UMB’s Catalyst Campaign Reaches 90 Percent of Fundraising Goal

The generosity of University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) donors continues apace, with the ambitious target of raising $750 million by the end of 2022 becoming a closer reality. An additional $51 million has been secured since the last Catalyst Campaign update in early 2021, bringing the total of funding allocated toward the campaign to $672 million, or 90 percent of its fundraising goal.

Key priorities of the institution will benefit from this funding during a challenging year, ranging from advancing scholarship opportunities for students, launching and sustaining initiatives spearheaded by dedicated clinicians throughout UMB, building out entrepreneurship opportunities for students and local businesses, deepening community engagement efforts, and recruiting faculty experts. Through these tireless efforts and more that remains underway, UMB philanthropy is poised to continue changing not only the University but also many programs and partners in West Baltimore and beyond.

Some of the latest contributions include the introduction of new endowed professorships, such as the inaugural Alumni and Friends Professorship in Orthodontics, held by Jose A. Bosio, BDS, MS, and the Dr. Paul and Mrs. Jean Corcoran Endowed Professorship, held by Robert K. Ernst, PhD, both at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.

In addition to these newly supported positions, funding continues to be secured for the establishment of the interdisciplinary PATIENTS Professors Academy, set to launch in early 2022 and housed in the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. The program aims to support continuous patient and stakeholder engagement so that research is conceptualized and driven by communities of patients and their care providers.

Another promising development is the continued growth and expansion of the UMB Student Social Venture Fund. This pilot program aims to bolster funding for early-stage social entrepreneurship by incorporating the best elements of venture fund models to find new businesses that promote the social good yet face challenges in securing seed funding.

Much of this latest round of funding affirms the University of Maryland’s ranking this year in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development survey as among the top 10 public research institutions, a sign of not just its financial strength as a research enterprise — comprising UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park — but also of its sound investments into the future, aimed at advancing cutting-edge research and development to improve the human condition and save lives.

The Catalyst Campaign is co-chaired by UMB Foundation Board of Trustees members Ellen H. Yankellow, PharmD ’96, president and CEO of CorrectRx Pharmacy Services, and Brian J. Gibbons, JD ’87, chairman and CEO of Greenberg Gibbons Commercial.

For information and how you can be a catalyst for UMB, please contact James L Hughes, MBA, interim chief philanthropy officer, at jhughes@umaryland.edu or by phone at 410-706-1935.