Wisdom Institute Board

Kathy Raab started her UMBC career in 1973 in the Academic Departments of English, American Studies, and Ancient Studies. She transferred to Special Sessions and subsequently worked in various Academic Service Departments for the Vice Provost, before spending the last decade and a half of her 36-year service in the Office of the President. After retiring in 2006, Kathy continued her relationship with the campus through a part-time position with Retirement Living TV as their University Liaison, and she assisted the campus with the transition to Google calendar. Kathy currently volunteers with FISH of Howard County, a non-profit organization that helps county residents who are in need of food or financial assistance. She and her husband spend their leisure time between Ellicott City and Fenwick Island, Delaware, where they enjoy walking and kayaking, and especially spending time with their children and grandchildren.

Kathy Lee Sutphin retired January 1, 2021, after over 25 years of service to UMBC’s Department of Biological Sciences and the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences. Kathy, a UMBC ’95 Political Science alumna and life-long learner, completed a Doctorate of Education (Educational Leadership – Higher Education concentration) from Frostburg State University in 2018 and UMBC’s Post Master’s Certificate in College Teaching and Learning Science in December 2021. Her career focus – the success of UMBC and its students – evolved as her titles changed from non-traditional student to Assistant to the Chair to Coordinator of Special Projects to Assistant Dean of Instructional Projects to Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs to Assistant Dean Emeritus. With the support of many dedicated staff and faculty members, Kathy helped launch URCAD, the comprehensive renovation of the Biological Sciences building, the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and an array of transfer and STEM student success initiatives that include MARC U*STAR, iCubed@UMBC and STEM BUILD. She received the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Staff Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Institution in 2004. She is enjoying the time retirement allows for family, friends, and her own special projects that include serving on the Wisdom Institute Board.

Diana Benoit joined UMBC in 2013 as Program Management Specialist working in the Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.  Currently she supports the Vice Provost and Dean of UAA and supports the Wisdom Institute. She holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University.

Linda Baker is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychology. She retired in 2019 after almost 40 years at UMBC. She served as Chair and Associate Chair of the Department, as Director of the Applied Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program, and as President and Vice President of the Faculty Senate. She has served on many university committees, including as Chair of the Research Council. Her research has focused on reading comprehension, metacognition, and motivation, and it has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Spencer Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association.

Dottie Caplan began her career at UMBC in 1997 as a secretary in the College of Arts and Sciences. She joined the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences in 2005 as an Administrative Assistant in the Dean’s office. Dottie was honored by receiving the 2014–15 Karen L. Wensch Endowment Award for Outstanding Non-Exempt Staff. Dottie was president of the Non-Exempt Staff Senate and was an advocate for the Maryland Charity Campaign (MCC), serving on its cabinet and overseeing the annual Non-Exempt Staff/Professional Staff Senate bake sale fundraiser for MCC. In addition, Caplan served as a mentor for new students and supported both Commencement and Welcome Week activities.UMBC has always been a large part of her family. Her husband graduated in 1972 and both of her daughters received their Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree from UMBC.

Marilyn E. Demorest joined the UMBC Psychology Department as Assistant Professor in 1972, where she taught graduate and undergraduate courses in research methods, data analysis, and psychological measurement. She was selected as UMBC’s Presidential Teaching Professor in 1996. Her research focused on behavioral and psychosocial adjustment to acquired hearing impairment and was conducted in collaboration with audiologists. Dr. Demorest’s service activities on campus have impacted several areas. She served on a select committee to formally articulate UMBC’s mission; chaired the faculty committee that developed the Student Course Evaluation Questionnaire (SCEQ), forerunner of today’s evaluation system; and was instrumental in establishing UMBC’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kapps Phi, serving as its first President. From 1998 until her retirement as Professor Emerita in 2011, she served as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.

Betty Glascoe was recruited to apply for the position of Placement Director in 1970 by Pete Rawlings and Norman Reeves. Pete was a faculty member in the Mathematics Department and Norman Reeves was a Counselor in the Counseling Center. Both men later became politicians in Maryland. I was able to secure the position after the candidates were narrowed down from 74, who had applied from throughout the country. To learn the essence of the operation, I selectively interviewed directors from Centers and representatives from employing institutions/ companies from Maryland and the surrounding areas through the state of New York.

After being a mother to my beautiful daughter Richelle, one of the best things to happen to me was securing my position at UMBC and building, what later became the Career Development and Placement Center – Career Center, from infancy to an outstanding operation. I was blessed to hire an outstanding staff of honest, ambitious, talented, hard working, committed and determined young and diversified staff whose mission was to do the very best that that they could for the student population, while enhancing UMBC and it’s academic programs. Employers praised our programs and services and frequently rewarded them. We were highlighted in the Baltimore Sun, US News and World Report, the Washington Post, Baltimore Business Journal, Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, etc. I was interviewed on local television shows throughout the years to provide career direction for students seeking employment.

This recognition afforded me the opportunity to start BJG Enterprises. LLC, after retirement. Health priorities limited my successful business venture. Early in my career I volunteered to teach dance and drama on Saturdays at Echo House in Baltimore City to wonderful and exciting young people who had a thirst for programs of this nature. I taught these artistic programs for 23 years. This was one of the most rewarding opportunities of my life. At my church I taught drama, wrote and directed plays on Saturdays for 22 years. The plays were presented in a variety of venues such as The Meyerhoff Concert Hall, New Shiloh Baptist Church, theaters in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York. I also had a reading of one of my plays at the National Black Theatre Festival in 1980. From 2009 through 2016 I was selected to serve in the White House under President Barack Obama’s administration in the Office of Presidential Correspondence. It was an exciting, rewarding, and remarkable opportunity and experience, long to be lovingly remembered and treasured.

Awards and Citations

• In 1979, the Director of the UMBC Visual and Performing Arts Department and I won awards for Creative Excellence from the US Industrial Film Festival. My award was for script writing and directing of a video entitled “Your Interview.” This video was shown in colleges and universities throughout the country.
• In 1984, I was appointed and commissioned by Governor Harry Hughes to serve a three year term as a member of the Advisory Council for the State of Maryland’s Vocational/ Technical Education.
• In 1987, the UMBC Black Student Union awarded me the UMBC staff Award.
• For 1989 – 1990, Black Vision presented me the award for Words Of Inspiration and Wisdom.
• In September 1993, I received the Presidential Citation for Exemplary Fund Raising Achievement from the Baltimore Metropolitan Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
• In June 1994, the United States Chamber of Commerce duly elected me by the Chamber Board of Directors as a Business Member of the US Chamber of Commerce.
• In 1995, Governor Paris Glendenning awarded me a Citation for 25 Years of Outstanding Service to the Citizens of the State of Maryland.
• In 1995 and 1996, the Maryland Charity Campaign presented me with the “Helping People In Need award.”
• In 1997, from UMBC I received an award for Appreciation for Presence and Service to the UMBC Community.
• In 2000, I received a Certificate in recognition of Outstanding Service and Support to the Miss Maryland Talented Teens Pageant.
• From 2001-2002, I received the UMBC Presidential Distinguished Professional Staff Award.
• In 2003, the Greater Baltimore Career Consortium presented me the Outstanding Leadership Award for Exemplary Service in the Career Planning and Placement Profession.
• In 2007, the Gate Advisory Council awarded me the Black History Month Committee Honor, and the UMBC Legends Of Excellence Award was presented to me “For 35 Years For Inspiring African American and Latino Students.”
• In 2015, the National Museum of African American History and Culture awarded me a Certificate of Appreciation for acquiring one of the first Charter Memberships.

Vin Grabill received his B.A. in Studio Art from Oberlin College in 1971 and M.S. in Visual Studies from the M.I.T. Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) in 1981. He continued his association with CAVS as a research fellow from 1981-1994, participating in many projects and documenting events and performances of CAVS artists and fellows. After teaching video art at the Massachusetts College of Art from 1984-1988, he joined the faculty of the UMBC Department of Visual Arts in 1988 where he taught video art and film history until retiring in 2020. Grabill served as chairperson of the department from 1998-2000 and 2008-2015.

Grabill has exhibited works in painting, sculpture, video art and digital still formats since 1980. His single channel and installation video works have been exhibited nationally and internationally.

John Jeffries joined the UMBC History Department in 1973 after earning a BA from Harvard, serving five years as a naval officer, and receiving a Ph.D. From Yale. At UMBC, he served four years as Faculty Senate President, nine years as Chair of the History Department, and eight years as Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. He won teaching awards from UMBC and from the University System of Maryland. His research focused on the Franklin D. Roosevelt era, and among his publications were two books on politics in the period and one on the WWII home front. He edited the 1929-1945 volume of the Encyclopedia of American History and was named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians. Upon his retirement in 2013, he was appointed Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus.

Art Johnson is Provost Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Political Science and taught at UMBC from 1980 until his retirement in 2017. Before his appointment as Provost, Art chaired the Political Science Department and served on several university and system committees, including the Council of University System Faculty of which he was president. During his tenure as Provost (1998-2008), general education was revised, CAHSS, CNMS, School of Aging Studies, Office of Faculty Development, and the Office of Undergraduate Education were created, COEIT restructured, and two new buildings opened. After his tenure as Provost, he directed the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program until his retirement.

Diane M. Lee (Ex-Officio) launched the Wisdom Institute in 2018 and served as its Director through June 2026.  She served as Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.  She led campus-wide efforts to foster student success and to provide a distinctive undergraduate experience to all UMBC students.  She was responsible for undergraduate research awards, grants and programs, and developed a First Year Experience program.  The Meyerhoff Scholars Program, Honors College, Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, Learning Resources Center, Interdisciplinary Studies, Women’s Center, and Academic Standards and Policy Administration were among Dr. Lee’s direct reports. Dr. Lee is best known, however, as a teacher of teachers, who cares passionately about her field and about her students.  Prior to going into administration, Dr. Lee taught graduate courses in the Education Department in Human Learning and Cognition including the Study of Teaching and most recently, taught a First Year Seminar, “Turning to One Another: Beliefs and Behaviors.”  Dr. Lee was selected by her colleagues to receive the Presidential Teaching Award because of her many contributions to learning and teaching at UMBC and in the field of education.  Dr. Lee is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Golden Key honor societies. She has also been named as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women.

Roy Meyers earned a BA from Colby College and a PhD from the University of Michigan.  He was an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office for almost a decade before coming to UMBC in 1990.  As a Professor of Political Science, he taught courses for that department and for the graduate program in Public Policy and was the first Director of the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program. His research and public service has focused on federal, Maryland, and local government budgeting.  He was awarded the 2018 Aaron Wildavsky Award for lifetime achievement in budgeting and financial management.  He continues to work on federal budgeting problems when not gardening, recreating outside, and hanging with the grandkids.

Kathlyn Miller began working at UMBC in 1998 in the Counseling Center. She also worked in the Office of the Regents Professor, Office of the Provost, before settling in the Graduate School in 2001 as an Executive Administrative Assistant to the Dean. In 2008 she began her work as the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator for PhD and MFA Students.  Throughout the years, Kathy served UMBC through shared governance as President, Vice President, and Treasurer of the Nonexempt Staff Senate (NESS), Chair of the University Steering Committee, and a Member of the Council of University System Staff (CUSS).

Arthur Pittenger completed his degrees in mathematics at Stanford University before participating in the Soviet-American Cultural Exchange program in 1967-68. Prior to joining the UMBC Department of Mathematics and Statistics in 1972, he held positions at The Rockefeller University and the University of Michigan. His research focused on problems in probability theory as well as the theory of quantum computing, and he retired in 2010 as Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Dean Emeritus of Arts and Sciences.

Jill Randles started at UMBC in 1992 as Evening Student Services Counselor for Continuing
Education. She then moved to the College of Engineering as their advisor and then on to
Director of Student Services for the College. A position focusing on first-year programs through
the Provost’s Office led to her position as Assistant Vice Provost and later the title of Assistant
Dean was added.

Janet C. Rutledge is Dean Emerita of the Graduate School after serving as Dean and Vice Provost from 2009 to 2024. Prior to becoming Dean, she served as Associate Dean, Senior Associate Dean, and Interim Vice Provost in the Graduate School at UMBC. She is also an affiliate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Before joining UMBC, Dr. Rutledge was a program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a faculty member at Northwestern University. During her 23 years at UMBC, the Graduate School grew in enrollment, academic programs, administrative capacity, and support for graduate student success and well-being. This growth reflected the shared commitment of the entire graduate community and contributed to UMBC’s achievement of Carnegie R1 classification. She served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on grants that supported graduate students and programs and advanced research on effective practices in graduate education, including the NSF-funded PROMISE program. Dr. Rutledge currently serves as Dean-in-Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). She also serves on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Board of Trustees and chairs the Board of Trustees of the Barrie School, an independent PreK–12 school in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Emma Sellers joined UMBC in 1992 and retired in 2023. She served in a variety of positions that included all aspects of operations in the Department of Political Science, as well as taught student success and first year seminar courses. Education is important to Sellers, and she earned both a B.A. in English (‘03), and M.A. in Instructional Systems Development (‘07) from UMBC. Emma was awarded several awards before she retired from UMBC, namely, Employee of the month (1996), University System of Maryland Board of Regents Outstanding Service to Students (2005-2006), President’s Commission for Women Achievement Award (2010-2011), and Karen L. Wensch Endowment Staff Award (2022-2023). Emma’s thirst for learning has not stopped. She continues to serve at her local church as a staff writer, election judge for the State of Maryland, and an active board member of the Graystone Community Association. Emma is now taking Spanish classes at her local community center. In addition, she has partnered with her daughter in a non-profit organization; Young Moms Odyssey Network, dedicated to empowering young women to build a successful future for themselves and their families. She enjoys spending time with her family. Sellers has discovered that retirement is not a time to rest, but a chance to truly live and fulfill the desires of her heart. Emma’s retirement has opened other doors for future success stories.

Simmona E. Simmons is a former Library Faculty at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and was adjunct faculty for the School at the University of Maryland College Park. She has worked in several positions, including Head of Reference, Head of Serials, and Services Development Librarian. In addition, she has worked at Andrew G. Truxal library at Anne Arundel Community College. She has a Bachelor of Arts from UMBC and she holds a Master of Library Science and a Master of Arts in American Studies, focusing on Communication, both from the University of Maryland College Park.

Ms. Simmons is a contributor to several scholarly publications; she is an active member of her church and the community. Her service includes membership of the Maryland Library Association, ASPIRE Board, Oncology Foundation, and a former board member of the Anne Arundel County Public Library system.

Eager to enhance and hone her communication skills, Ms. Simmons maintains memberships in a number of Toastmasters clubs, including Something New and Phase II Toastmasters. Gardening, travel, and great food bring joy to Simmona.

Tim Sparklin was the Director of the Office of Research Protections and Compliance (ORPC). He retired on February 1, 2023, from UMBC after 39 years of USM service with over 30 years at UMBC. Tim obtained his BA in Sociology from UMBC in 1981 and his Masters of Social Work from UMB in 1983. He started at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems in 1983, moving to UMBC in 1992 working in what was then called the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2004, he led the Human and Animal Research Protections Office (HARPO), under the Vice President for Research. The office was renamed, in 2011, as the Office of Research Protections and Compliance (ORPC). Tim now serves the needs of a treasure trove of a variety of trees and plants in gardens at his home in Catonsville that he and his wife Kim maintain.