UMUC's First Annual Awards Dinner, on November 3, 2001, honored two local visionaries -- Major Riddick Jr., former chair of the Maryland Governor's Information Technology Board, and Arthur A. Bushkin, chair and CEO of the Stargazer Group, of McLean, Virginia. More than $200,000 in proceeds from the event, which drew significant corporate and private support (see below), went to help fund the Better Opportunities Through Online Education program.

The Better Opportunities program, launched in Baltimore last fall, helps economically disadvantaged adults in the workforce enhance their skills and marketability by providing them with computers, Internet access, and tuition for online coursework. Twenty new students entered the program in the fall 2001 semester, joining the six original students scheduled to complete their coursework in June of 2002.

Both Riddick and Bushkin share UMUC's interest in improving lives, both personally and professionally, through advances in education technology, and both have been instrumental in helping bridge America's "digital divide." UMUC thanks all of the corporate and individual sponsors whose generosity helped the cause.

Sponsors
Pepco Acacia Allied Realty Corporation America Online, Inc. BB&T Corporation BlackRock Financial Management Calvert Asset Management Company Carton Donofrio Partners Chasen & Boscolo, Chartered Clarion Credit Management Dow, Lohnes & Albertson DynCorp EDS Fannie Mae Foundation GEICO Direct Human Vision	Knowledge Advantage, Inc. Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust   Company Metcor Mr. and Mrs. John L. Milton '68 Northrop Grumman IT Ntercept OAO Corporation The Orkand Corporation RGII Technologies Rowan & Blewitt, Inc. Sony Corporation of America Soza & Company Thomas B. Finan, Jr. UMUC Alumni Association University Town Center Washington Gas