Freeman A. Hrabowski III

In 2011, Hrabowski received the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Academic Leadership Award, one of the highest honors given to an educator. The award included a $500,000 grant, which he has directed to support and promote a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and student success at UMBC.

Over two decades as president of UMBC, Hrabowski gained a high public profile. Hrabowski emphasized STEM education, and co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars, aimed at promoting minority achievement in STEM fields. Under his leadership, "more black students earn bachelor's degrees in science and technology from UMBC than from any other non-historically black university in Maryland, even College Park, which has three times as many students." Hrabowski was an advisor to President Barack Obama on higher education policy, and was appointed by Obama to serve as chair of an advisory council on excellence in African-American education. He received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University in 2010.

Hrabowski is the co-author of the books, Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males (1998), Overcoming the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Young Women (2001), and Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM (2015). His research and many publications focus on science and math education, with a special emphasis on minority participation and performance. His leadership, expertise and vision are integral to programs worldwide in science/technology/engineering/mathematics (STEM), and are used by universities, school systems, and community groups around the country. Hrabowski chaired the prestigious National Academies committee that produced the report Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. In 2012, President Barack Obama appointed Hrabowski to Chair of the newly created President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans, and he was also a candidate for Secretary of Education in his administration. He has been called one of America's Best Leaders, one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and one of America's 10 Best College Presidents.

UMBC was a relatively young school in a Baltimore suburb when Hrabowski arrived in 1987 as Vice Provost, then Executive Vice President, and President in 1992.

When he was 12 years old, in 1963, Hrabowski saw his friends readying for the Children's Crusade march for civil rights. He convinced his parents to let him join in as a youth advocate, but soon into the march he was swept up in a mass arrest. Birmingham's notorious Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor spat in his face, and he was incarcerated for 5 days. The jail guards locked even the youngest freedom marchers in with hardened criminals. Hrabowski spent five terrified days and nights shielding other youngsters and comforting them by reading his Bible aloud or singing songs. After being reunited with the adults, Hrabowski remembers the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King telling them, "What you do this day will have an impact on generations as yet unborn." King's words resonated with Hrabowski, and ultimately rang true as the national outrage at the brutality against Birmingham children helped build the pressure for laws banning racial discrimination. That outcome gave Hrabowski a life mission, and he has since been a staunch and tireless campaigner for equality, education, and excellence.

Freeman Alphonsa Hrabowski III (born August 13, 1950) is an American educator, advocate, and mathematician. In May 1992 he began his term as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), one of the twelve public universities composing the Maryland university system. Hrabowski has been credited with transforming an undistinguished commuter college into an institution noted for research and innovation. Under his leadership, UMBC has been ranked the #1 Up and Coming University in the US for six consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) by U.S. News and World Report magazine.