About UMB

UMB: Excellence in Education, Research, Service, and Patient Care

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is recognized as one of the preeminent public research universities in the nation. UMB educates students who become leaders in their chosen professions; its faculty conduct research that is internationally recognized; and it provides clinical care and professional services that are of maximum benefit to the communities UMB serves.

Situated in the heart of downtown Baltimore, UMB is among the nation’s leaders in education, research, public service, and patient care. As the founding campus of the University System of Maryland, UMB has celebrated more than 200 years of excellence.

Its graduate and professional schools educate the majority of the state’s health care and human service providers and train them to be leaders in the community. The Dental School and the schools of law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work are ranked among the nation’s best institutions. In 2006, the Board of Regents approved the creation of a seventh professional school—the School of Public Health—to meet the growing demand for highly skilled public health professionals.

The University’s recent growth has been dramatic, with new facilities that add to its stature as a Baltimore landmark and help attract the nation’s top educators, researchers, and students. The Dental School, which ranks eighth among the nation’s public dental schools in funding from the National Institutes of Health, opened a $153 million, 375,000-squarefoot building in 2006 that features technological advances such as electronic patient records, digital imaging, and online curricula. A $67 million, seven-story, 112,565-square-foot addition to Pharmacy Hall is scheduled to open in fall 2010.

With 6,300 students, 2,300 faculty members, and 4,800 staff, UMB is an economic engine yielding $15.11 for every General Fund dollar appropriated by the state of Maryland. In addition to UMB’s mandates of teaching and research, members of the University community donate more than 2 million hours each year in service to the public. UMB faculty generated $517 million in annual research funding and contributed to important advances in basic science and applied research during Fiscal Year 2009.

UMB boasts several distinguished organized research centers including the School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology, the Institute for Genome Sciences and the Center for Vaccine Development, which is the world’s only university vaccine center engaged in the full range of vaccinology—from basic science to clinical evaluation.

UMB’s 10-acre biomedical research park, the University of Maryland BioPark, is driving the commercialization of new drugs, diagnostics and devices, bringing much-needed laboratory and office space to the area and encouraging collaboration among biotechnology companies and the university. Two multi-tenant lab and office buildings totaling 356,000 square feet and housing 20 tenants have been completed. A third commercial building is expected to begin construction in 2010. A new state of Maryland Forensic Medical Center—the most advanced in the nation—will open in the BioPark in summer 2010.