Greg and Roberta Kahlert believe that philanthropic support of basic science research is critical to laying the groundwork for the discoveries that bring us closer to finding preventions and cures for some of today’s most pressing medical mysteries.

On a trip to Israel in 2013, then-UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, saw the potential for partnership between UMB and the University of Haifa (UH) based upon a shared passion for academic excellence and social engagement in their communities and around the world.

At the 2019 Founders Week Gala, then-UMB President Jay Perman presented the inaugural Catalyst for Excellence Awards.

To support entrepreneurs from UMB and across the University System of Maryland (USM), USM created the Maryland Momentum Fund (MMF), a $10 million investment fund that concentrates on filling gaps in the funding pipeline to push USM’s most innovative ideas into the marketplace.

Renovations at 16 S. Poppleton St., the historic site of the new Community Engagement Center, have been underway since the kickoff event, and the CEC is on schedule to open to the public in summer 2020.

$750,000 gift from the Gyi Family endows the Felix A. Khin-Maung-Gyi Memorial Scholarship for Pharmapreneurship.

UMB's groundbreaking fundraising initiative, the $750 million Catalyst Campaign, has surpassed the important $500 million milestone, totaling $530 million raised by Feb. 1, 2020.

The new year brought new leadership to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), with Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, taking over as interim president after Jay A. Perman, MD, was appointed as the fifth chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM).