
The University of
Maryland Eastern Shore opened its doors Sept. 13, 1886, when it was known initially
as the Delaware Conference Academy under the auspices of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Greeting the nine students who showed up that Monday were two
educators, Benjamin O. Bird and his wife, Portia Lovett Bird.
Records indicate by the following spring some three dozen students, likely from
farming families in the surrounding area, were enrolled.
The prep school-style
institution was founded as a branch of Baltimore’s Centenary Bible Institute,
which in 1890 became known as Morgan College – the same year federal legislation
passed to support historically black institutions that offered instruction in
agriculture and related fields.
With the adoption of the 2nd
Morrill Act, the “Industrial Branch” of Morgan in rural Somerset County started
receiving funding through the state of Maryland – and eventually was rechristened
Princess Anne Academy.
This federal source of money
also created a relationship with the Maryland Agricultural College, now the
University of Maryland, College Park, although the campus in Princess Anne remained
a part of Morgan College – at the time a private institution.
The joint-management arrangement
enabled the state to continue offering a land-grant education to white students
attending College Park while offering African-Americans that type of
instruction at what was referred to in some documents as the Eastern Shore
Branch of the Maryland Agricultural College.
College-level work was
added to the curriculum in 1927 and it essentially served as a junior college
for the next 10 years.
The state of Maryland acquired
the Princess Anne campus outright from Morgan in 1935 for $100,000 and a year
later the newly renamed Princess Anne College was placed under the jurisdiction
of the University of Maryland in College Park.
In 1948, the name was
changed to Maryland State College; it was again renamed the University of
Maryland Eastern Shore in 1970.
A change in governance
structure initiated by the Legislature placed UMES under the University of
Maryland System in 1988. Subsequently, the system was renamed the University
System of Maryland in 1997.
Today, UMES is a Doctoral
University (Moderate Research Activity), according to the Carnegie
Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
Instruction, research,
and service are provided through major academic clusters. They include liberal
arts and sciences, agriculture, business, engineering and technology,
education, marine and environmental sciences, allied health, hospitality and
special academic services. Degrees are offered in 38 bachelors', 14 masters' and
eight doctoral programs.
Distinctive bachelor
degree programs include agribusiness, aviation science, construction
management, criminal justice, engineering technology, environmental science,
golf management, hospitality and tourism management and rehabilitation services.
Master degrees are
offered in teaching, career and technology education, counselor and special
education, applied computer science, chemistry, criminology and criminal justice,
cybersecurity engineering technology, food and agricultural sciences and
rehabilitation counseling.
Master’s and doctorates
are offered in marine-estuarine-environmental sciences, toxicology and
pharmaceutical sciences.
Other doctoral programs
are: physical therapy, education leadership, pharmacy, food science and
technology, and organizational leadership.
Basic and applied
research covers international and domestic agriculture sciences, marine and
environmental sciences, and computer and mathematical sciences.
Professional
accreditation in 27 areas of study includes chemistry (ACS); construction
management (ACCE); education (NCATE); human ecology (ADA); physical therapy
(CAPTE) and rehabilitation service (NCRE). The University also is accredited by
the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The University of
Maryland Eastern Shore is home to five schools: Agricultural and Natural
Sciences; Business and Technology; Education, Social Sciences and the Arts; Graduate Studies; and
Pharmacy and Health Professions.