Meyerhoff Scholarship Program

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The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program was founded at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 1988 with a grant from the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Foundation, under the guidance of future UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III. It is a program focused on the cultivation of underrepresented minority scholarship and awareness in the math, science, and engineering disciplines. The ultimate goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who achieve at the doctoral level, producing citizens who are able to significantly contribute to the body of knowledge in their chosen field as well the surrounding community. Service and societal awareness are also a strong emphasis of the program, as all scholars (not just those from underrepresented backgrounds) are encouraged to embrace civic responsibility. The program has served as model for subsequent programs nationwide, received substantial media coverage, accolades for its record of achievement, and is the source material for several well-received books on the subject of fostering success and scholarship in the African American community.

At the program's inception, Robert Meyerhoff was particularly interested in addressing the shortage of African Americans (especially black males) who had successfully pursued careers in the sciences and engineering [1]. The initial grant issued for the program, just over a half million dollars (USD), enabled UMBC to launch a program of full support for outstanding African American students. The initial cohort, known as the M1s, were competitively selected from across Maryland and included 19 young men who enrolled in fall 1989. The goal of these students and all subsequent Meyerhoff Scholars' (often referred to simply as "Meyerhoffs" or "M's") would be to major in mathematics, science, engineering, or computer science, and then pursue doctorates in these areas.

Female students of African American descent were admitted to the program as of its second year, and the program was opened up as a general scholarship with an emphasis on minority interests in 1997. This was widely viewed as preemptive action in response to the outcome of protracted litigation levied at the Benjamin Banneker Scholarship Program, the first scholarship of its kind to be ruled unconstitutional [2] (though the University of Maryland, College Park did publicly contest the issue vigorously for years). In its present form, the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program continues to thrive and produce successful scholars spanning a multitude of disciplines, backgrounds, and ethnicities.