George and Betsy Sherman Hall

George and Betsy Sherman Hall. . Named in honor of George and Betsy Sherman, in recognition of their sustained generosity and deep commitment to making a difference through education. Their philanthropy in the Baltimore community has helped serve at-risk children and families, and their support at UMBC launched the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, designed to increase the number of UMBC graduates becoming science, technology, engineering, and math teachers in at-risk and challenged schools in Baltimore and throughout Maryland., George and Betsy Sherman have a profound belief in the power of education to create better opportunities, better communities, and stronger families. Through the Sherman Family Foundation, they have focused their investments on initiatives for children and education. With their involvement at the Family Tree, a nonprofit organization preventing child abuse and neglect, as well as with the United Way, UMBC, and other organizations, the Shermans have worked to improve opportunities for the youth of Baltimore through programs that can offer hope and results. At UMBC, the Shermans have have supported the Meyerhoff Scholars through a scholarship endowment, and they have significantly grown their commitment to high-quality education for students from all backgrounds through the Sherman STEM Teachers Scholars Program, which was established in 2006., George Sherman first became connected to UMBC in the mid-1990s and has been as a member of the President's Baord of Visitors and served in the leadership cabinet of the University's first two major leadership cabinet of the University's first two major fundraising campaigns. He founded Cypress Group LLC, a private investments firm established in 2000 to invest in a broad range of asset classes, including public and private equity. He is an investor and non-executive chairman of Rexnord Corporation and past chairman of Campbell Soup Company and past president and chief executive officer of Danaher Corporation., Betsy Sherman's passion for child advocacy began early in her life and continues through her focus on educational opportunities for children and their families. After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in early childhood education, she became the first Head Start teacher in the state of Kentucky., Her early teaching experiences in Kentucky and in rural Virginia drove her desire to help disadvantaged youth. She has been an active board member at the Family Tree for more than twenty years, and George and Betsy Sherman were honorary co-chairs of that organization's capital campaign., Together, George and Betsy's Sherman have an unwavering commitment to Baltimore and the surrounding community. They were awarded honorary Doctor of Public Service degrees from UMBC in 2007., George and Betsy Sherman Hall was dedicated on September 19, 2003.