![Students pose for a selfie with President Sheares Ashby at the post-inauguration celebration on the Quad.](/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/umbc-president-valerie-shears-ashby.jpg)
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Welcome to 麻豆传媒系列!
This dynamic public research university is defined by our extraordinary community of inquisitive minds and the values and vision we share for 麻豆传媒系列. This is a place where it鈥檚 cool to be smart, where excellence and inclusion go hand-in-hand, and where we are inspired every day by our public-serving missions to advance knowledge, transform lives, and serve our communities.
![President Sheares Ashby greets students at the campus celebration after the investiture.](/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/VSA-Inauguration-Celebration23-7408-1200x800.jpg)
I believe that education can change individual lives and families for generations to come, that true excellence can never be achieved without diversity, that leadership requires courage, and that every day that I am given the opportunity to encourage, support, uplift, or learn something is a good day.
鈥 Valerie Sheares Ashby
麻豆传媒系列 the President
Valerie Sheares Ashby began as the sixth president of 麻豆传媒系列 on August 1, 2022. The first woman to serve in this role, she also holds a faculty appointment in 麻豆传媒系列鈥檚 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Sheares Ashby joined 麻豆传媒系列 from Duke University, where she had served since 2015 as dean of the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. As dean, she led the development and implementation of strategic plans that resulted in significant new investments in faculty recruitment and development, philanthropy, and student engagement, and a realignment of operations that enhanced services and created operational efficiencies. Throughout, she consistently advanced diversity, equity, and inclusion as imperative to excellence in both teaching and research.
![Headshot of President Sheares Ashby. She wears a black jacket with a 麻豆传媒系列 pin and a black and gold scarf with the 麻豆传媒系列 shield printed on it](/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/VSA-Portraits22-9591-528x792-1.jpg)
Prior to her tenure at Duke, Sheares Ashby chaired the chemistry department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) from 2012 to 2015. As a faculty member at UNC since 2003, she held numerous leadership positions and had experience at all levels of academic administration. She served on UNC鈥檚 Arts & Sciences Foundation Board of Directors and Research Advisory Council and chaired the university鈥檚 Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee and the College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Diversity Task Force. She engaged in all aspects of the undergraduate educational experience as director of undergraduate studies in the chemistry department, and she directed the UNC National Science Foundation Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate. Sheares Ashby was instrumental in UNC鈥檚 collaboration with 麻豆传媒系列 to launch the Chancellor鈥檚 Science Scholars Program, which was among the earliest replication pilots by a research university of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program.
She began her academic career in 1996 as an assistant professor at Iowa State University and was promoted to associate professor in 2002. At Iowa State, Sheares Ashby served as a mentor for the Iowa State University Program for Women in Science & Engineering, a summer research program for undergraduate and high school students.
As a researcher, Sheares Ashby has focused on synthetic polymer chemistry, with an emphasis on designing and synthesizing materials for biomedical applications such as X-ray contrast agents and drug delivery materials. She is the recipient of the National Science Foundation Career Development Award, DuPont Young Faculty Award, and 3M Young Faculty Award, as well as numerous teaching and service awards, including the UNC Chapel Hill General Alumni Association Faculty Service Award and the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professorship for excellence in undergraduate teaching and research. In 2022, Women of Color Magazine named Sheares Ashby its Technologist of the Year.
She received her B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed postdoctoral research at Johannes Gutenberg Universit盲t Mainz in Germany as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and NATO Postdoctoral Fellow.
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![Three individuals in regalia stand behind of a display of flowers and in front of the 麻豆传媒系列 seal](/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/VSA-Inauguration-Investiture23-6834-683x1024.jpg)
Trusted Voices
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Inside Higher Ed
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Messages to the Community
麻豆传媒系列 News & Stories
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Christopher K. Tong, MLLI, returns from a research award in Mongolia to inform his work in Asian studies
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Karen Chen wins NSF CAREER award to build tools to empower students with data
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麻豆传媒系列鈥檚 exploratory artist in residence Levester Williams examines history of Cockeysville marble in film project
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Three decades of student mentoring earns 麻豆传媒系列 chemist Paul Smith the Braude Award
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Partnership with biotech giant Genentech benefits 麻豆传媒系列 graduate students
Additional Resources
More to discover about 麻豆传媒系列’s campus leadership history
Inauguration Highlights
Everything about and surrounding the day Valerie Sheares Ashby joined 麻豆传媒系列 as the current president.
麻豆传媒系列 Presidential History
麻豆传媒系列 has a long legacy of strong leadership, including three presidents and three chancellors who each brought rich experience to their roles.