Montgomery College

Per Montgomery College (6.21.23): This afternoon, Montgomery College President Dr. Jermaine F. Williams and MC student Williams Ochoa participated in a moderated conversation organized by the office of the First Lady of the United States and held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Va. The event was part of President Biden’s Investing in America tour and featured Dr. Jill Biden, a longtime community college professor, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India. The conversation was moderated by NSF Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan.

In a statement this morning, the White House said: “During the tour, President Biden and leaders across the Administration will travel directly to communities benefitting from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This includes communities seeing new manufacturing and clean energy investments spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, new infrastructure projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, small businesses and families saving money on high-speed internet as a result of the American Rescue Plan, and more.”

Per Montgomery College: A team of Montgomery College (MC) students earned two awards from the 2023 NASA MINDS competition, held in May. The “MC UV” team was recognized with second place in the overall competition (complete design, build, and presentation), and a third-place award for their technical paper. The entire MC team is made up of dual enrollment students majoring in engineering. You can watch the team’s submission video here, which captures the project from start to finish.

NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovative New Designs for Space (NASA MINDS) is a multi-semester undergraduate level activity that supports the Artemis mission and the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) and Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD). Students’ skills, creativity and innovation are challenged as they are asked to design and build technologies needed for NASA’s Artemis mission, with the support of their faculty.

Per Montgomery College: Montgomery College (MC) announced Dr. Michelle A. Campbell will be its next senior vice president for advancement and community engagement, following a national search. Campbell comes to the College, located in Montgomery County, Md., from Middlesex College in New Jersey, where she served as vice president for institutional advancement. She begins her new role at Montgomery College on June 5, 2023.

Campbell will serve on the College’s senior leadership team as a member of the President’s Cabinet. She will oversee the strategic vision of the College’s advancement team, which includes the Office of Development, the Montgomery College Foundation, the Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technology at Montgomery College (PIC MC) Foundation, the Alumni Association, Community Engagement, Grants and Sponsored Programs, and Special Events. Her oversight also includes the Office of Communications, which manages MC’s marketing, website, public relations, social media, publications, and Montgomery College Television.

Per Montgomery College: Montgomery College (MC) has received a five-year cooperative agreement award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology through its Professional Research Experience Program, (NIST-PREP). The NIST-PREP award, which began April 1, 2023, will provide up to 250 placements annually for MC students at NIST’s laboratories in Gaithersburg, as well as research opportunities for current MC faculty. The new project continues the NIST-PREP project at MC, which has run from 2018 to 2023. The new five-year award provides up to $7,461,117. Students selected for NIST-PREP will have the opportunity to work with research mentors at NIST, and will receive stipends as well as professional development and mentoring. They are eligible to participate in multiple terms, and can be appointed to NIST internships when they transfer to four-year institutions with NIST-PREP awards.

The new program builds upon MC’s first NIST-PREP cooperative agreement award, and adds significant student support, mentoring, and professional development opportunities. MC has received NIST funding since 2012, when 11 students interned at NIST in a pilot program. In 2014, NIST awarded the college\College a NIST Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) cooperative agreement award that supported over 100 internships. During the first NIST-PREP project from 2018 to 2023, 125 students received a total of 228 internship placements, meaning that many students received more than one appointment. One faculty member also received a research appointment.

Per Montgomery College: Montgomery College will bestow honorary degrees recognizing four outstanding members of the community at its 2023 Commencement exercises. Honorary degrees are the highest honor conferred by the College, awarded to people who have distinguished themselves with extraordinary achievements, made outstanding contributions to MC, or elevated the College in the eyes of the community.

The four degree recipients are: Ms. Kimmy Duong, vice chairman and chief financial officer, Pragmatics, Inc; Ms. Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, artist; Mr. C. Richard Mattingly, founder, CRM Advisors, LLC; and The Honorable Craig Rice, former Montgomery County Councilmember. Montgomery College’s commencement ceremony will be held Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10 a.m. on the Rockville Campus.

Per Montgomery College: Maryland Governor Wes Moore today announced Dr. Sanjay Rai, Montgomery College’s senior vice president for academic affairs, as acting secretary for the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC). He starts his new role in early May. Dr. Rai has consistently and vigorously advanced innovations that bolster student success in academic, career, technical, and workforce development programs throughout his career. He has worked to remove barriers to education access through the redesign of developmental education, revision of alternate placement policies, and embedding of coaches in classrooms to increase student success.

“Based on his many years of leadership here at Montgomery College, we are confident that Dr. Rai will continue his tradition of educational innovation as Maryland’s secretary of higher education,” Chair of the Board of Trustees Dr. Michael Brintnall said. “He is keenly focused on preparing students for success academically and in the workforce, which thereby contributes to growth for our region’s employers and enriches our communities. We wish Dr. Rai the very best in this exciting role on Gov. Moore’s Cabinet.”