On August 1, 2022, Valerie Sheares Ashby began as UMBC’s president. Here’s how she and others have talked about UMBC’s values, leadership, and future in recent media.
In The Baltimore Sun:
“It is absolutely fitting that we now have [Valerie Sheares Ashby] as the president here at UMBC — an institution that understands…that we don’t have to choose between advancing innovation and advancing equity. We can and we will do both.”
—Gov. Wes Moore
“UMBC inaugurates Valerie Sheares Ashby as first university president: ‘We want to remove barriers'”
On CBS Baltimore:
“My job is to help every single one of our faculty, student, staff, community members maximize their experience and become who they want to become to make this world a better place.”
—Pres. Sheares Ashby
“Dr. Sheares Ashby talks with WJZ about being inaugurated as UMBC’s first female president”
On WYPR:
“This is an extraordinary institution. It is very much true to the values that it states and very much true to the vision that it states.”
—Pres. Sheares Ashby
“Midday on Higher Ed: UMBC’s new president, Valerie Sheares Ashby”
In Chemical & Engineering News:
“UMBC’s vision is at the core of everything I value in higher education. They are the champions of inclusive excellence. They’ve done innovative pedagogy in the classroom and interdisciplinary research. They’re committed to social justice, civic engagement, and economic prosperity through this lens of being welcoming and inspiring. It just became an R1 university. Not a lot of institutions can claim inclusive excellence and being an R1 in the same sentence.”
—Pres. Sheares Ashby
“Chemist Valerie Sheares Ashby has spent 30 years working to achieve inclusive excellence“
In The Baltimore Sun:
“Under the university’s new status as an R1 research institution…Ashby said she hopes to bolster research efforts across all disciplines in both undergraduate and graduate levels. ‘We don’t need to redefine their vision; we need to live fully into it,’ Ashby said. ‘And if we do…[UMBC] will be even even further down this road of redefining excellence in higher education.’”
In The Washington Post:
“Dr. Ashby is clearly the impressive scholar and dynamic leader we need to build on the strong foundation of inclusive excellence at UMBC. UMBC is a jewel — nationally and internationally recognized for its innovative teaching and pathbreaking research. […] The Board of Regents knows this legacy will be in good hands with Dr. Ashby.”
—Linda R. Gooden, chair of the USM Board of Regents
“UMBC’s next president will be an academic dean from Duke“
Header image by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.