Freeman A. Hrabowski III

Early life and education Hrabowski was born in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, the only child of his parents, both of whom were educators. His mother was an English teacher who became a math teacher, and his father was a math teacher who went to work at a steel mill.

Frequently asked about the origin of his unusual surname, Hrabowski explains that he is the great-great-grandson of Eaton Hrabowski, who was enslaved and renamed for Polish-American slave owner Samuel Hrabowski. In a CBS television interview, Hrabowski recounted that he is the third Freeman Hrabowski; his grandfather was the first Freeman Hrabowski born a free man, as opposed to having to be freed.

When he was 12 years old, in 1963, Hrabowski saw his friends readying for the Children's Crusade march for civil rights. He convinced his parents to let him join in as a youth advocate, but soon into the march he was swept up in a mass arrest. Birmingham's notorious Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor spat in his face and arrested him.

When he was 19 years old, Hrabowski graduated from Hampton Institute with high honors in mathematics. During his matriculation there he spent a year abroad at The American University in Cairo in Cairo, Egypt. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he received his MA in mathematics and four years later his PhD in higher education administration and statistics.

Career at UMBC

UMBC was a relatively young school in a Baltimore suburb when Hrabowski arrived in 1987 as vice provost, then executive vice president, and president in 1992.

Over nearly three decades as president of UMBC, Hrabowski gained a high public profile.

Awards and honors Hrabowski has received, among other awards:

National Academy of Public Administration: Elected Fellow, 2021. Membership to the American Philosophical Society 18th Annual Heinz Award in the Human Condition category UCSF Medal – 2020 Black History Month 2017 Honoree, Mathematically Gifted & Black