12/03/02
By EMILY SHEPHERD
On July 1, 2002, when Dr. Thelma B. Thompson officially began her duties as president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), not only the agricultural community but the entire Eastern Shore gained an articulate and highly gifted advocate and friend.
When asked about her vision for UMES, Thompson does not hesitate. “I have a vision of hope,” she said. “We have a mission to re-educate this region and the nation about the importance of farming. We need to reconnect ourselves to the high station that farming once had. We need to preserve and honor what we have and continue to work with farmers. UMES is part of this process.”
While acknowledging that “we need big farms,” Thompson was quick to add, “but we also need family farms.”
“Farming is a family activity,” Thompson said. “For farmers, it is not just about money; it’s about love of the land; it’s their life.”
Thompson holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in English from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a teacher’s diploma from Bethlehem Teachers College in Jamaica, West Indies. She has written numerous journal articles, essays and editorials, often addressing issues in education. Her book, The Seventeenth Century English Hymn: A Mode for Sacred and Secular Concerns, was published in 1988. She has also received numerous awards from educational and civic institutions. Immediately prior to coming to UMES, Thompson was vice president for academic affairs at Norfolk State University.
Thompson has a goal to revitalize and refocus the agricultural and other programs at UMES, which include construction management, aviation science, toxicology, marine-estuarine-environmental sciences and organizational leadership.
She is eager to reach out to the wider community, and has begun doing this through Sunday morning television (“Yes, UMES”), and the “Saturday Academy,” a program offering opportunities for computer training, music performance and standardized test preparation.
Thompson is clear that developing a stronger agricultural program includes stabilizing and broadening other complimentary programs.
“We need to link with the school system,” she explains, “reaching students in elementary and secondary schools. Young people are our future.”
Founded in 1886, UMES is a land-grant college and is currently home to more than 3,200 undergraduates and over 300 graduate students, as well as 131 full-time faculty.