US News and World Report has named UMBC president Freeman A. Hrabowski III to its 2008 list of America’s Best Leaders.

Here’s a link to the full story: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/best-leaders/2008/11/19/americas-best-leaders-freeman-hrabowski-university-of-maryland-baltimore-county.html

The article discusses Hrabowski’s background, going back to his days as a “fat, nerdy, African-American kid with a weird name growing up in segregated Birmingham,” to his civil rights work in the 1960s (which included a five day stint in a Birmingham jail after being imprisoned along with other freedom marchers) and, ultimately, his arrival at UMBC as the vice provost in 1987. Hrabowski assumed the presidency in 1992.

“Freeman is one of the rare figures who has single-handedly turned around a major institution,” says Anthony Marx, president of Amherst College, in the US News and World Report article. “Along the way, he has taught all of higher education that minority and low-income students can and should be held to the highest standards, and can meet those standards and excel.”

Other names on the list include eight-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong for his “tireless efforts of on behalf of cancer survivors like himself” and Steven Spielberg for addressing “important isssues on the big screen and through his philanthropy.”