Dr. Juliette B. Bell, president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, has been named to The Daily Record’s 2014list of Maryland’s Top 100 Women.
For the past 18 years, the newspaper has recognized, “…100 amazing leaders for stellar achievements in their careers, for their exemplary citizenship and for encouraging and shaping the lives of a younger generation through mentoring,” said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, publisher of The Daily Record.
Bell was selected among 370 women nominated for the statewide honor.
“I strive every day to be a role model and mentor to the next generation of young leaders for our state and nation. I am humbled to be counted among this stellar group of phenomenal women leaders,” Bell said.
A panel of judges comprised of business professionals and past Maryland’s Top 100 Women winners from throughout Maryland reviewed applications and chose this year’s honorees.
Bell, the 15th leader and fourth woman to hold the top post at the 4,200-student institution in Princess Anne, Md., took office July 1, 2012. Like half the graduates at UMES, she was the first in her immediate family to earn a college degree.
Bell holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Talladega College in her Alabama hometown and a doctorate in chemistry from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University). She is widely recognized for encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics—known collectively as the STEM disciplines. She has trained and mentored hundreds of students who have gone on to earn advanced degrees and pursue successful careers in STEM.
Her own career as a researcher and educator spans more than two decades.
Following a stint as a researcher at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, Bell served as a chemistry professor, biomedical research director and founding dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences at Fayetteville State University. She advanced there to provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Bell also held leadership roles at Winston-Salem State (NC) and Central State (OH) universities. As chief academic officer at Central State, she restructured the academic college to create the College of Science and Engineering.
As president of UMES, Bell has provided leadership to identify niche areas and to elevate the university through her mantra, “From Excellence to Eminence.” Bell is also active in statewide and national leadership. She currently serves as chair of the Council of 1890 Land Grant Universities, is a member of the executive board of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Millennium Leadership Institute, and on numerous local and state boards and councils.
The Top 100 Women in Maryland awards will be presented during a reception Mon., May 5 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. Winners will be profiled in a special magazine insert in the Fri., May 9, issue ofThe Daily Record and available online at www.TheDailyRecord.com.
For more information about sponsorships and tickets for The Daily Record’s 2014 Maryland’s Top 100 Women, visit www.TheDailyRecord.com.
