The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) showcased its talented Founders Week award winners and musical guest Felicia Curry showed off her performing talents Oct. 17 during the 2024 Recognition and Reception at M&T Bank Exchange at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center.
The second annual awards recognition event, which capped UMB’s 2024 Founders Week festivities, celebrated the key parts of the University’s mission: academics, teaching, public service, research, and entrepreneurship. President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, was the host for the evening, noting that it’s tough to pick honorees from among all the outstanding students, faculty, and staff at UMB.
(l-r) Sarah LJ. Michel, Joga Gobburu, and Bruce Jarrell
“There are many people who contribute to our mission, and we spend a lot of time on the process of selecting Founders Week award winners,” he said. “We have immense talent at the University at all levels — staff, faculty, and students — so that makes it a difficult process. But it is rewarding one, and it’s a wonderful pleasure and privilege to be a part of it.”
(See a photo gallery from the Founders Week events below.)
Jarrell recognized the five awardees, and the event featured four performances by Curry, an award-winning singer and actor from Washington, D.C., who, among many affiliations, is a resident company member at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. She was accompanied on piano by Glenn Pearson, a pianist, organist, bandleader, and music director from Washington.
The award winners were (click on each name to read more about the honoree):
- Nicol Tugarinov, Student of the Year: Medical Student, Class of 2025, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM)
- Kathleen Hoke, JD, Public Servant of the Year: Professor and Director, Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy and Network for Public Health Law-Eastern Region, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
- Adam C. Puche, PhD, Educator of the Year: Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Neurobiology, UMSOM
- Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, Researcher of the Year: Professor, Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science, and Director, Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON)
- Joga Gobburu, PhD, MBA, David J. Ramsay Entrepreneur of the Year: Professor, Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research, and Director, Center for Translational Medicine, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP)
The audience was treated to four-minute videos about the award winners, who walked onto the stage one by one to receive their crystal bowl prize and compliments from Jarrell, then posed for photos with the president and their respective school deans: UMSON’s Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD, NNP, FNAP, FAAN; Maryland Carey Law’s Renée Hutchins Laurent, JD; and UMSOP’s Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD. UMSOM’s Mark T. Gladwin, MD, was unable to attend, so Christopher O’Donnell, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, and vice dean for research development and operations, stood in for the dean.
Jarrell praised Tugarinov’s efforts to create a peer support network for fellow medical students and advocate for the well-being of physicians, thanking the fourth-year student “for reminding us that as caregivers, it’s important to care for ourselves as well.” Jarrell noted Hoke’s status as a go-to expert for public health policy and legislation in Maryland and beyond, telling her, “You’re obviously an invaluable resource on public health and advocacy work, and it will benefit generations to come.”
The president commended Puche for his commitment to innovation and teaching medical students about anatomy. “We recently saw the School of Medicine’s renovated anatomy lab, and it’s a phenomenal educational environment,” said Jarrell, who then applauded Colloca for her impactful research and international leadership on the placebo and nocebo effects. “Dr. Colloca’s love of learning has led to groundbreaking work in pain management. Her work has had an indelible impact on the world,” he said.
Finally, Jarrell saluted Gobburu’s accomplishments as a researcher and entrepreneur who has started two companies, PumasAI, Inc., and VivPro Corporation, calling him “a trailblazer in the field of translational medicine.”
A Parade of Hits
Wearing a glistening dress, Curry sang two medleys — “Imagine/Blackbird” by John Lennon/The Beatles and “Satisfied/Dear Theodosia” from “Hamilton” — as well as “Believe in Yourself” from “The Wiz” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from “Funny Girl,” with the latter closing the event and prompting a standing ovation.
She said that “Believe in Yourself” was appropriate for the occasion because of the inspiration it would provide to UMB students and staff. “This song has been so helpful to me over the years, and, little-known fact, ‘The Wiz’ started right here in Baltimore in the 1970s before it went to Broadway,” Curry said.
Before “The Hamilton” medley, Curry told a story about how she and Pearson performed a private set for the nine U.S. Supreme Court judges during welcoming festivities for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, JD, in 2022. The high court’s tradition is that the previously appointed justice will arrange dinner and entertainment to welcome the newest member, and Curry and Pearson were invited as the musical guests.
“I had the unique opportunity with Glenn to be in a room with all of the Supreme Court justices and their spouses or partners. No one else was allowed to be in the room, except for us and a photographer, not even the people who put it together,” Curry said. “So I decided if I was going to have 15 minutes in a room with the people who actually make decisions in this country, I wasn’t going to waste my time. Justice Jackson is a big fan of ‘Hamilton,’ so I chose those two particular songs because I wanted all of the justices to hear these words.”
After the “Hamilton” mashup, Jarrell said, “That was fabulous. Can you imagine what you would ask if you got to sit before the nine justices for dinner? I’d have to think about that. That would be a lot of fun. And that was a great performance.”
History, Food, and Fellowship
On Oct. 15, in an event tied to Founders Week, about 50 members of the UMB community visited one of the University’s five “Historical Treasures” — Westminster Hall and Burying Ground; the Joseph U. Dorsch Sr., BSP ’39, Pharmacy Museum; the Living History Museum at the School of Nursing; the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Dental Museum; and the Historical Collections Department at the Health Sciences and Human Services Library.
Meanwhile, Jarrell and other University leaders took part in two popular Founders Week traditions on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16, the Student Cookout and the Staff Luncheon, respectively, both of which featured free food, camaraderie, and a chance to break bread with fellow students or employees.
About 600 students lined up along West Lombard Street on a brisk and sunny day Oct. 15 for a cookout that was catered by Mission BBQ. Jarrell and Roger J. Ward, JD, EdD, MSL, MPA, provost and executive vice president, greeted attendees before the students walked onto the School of Nursing Courtyard to feast on beef brisket, pulled chicken, barbecue spaghetti, mac and cheese, kettle chips, and desserts, served by members of the UMB leadership team.
The next day, more than 600 employees ventured to Westminster Hall on another brisk and sunny afternoon for a buffet-style lunch featuring chicken fajita wraps, tuna salad sandwiches, carved pit beef, vegan sliders, Asian noodles, Old Bay chips, and more. University leaders served appetizers to the staff members who waited in line along West Fayette Street for the two separate seatings, and Jarrell and Ward greeted them before they entered the historic venue. Another 200 boxed lunches were set aside for night-shift employees.
Inside at both seatings, Jarrell introduced Mary Maldarelli, MD ’19, a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellow at the University of Maryland Medical Center who provided background music on Westminster Hall’s restored 1882 pipe organ, starting with the familiar theme from “The Addams Family.” Jarrell addressed the crowd at each session.
“We welcome you to this wonderful luncheon,” he said as employees ate lunch at round tables on the mezzanine and high-top tables on the floor. “I hope that this event conveys the respect that we have for all the staff members of our great University. You are the ones who actually help to make it great. I wanted you to hear that from me, and I want you to know how much I appreciate the work that all of you do.”