Brian Daniels

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Aviation Science Program and the contributions of the man who got it off the ground---the late Abe Spinak.

Mr. Spinak was a World War II army veteran, earning two Purple Hearts after being wounded in action in Italy.

After the war, he attended Clarkson University and graduated in 1948 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Spinak then worked for NASA for the next 33 years.

Brad Hudson has been an artist and instructor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for nearly two decades.

He developed a Sequential Arts concentration at UMES that began in the Fall Semester of 2009.

Hudson is a prolific artist and independently publishes his own comics at Coldstream Studios in his hometown of Mardela Springs, Maryland.

This year, the 79th National Folk Festival continues its residency in Salisbury, Maryland.

Since it was first presented in St. Louis in 1934, the National Folk Festival has celebrated the roots, richness, and variety of American culture. The Festival was the first event of national stature to present the arts of many nations, races, and languages on equal footing. It was also the first to present to the public musical forms such as the blues, Cajun music, polka bands, Tex-Mex, Peking Opera, and many others.

Many colleges and universities around the country are starting their Fall Semester.

Students have begun moving into their dorms, participating in various campus orientations, and preparing for their first week of classes.

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is no exception.

UMES is an HBCU—Historically Black College or University—situated on 1,100 acres of land in Princess Anne, Maryland.

The university is an 1890 Land Grant Institution and is a University System of Maryland Institution accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

In 1984, John R. Lamkin II recorded and released a self-produced album on vinyl called ‘Hot’.

That album, with the exception of one track, contains his own original compositions and arrangements.

Lamkin later joined the faculty at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as a professor in the Fine Arts Department.

While there, he directed the UMES Jazz and Wind Ensembles, taught jazz history, and provided instruction to students learning to play brass, percussion and string instruments.