U-Md. president aims to hire more faculty of color, cut carbon emissions and bolster research

The University of Maryland in College Park will hire more faculty of color, slash its carbon emissions and bolster investments in research, Darryll J. Pines, the school’s president, announced Thursday.

Pines, who took office in July, used his formal inauguration this week to unveil a set of priorities for the state’s flagship campus of 40,000 students. The former engineering school dean said he wanted to signal a new direction for the university, and inject a sense of optimism into a community still reeling after months of a global pandemic and national protests over racial injustice.

“Uncertain times require us to be bold. This is our time to reinvent our university,” Pines said in a speech. “… This is the time to examine how we can relentlessly pursue innovative solutions to the grand challenges of our time: climate change, infectious diseases, social and economic inequality, health disparities, poverty, racism, sustainability and social injustice.”

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