9 Terp Women Who Shaped History

Gail Berman ’78
Whether you love scripted dramas like “Bones,” irreverent cartoons like “Family Guy” or reality competition shows like “American Idol,” you can thank this noted producer for bringing them to your screen. She’s led TV and movie studios, including serving as president of entertainment for Fox in the early 2000s, then president of Paramount Pictures.

She’s particularly proud of executive-producing “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” from 1997 to 2003, she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “There weren’t a lot of empowered young women on TV at the time. This show was important for female storytelling, for genres like ‘Twilight’ and anything that came after ‘Buffy.’ It changed storytelling.”

Connie Chung ’69
The first Asian American and second woman to anchor a nightly news program, Chung felt she “had to be as strong and tough as the next guy” to brave the double dose of racism and sexism that came her way. She worked her way up the ranks of television news, covering the impeachment of Richard Nixon in D.C., then anchoring in Los Angeles before stepping onto the national stage in New York. She co-hosted the “CBS Evening News” for two years with Dan Rather.

Over Chung’s long career, she famously interviewed NBA superstar Magic Johnson after he announced his HIV-positive diagnosis; Tonya Harding after the attack on fellow ice skater Nancy Kerrigan; and U.S. Rep. Gary Condit after intern Chandra Levy went missing.

Professor Eugenie Clark
Though UMD is more closely associated with turtles, Clark was known as the “Shark Lady.” The marine biologist demystified sharks for millions of people through her popular classes, bestselling books, National Geographic articles and public television specials. She even had a deep-sea shark, the Squalus clarkae, named in her honor after her 2015 death.

In addition to being a skilled scientist, “she was an absolutely great science communicator, and could do what most scientists cannot, which is to make people excited about her science and discovery,” said emeritus Professor Arthur Popper, chair of the Department of Biology during part of Clark’s tenure.

Distinguished University Professor Emerita Rita Colwell
Cholera has killed nearly 40 million people over the last two centuries. Thanks to the pioneering research of microbiologist Colwell, scientists and health care workers now know much more about the disease—potentially saving thousands of lives in developing countries. Since the 1970s, she has made critical discoveries about the bacterium, which sickens people who drink untreated water. Along with collaborators, she created simple solutions for filtering water through folded sari cloth that could be used by people in even the poorest communities. Now, she’s working on computer models to predict outbreaks.

In addition, Colwell expanded roles for women in science, serving as the first female director of the National Science Foundation in 1998 and opening pathways for more women, especially from underrepresented backgrounds, to succeed.

Dominique Dawes ’02
The first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics, Dawes was part of the 1996 team nicknamed the “Magnificent Seven” that topped the podium at the Atlanta Games. The three-time Olympian juggled UMD classes with training for the 1996 and 2000 competitions, and ultimately brought home four medals, including one individual bronze for floor exercise. She later became a broadcaster and co-chair of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

Now, she runs the Dominique Dawes Gymnastics & Ninja Academy, with three locations in Maryland, which focuses on “building a positive sense of self,” Dawes said, “and not looking at yourself and comparing yourself to someone else.”

Jeanette Epps M.S. '94, Ph.D. '00
It took Epps 15 years after becoming a NASA astronaut and two reassignments before she finally made it to space—but the experience when she finally got there in 2024 was worth the wait.

“I’m still in awe of seeing the Earth,” said flight engineer Epps. “You can see it in pictures, you can even dream about those pictures, but there’s just something that happens when you see it with your own eyes.” Over seven months, she conducted and maintained science experiments aboard the International Space Station, where she was the second Black woman to join the orbiting laboratory.

Carly Fiorina MBA ’80
As the CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005, Fiorina became the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 firm. During her tenure, she oversaw a massive merger with Compaq, and within the tech firm, she opened up more avenues for women to take on leadership roles at the company. She has also written several books, including “Find Your Way,” to help others climb in the workforce. Fiorina ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

“Leadership is about solving problems. That’s the only way to unlock your potential, and appearance has nothing to do with it,” she said, referring to when she started in the corporate world and got comments about not looking like the men in charge.

N.K. Jemisin M.Ed. ’97
Known for her books set in alternate worlds or future visions of Earth where race and caste deeply influence the lives and struggles of her characters, Jemisin won the Hugo Award for best science fiction or fantasy work three years in a row—a feat no one had accomplished before.

She was also named a MacArthur Foundation fellow in 2020, receiving a no-strings-attached $625,000 “genius grant.” Her books, including the “Broken Earth Trilogy,” reflect her experiences as a Black woman in America. “Marginalized people writing about marginalized lives is sometimes perceived as groundbreaking or challenging or threatening, because we live in a world in which women and Black people are inherently politicized,” she said in a video interview with the MacArthur Foundation.

Bernice “Bunny” Sandler Ed.D. ’69
Recognized as the “Godmother of Title IX,” the late Sandler paved the way for millions of girls and women to achieve educational, athletic and professional equality. She was spurred by a series of job rejections after earning her doctorate—including from UMD’s College of Education—when interviewers called her “just a housewife” and suggested that being a mother would be a distraction.

“Knowing that sex discrimination was immoral, I assumed it would also be illegal,” Sandler wrote in her 1997 reflections on the 25th anniversary of Title IX. But when she found that not to be the case, she worked with the Women’s Equity Action League and members of Congress to pass the groundbreaking legislation. Now, women make up nearly half of all Division I athletes, and UMD has become a powerhouse in women’s sports.