[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.

                          ____________________