madam Speaker, in congratulating Dr. Hrabowski on his
retirement this week and thanking him for his groundbreaking work over
the last 30 years.
He is retiring from UMBC, Madam Speaker, but I am sure that he is not
retiring from his life of advocacy for those who seek opportunity and
the realization of the American Dream.
He is an extraordinary individual, an extraordinary speaker, an
extraordinary human being. I am certain that he will continue to
benefit Maryland and our country as an educator and a visionary for
many years to come.
Godspeed, Dr. Hrabowski.
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