{"id":2434,"date":"2021-11-23T13:13:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T17:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2022-02-23T13:22:09","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T17:22:09","slug":"100-and-counting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/100-and-counting\/","title":{"rendered":"100 and Counting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Centennial celebration postcard image<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By the University of Maryland Eastern Shore\u2019s centennial in 1986, the institution had risen above lingering doubts about its role as a four-year college in the state\u2019s public higher education system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The credit, most affiliated with UMES agree, goes to Dr. William P. Hytche<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> <\/a>who was at the half-way point of his two-decade tenure as its chief executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMES got a crucial boost in 1987, when philanthropist Richard A. Henson, a pioneering aviator who introduced commuter flights to the lower Eastern Shore, donated $2 million. It was the single largest gift by an individual in school history at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, it signaled to the public and those controlling the purse strings in Annapolis that UMES had value. Hytche, and others, point to the Henson donation as a catalyst for change that carried into the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university recognized Henson\u2019s generosity by dedicating a new building in his honor on June 24, 1994, the first significant construction project on campus in a generation. Henson\u2019s gift leveraged other funding for a construction boom that would follow, and dramatically alter the campus landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bricks and mortar, however, were not the only changes as the university moved past its 100th<\/sup>anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hytche realigned the academic programs into a template emphasizing three overarching disciplines; the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences; the School of Education, Social Sciences, and the Arts; and the School of Business and Technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Students
UMES launched a pharmacy program in 2010<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A graduate school would follow and eventually a fifth was added to reflect instruction in allied-health professions, including doctorates in pharmacy<\/strong> <\/a>and physical therapy<\/strong> <\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 22 years Hytche led UMES, enrollment tripled and new degree programs were added. He extended the university\u2019s reach overseas, where its expertise in land-grant activities assisted African nations tackling food production and quality-of-life challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hytche handed over the keys to the president\u2019s office in January 1997 to Dolores Spikes<\/a>, the first woman in more than 100 years to lead the institution — and the first with previous presidential experience at Southern University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spikes knew and respected Hytche, and continued his strategy of focusing public attention on the important role historically Black institutions should play in higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes in UMES\u2019 physical appearance accelerated under Spikes. The state of Maryland constructed a new campus access road connecting U.S Route 13 to a reconfigured perimeter road around the campus. The $32 million Student Services Center opened, and its distinctive rotunda dome became the inspiration for the university\u2019s logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health problems limited Spikes\u2019 time as president. Jackie Thomas, a UMES administrator, took over and served the 2001-2002 academic year as interim president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state university system\u2019s governing board hired Thelma B. Thompson<\/a>, chief academic policymaker at Norfolk State University, to be UMES\u2019 next president. A native of Jamaica, she was the university\u2019s first foreign-born chief executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a handful of academic programs held accreditation from peer review organizations when Thompson arrived in 2002. She directed her deputies, deans and department heads to make accreditation a priority and when she stepped down in August 2011, 26 had the credential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four major buildings opened during Thompson\u2019s nine years as president; the Food Science & Technology Center, a new physical plant headquarters, a coastal research center near Assateague Island and Hazel Hall, named in honor of Salisbury businessman Richard F. Hazel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hazel\u2019s $3 million gift was the largest private donation in UMES\u2019 first 125 years and launched a successful university-wide campaign that generated $14.9 million in seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the first decade of the 21st<\/sup> century, UMES ramped up efforts to promote economic development linking academic expertise and research with local entrepreneurs. The Office of Technology and Commercialization had success as a business incubator, working with NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility in nearby VIrginia, and venturing into green energy production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of UMES\u2019 125th<\/sup> academic year, the university had authority to award bachelor\u2019s degrees in 34 disciplines, master\u2019s degrees in 13 programs and doctorates in seven areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A school that in 1886 welcomed nine Blacks merely hoping to get a secondary-school or vocational education had become the academic home to a racially diverse student body of more than 4,400 pursuing college degrees at three levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
2010<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the University of Maryland Eastern Shore\u2019s centennial in 1986, the institution had risen above lingering doubts about its role as a four-year college in the state\u2019s public higher education system. The credit, most affiliated with UMES agree, goes to Dr. William P. Hytche, who was at the half-way point of his two-decade tenure as its chief…Read more 100 and Counting<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-2434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=2434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}