---
title: From Serbia and China to College Park
date: 2023-03-29T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/from-serbia-and-china-to-college-park"
section: Articles
---
# From Serbia and China to College Park

*March 29, 2023* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Alums’ Gift to Maryland Promise Program Honors Their UMD Mentor

*Li Sun Gift Luncheon 01232023 SC 3754 1920x1080 — From left, Beibei Li Ph.D. ’98, Distinguished Professor Emerita Elisabeth Gantt and Zairen Sun Ph.D. ’98. A new gift from Li and Sun to the Maryland Promise Scholarship Program honors Gantt's mentorship.*

When husband and wife Zairen Sun Ph.D. ’98 and Beibei Li Ph.D. ’98 arrived in College Park from China in 1992, they had little understanding of their new country or its traditions or practices. What they did have was a mentor at the University of Maryland who knew what it was like to be an immigrant to the U.S.—and who could empathize with the process of adjusting to a very different way of doing things.

Now, the couple intends to help future generations of Terps through a major gift to the Maryland Promise Scholarship Program (MPP), in honor of Distinguished University Professor Emerita Elisabeth Gantt of the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics.

The gift will support undergraduates from Maryland and Washington, D.C., who demonstrate exceptional leadership and academic potential, providing them with financial, mentoring and networking opportunities; it will be matched by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation as part of its *Building Together*investment in the university.


*Li and Gantt hug*




**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [Maryland Promise](https://today.umd.edu/topic/maryland-promise), [Philanthropy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philanthropy), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience), [Multicultural Community](https://today.umd.edu/topic/multicultural-community)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)