When Michael Summers came to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1987, he saw his appointment to the school's chemistry and biochemistry department as a "stepping stone."

The young chemist had a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of West Florida and a doctorate in bioinorganic chemistry from Emory University.

He had just completed three years of post-doctoral work at the National Institutes of Health.

He didn't know where his appointment at UMBC would lead him, he said, but figured he would eventually move on.

"Instead, I basically fell in love with the campus and the students and the leadership," Summers said.

Today, he is one of the school's highest achieving faculty members.

He has won a number of national awards for his research and his work with undergraduate and graduate students in his laboratory.

He's also earned prestigious titles, brought in grants and become a well-known HIV researcher.

That research led to a recent deal allowing a Swedish biotech firm to license HIV-targeting technology developed in Summers' laboratory that raised his profile even higher.

According to William LaCourse, chairman of the school's chemistry and biochemistry department, UMBC is fortunate to have Summers on its faculty.

"Mike Summers is the type of faculty member that every university would want," LaCourse said.

"He's extremely productive with his research, and he's very successful."

Summers has held the prestigious title of Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1994.

The title allows him to continue working from UMBC, but affords him a generous amount of financial backing. It also puts him in an elite group that includes more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners.

"He's not only a terrific scientist but he's also a terrific mentor to many students," said Avice Meehan, vice president for communications and public affairs for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

"Our hope and our goal is to give our scientists the freedom to pursue challenging research questions, and certainly Michael Summers has done that," Meehan said.

Summers said he usually works with 12 to 24 undergraduate students, six graduate students and two to four post-doctoral fellows.

More than 120 undergraduates have worked in his lab over the years, with about half of them African-American students.

"It is the undergraduate mentoring that makes this place particularly attractive," Summers said,

Summers has lived in Ellicott City since 1987 with wife, Holly, and daughter Samantha, a student at Mount Hebron High School.

---

user comments (0)