Joan Burton Recognized for Her Distinguished Service to UMD

Joan Burton speaking at podiumDr. Joan Burton will receive a President's Distinguished Service Award at the Faculty and Staff Convocation on September 12, 2018. The President's Distinguished Service Awards recognize exceptional performance, leadership, and service by a member of the university staff. Joan, who is director of Federal Fellows, Global Fellows in Washington, DC, and the Individual Studies Program, has been an invaluable leader with a passion for empowering students and an uncanny ability to translate their knowledge and skills into the right professional setting.

She transformed Individual Studies from a small unit into a vibrant community that enables talented, self-motivated undergraduates to create rigorous, interdisciplinary majors. Joan and her staff have doubled the number of participants to approximately 50, overseeing students' customized courses of study and building a community of mutual support and encouragement.

Also, she has led the Federal Fellows Program (formerly Federal Semester) since her arrival at UMD in 2009, and is the founding director of Global Fellows in Washington, DC, which together serve more than 150 undergraduates every year. Students are placed in semester-long internships at federal agencies, international organizations, NGOs, and foreign embassies. Over 850 alumni have gone on to graduate schools and careers including at the State Department, World Bank, Brookings Institution, and London School of Economics.

Please join the Office of Undergraduate Studies in congratulating Joan on this extraordinary recognition of her commitment to innovative undergraduate experiences at the University of Maryland.