Dear Clark School Friends,

This spring, we have special reason to celebrate. The University of Maryland, in appointing me as its new senior vice president of academic affairs and provost, has in doing so given the highest possible accolade to you—to the Clark School faculty members, staff, students, alumni and friends whose wonderful and diverse accomplishments have propelled the school forward and indeed formed the basis of the many “Significant Accomplishments” letters I have been proud to send you over the years. Thank you for all you have done, and will continue to do, for the school we hold dear.

High Rankings for the Clark School from Multiple Sources
Not only has the U.S. News & World Report survey this spring ranked the Clark School 10th in the nation among public engineering schools and 16th among all engineering schools, but the Princeton Review has ranked us 6th in the nation and the Institute of Higher Education and Center for World-Class Universities has ranked us 13th worldwide. I predict that this trend will steadily continue, culminating in our arrival among the top 5 public programs in the nation.

Achieving Great Expectations at a Record Rate
Thanks to gifts from a wide array of people—some well-known like A. James Clark, Jeong H. Kim and Robert Fischell, some first-time donors—the Clark School, in less than three years of an allotted seven, has raised nearly $110 million of its $185 million Great Expectations goal. For comparison, in our last campaign we raised $63 million in seven years. Among the many recent gifts that made this milestone possible are those from former Clark School dean George Dieter and his wife Nancy, former Clark School associate dean Marilyn Berman Pollans, the Hillman Family Foundation, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, William and Gabrielle Korab, Charles A. Irish, Sr., Emilio Fernandez, Harry K. Wells, Erik and Joyce Young, Patrick and Marguerite Sung, Dick and Eleanor Reed, Steve and Miriam Dubin, Ron and Karen Lowman, Mark and Karen Huston, Bill and Pamela Koffel, Tom and Susan Scholl, and associate dean Bill Fourney and his wife Connie. Through their generosity and others’, we are well on our way to achieving and even surpassing our goal. Please visit the Great Expectations web site for a complete description of Clark School giving priorities.


Demonstrating Leadership in Crucial New Areas
On May 3, the Fischell Department of Bioengineering presented its first annual Fischell Festival, an event that celebrates bioengineering's potential to improve life and seeks to build closer ties between the Clark School and the University of Maryland Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry. The day featured high-profile speakers, including Clark School benefactor Robert Fischell; a live “telesurgery” broadcast from a School of Medicine operating room; and a Whiting-Turner Business and Entrepreneurial Lecture delivered by Medtronic Chairman and CEO Art Collins. The following week, the University of Maryland NanoCenter, recently ranked by Small Times magazine as 5th in education and 7th in research nationwide, presented NanoDay, highlighting some of the field’s most exciting current developments and our new Interdisciplinary Minor in Nano Science and Technology. I predict that our new University of Maryland Energy Research Center will soon establish its own platform for public dissemination of knowledge and networking.

All of these achievements, and the many more found in this letter’s sections, derive from your expertise, insight, risk-taking and commitment to the Clark School. While I leave to take on new opportunities and challenges, these powerful qualities will remain and grow within the school, driving its astonishing progress.

Best Regards,


Nariman Farvardin