Freeman A. Hrabowski III

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),[2] one of the twelve public universities composing the University System of Maryland.[3] Hrabowski has been credited with transforming UMBC into an institution noted for research and innovation.[4] Under his leadership, UMBC was ranked the #1 Up and Coming University in the U.S. for six consecutive years (2009-2014) by the U.S. News & World Report magazine.[5] When that designation was retired, U.S. News & World Report began including UMBC on its annual Most Innovative National Universities list.[6]

Freeman Hrabowski
President of University of Maryland, Baltimore County
In office
1992–2022
Preceded byMichael Hooker
Succeeded byValerie Ashby
Personal details
Born
Freeman Alphonsa Hrabowski III

(1950-08-13) August 13, 1950
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
SpouseJackie Coleman
Children1[1]
EducationHampton University (BA)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (MA, PhD)
Websitepresident.umbc.edu

His research and publications focus on science and math education, with a special emphasis on minority participation and performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).[7][8] 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); Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM (2015); and The Empowered University: Shared Leadership, Culture Change, and Academic Success (2019).[9]

Hrabowski chaired the National Academies committee that produced the report Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads.[10] In 2012, President Barack Obama appointed Hrabowski to chair of the newly created President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.[11] Publications have named him one of America's best leaders,[12] one of the 100 most influential people in the world,[13] and one of America's 10 best college presidents.[14]

In 2011, Hrabowski received the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Academic Leadership Award, one of the highest honors given to an educator.[15]

Early life and education

Hrabowski was born in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, the only child of his parents, both of whom were educators.[1] His mother was an English teacher who became a math teacher, and his father was a math teacher who went to work at a steel mill.

Frequently asked about the origin of his unusual surname, Hrabowski explains that he is the great-great-grandson of Eaton Hrabowski, who was enslaved and renamed for Polish-American slave owner Samuel Hrabowski.[16][17] In a CBS television interview, Hrabowski recounted that he is the third Freeman Hrabowski; his grandfather was the first Freeman Hrabowski born a free man, as opposed to having to be freed.[7]

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 arrested him.[18]

When he was 19 years old, Hrabowski graduated from Hampton Institute with high honors in mathematics. During his matriculation there he spent a year abroad at The American University in Cairo in Cairo, Egypt. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he received his MA in mathematics and four years later his PhD in higher education administration and statistics.[7][8]

Career at UMBC
Freeman Hrabowski at the opening of the Performing Arts & Humanities Building at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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.[19]

Over nearly three decades as president of UMBC, Hrabowski gained a high public profile.[17] Hrabowski emphasized STEM education, and co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, aimed at promoting minority achievement in STEM fields.[17] 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."[17] 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.[17] Hrabowski retired from UMBC in 2022.[20]

Awards and honors

Hrabowski has received, among other awards:

References
  1. "Biography of Freeman Hrabowski". The HistoryMakers Project. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  2. "Office of the President - UMBC". Office of the President. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. Office, University System of Maryland. "University System of Maryland Institutions". www.usmd.edu. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  4. Howard, Christopher B. (November 29, 2011). "On Leadership". The Washington Post.
  5. Reiter, Amy F. (January–February 2004). "Changing the Equations". Illinois Alumni Magazine. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Alumni Association. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  6. "Most Innovative Schools National Universities". U.S. News.
  7. "Hrabowski: An educator focused on math and science" (Interview). Interviewed by Pitts, Byron. CBS News. November 13, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2011.
  8. Mitchell, Andrea (2010). "Education Nation". MSNBC. Archived from the original on December 25, 2003.
  9. Hrabowski, Freeman (2019). The Empowered University | Johns Hopkins University Press Books. jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu. doi:10.1353/book.67825. ISBN 9781421432922. S2CID 239182571. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  10. "Committee on Science, Education, and Public Policy". Policy and Global Affairs. The National Academies.
  11. President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, Yumanewsnow.com.
  12. Green, Erica (April 18, 2012). "UMBC president named among world's most influential leaders". The Baltimore Sun.
  13. Rotherham, Andrew J. (April 18, 2012). "The World's 100 Most Influential People: 2012". Time.
  14. Cruz, Gilbert (November 11, 2009). "Freeman Hrabowski - The Top Ten College Presidents". Time. Archived from the original on November 15, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  15. "Carnegie Corporation Honors Higher Ed Leaders Freeman A. Hrabowski III and Eduardo J. Padrón". Carnegie Corporation of New York. November 2, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  16. "Ancestry.com for Hrabowski".
  17. Walker, Childs (September 1, 2012). "Freeman Hrabowski's UMBC legacy grows as he celebrates 20 years as president". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  18. Rotherham, Andrew (April 18, 2012). "Freeman Hrabowski - 2012 Time 100: The Most Influential People in the World". Time. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  19. Salter, Chuck (March 31, 2002). "It's Cool To Be Smart". Fast Company.
  20. Winnick, Dinah (August 25, 2021). "UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski to retire in spring 2022 after three decades of transformational leadership". UMBC NEWS. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  21. Incorporated, Prime. "National Academy of Public Administration". National Academy of Public Administration. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  22. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  23. "The Heinz Awards: Freeman Hrabowski". The Heinz Awards. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  24. "UCSF Medal". Office of the Chancellor. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  25. "Freeman Hrabowski". Mathematically Gifted & Black.
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