09.25

Dear Friends,

The fall 2025 semester is well underway, and our campus is once again filled with the energy and promise that comes with the start of a new academic year. Nearly 360 new undergraduate students and 180 new graduate students have joined the Hood community, and it is both inspiring and gratifying to see our students engaged in their studies and activities.

This semester, we are especially pleased to introduce a new academic offering: the minor in sports entertainment and marketing. Jointly developed by the Delaplaine School of Business and the Department of English and Communication Arts, this program blends marketing, management, and communications to prepare students for careers in sports marketing, event planning, content creation, and sponsorship management.

Looking ahead, we are in the early stages of planning our next joint academic symposium with the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, to be hosted on Hood’s campus June 16–18, 2026. This collaboration promises to bring together scholars and practitioners around vital topics in science and research.

For those in our Frederick community, I hope you enjoyed the bells of the McCullagh Memorial Carillon last week in honor of Constitution Day. The carillon played renditions of the national anthem, God Bless American and America the Beautiful.

With every good wish for a meaningful and productive fall season,

Debbie Ricker, Ph.D.

President

ALonna Soward ’19, M.S.’24, a fourth grade teacher at Monocacy Elementary, where her subjects include math, science and social studies, was recognized as the 2025 Frederick County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, with FCPS leadership highlighting Soward’s mentorship to new teachers, her involvement with various school committees and her innovative lesson plans.

"My time at Hood gave me such a foundation to use within my teaching journey," Soward said. "I remember sitting in Elementary Math, thinking, 'This is not how I learned math growing up!'

"But once I was in my own classroom, I realized how important that shift was. The course helped me understand how to teach math in a way that encourages students to think conceptually—to really understand the why behind the math and not just memorize steps."

Soward is among seven finalists for the Maryland State Department of Education's 2026 Maryland Teacher of the Year. The state award will be announced on September 26.

Alisa Gorham ’26 and Ella Hamilton ’26 have been selected to participate in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in summer 2025.

Gorham, a biochemistry major, will conduct research at the University of Albany’s RNA Institute. She will be working in the Fuchs Lab, researching non-conventional modes of RNA translation, which can be used to develop vaccines and combat viruses.

Hamilton, a double major in mathematics and chemistry, will join Torsten Heggman, Ph.D., at Kent State University. Hamilton’s research project is titled “Synthesizing ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals for use in next generation display technology and transferring chirality,” an emerging topic in the field of materials science, chemistry and biology.

BlazerBloom, a student research team, has been named one of five national champions in the 2025 AlgaePrize, a prestigious research competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The team received the award at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, in August.

The student team was comprised of environmental science and policy major Amanda Ambrose ’26; biology majors Riana Caldwell ’25, Garrett Hitchens ’23 M.S.’25, Ridley Little ’25 and Kayla Russell ’24; as well as sustainability studies majors Isabella DiPietrantonio ’25 and Josephine Sasse ’25. Faculty members Drew Ferrier, Ph.D., Daehwan Kim, Ph.D., and Craig Laufer, Ph.D., oversaw the team.

This recognition follows two years of dedicated research after Hood was named one of only 15 national finalists in the AlgaePrize’s 2023–2025 cycle. The competition challenges students from across the country to create innovative solutions for transforming algae into viable products such as fuel, food, fertilizer, and other sustainable bioproducts.

BlazerBlooms’s research focused on leveraging algae to produce a carbon-neutral renewable biofuel, a type of fuel which can directly substitute for petroleum-based transportation fuels. BlazerBloom team members gained real-world research experience alongside Hood faculty members while developing cutting-edge ideas to lower the cost of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts.

SEPTEMBER

• SEPT 25, noon | HOOD Talks: AI and the Future of Healthcare with Tim Coffin, Ph.D.
  Online (register here)

OCTOBER

• OCT 2, 6:30 p.m. | Poetry Reading, Dorian Elizabeth Knapp, Ph.D., Professor of English
  Black Box Theater, Tatem Hall
• OCT 3, 8 p.m. | Movie Night: Madagascar
  Hodson Auditorium, Rosenstock Hall
• OCT 4, 10-10:30 a.m. | Satuday Morning Story Time
  Beneficial-Hodson Library & Learning Commons, 2nd floor
• OCT 5, 3 p.m. | Violin Recital with Eunice Kim
  Coffman Chapel
• OCT 17, 7 p.m. | Hood College Theatre & Ardeo Theatre Co. present: "The Half-Life of Marie Curie"
  Hodson Auditorium, Rosenstock Hall
  
• OCT 20, 7-8:30 p.m. | Commemorating 250 Years of Independence in the Americas: Shared Struggles of the Western Hemisphere," Dan Cozart, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History
  Beneficial-Hodson Library & Learning Commons, 2nd floor
• OCT 23, noon | HOOD Talks: Mindful and Intuitive Eating with Joanna Eaton, Ph.D.
  noon, online (register here)
• OCT 23, 4:30-7 p.m. | Safe Harvest
  Whitaker Campus Center
• OCT 24, 6:30 p.m. | An Evening with Hill Harper, Actor, Author & Philanthropist
  Sponsored by the Hanson Lecture Series through the Foundation for Enhancing Communities.
  6:30 p.m., Hodson Auditorium, Rosenstock Hall

NOVEMBER

• NOV 5, 7:30 p.m. | Hood Wind Ensemble
  Coffman Chapel
• NOV 11, 6:30 p.m. | Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation
  Hodson Auditorium, Rosenstock Hall
• NOV 13, noon | HOOD Talks: Mental Health and Addiction with Stephanie Snyder, Ph.D.
  Online (register here)
• NOV 13, 7:30 p.m. | Hood Choir and Chamber Singers Fall Concert
  Coffman Chapel