The University of Maryland's College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) is committed to creating an educational and work environment that is rich in diversity, inclusive, and supportive of all students, faculty, and staff.  We understand that a college energized by diverse perspectives and experiences provides a powerful educational benefit and enhances our research and community service. We acknowledge and celebrate diversity in race/ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and learning abilities, socioeconomic status, national origin, veteran status, and other areas of difference. 

Every community owes its existence and strength to the generations before them, around the world, who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy into making the history that led to this moment.

Truth and acknowledgement are critical in building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference.

So, we acknowledge the truth that is often buried: We are on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway People, who are the ancestral stewards of this sacred land. It is their historical responsibility to advocate for the four-legged, the winged, those that crawl and those that swim. They remind us that clean air and pristine waterways are essential to all life.

This Land Acknowledgement is a vocal reminder for each of us as two-leggeds to ensure our physical environment is in better condition than what we inherited, for the health and prosperity of future generations.

Maura Belliveau, Ph.D., joined CMNS as the inaugural assistant dean for diversity and strategic initiatives in June 2023. In this role, Belliveau is leading the research, design, implementation, management and assessment of a new, collaboratively developed strategic plan for the college, which will align with the university’s recently released strategic plan. She also serves as the college’s diversity officer and develops and implements policies and programs that educate and engage the entire CMNS community and advance the college’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

A published and highly cited interdisciplinary social scientist working in DEI, Belliveau brings to the role nearly 30 years of experience as a management and organizations professor focused on the social, psychological, and structural processes that generate and impede access, opportunity and equity. In 2019, she joined the University at Buffalo as a full-time administrator where she was the inaugural director of the Center for Diversity Innovation and the UB Distinguished Visiting Scholars program.