The math major, who played pick-up games at the Eppley Recreation Center as a freshman, was a reserve on the men’s basketball team as a senior.

Will Clark went to 2017’s Maryland Madness, one of the UMD basketball teams’ preseason fan events, and joked with friends about sneaking into the men’s layup line.

He passed on the prank then, but one year later, he was doing the drill alongside Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith as his pals cheered from the stands.

During Clark’s junior year, Head Coach Mark Turgeon’s Terps were looking to add some height, the 6-foot-8-inch club player measured up, and now the walk-on is living the dream of just about any club athlete.

Read more: Will Clark's Roundabout Journey to Maryland Basketball

Patil (M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’01, applied mathematics), former U.S. chief data scientist, helps governors answer critical questions with data

In the California crisis command center, DJ Patil (M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’01, applied mathematics) was working with governors from across the country to model the potential impact of COVID-19 for scenario planning. 

He wanted to help them answer critical questions, like “How many hospital beds will we need?” and “Can we reduce the spread if we temporarily close places where people gather?” and “Should we issue a shelter-in-place order and for how long?” While nobody can predict the future, modeling the virus with all the factors they did know was their best shot at helping leaders make informed decisions, which would impact hundreds of thousands of lives.

Read more: DJ Patil Helps States Model the Potential Impact of COVID-19 for Scenario Planning 

The scholarship will support his graduate studies in artificial intelligence at the University of Cambridge.

University of Maryland senior mathematics and computer science double-degree student Tanay Wakhare has been awarded a 2020 Winston Churchill Scholarship, which offers him full funding to pursue a one-year master’s degree at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Nationally, 15 students in the sciences, engineering or mathematics receive Churchill Scholarships annually. The scholarship—valued at around $60,000—covers all educational fees and provides living and travel allowances.

Read more: Senior Tanay Wakhare Wins Prestigious Churchill Scholarship