Just a year after I arrived at UMBC as a young vice provost in 1987, what we now know today as the University System of Maryland (USM) was formed through the merger of the five University of Maryland campuses and the six campuses in the State University and College System. The late John S. Toll, a renowned physicist who devoted the prime of his career to public higher education, served as the first Chancellor and quickly established a system that optimized the varied strengths of eleven institutions to give families and employers throughout the state access to outstanding academic programs and research discoveries, and talent.
Image: Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor