Wallace Dzu Loh was the president of the University of Maryland, College Park, a position assumed November 1, 2010. He retired from the presidency on June 30th, 2020 and was succeeded by Darryll J. Pines.
Early Life
Loh was born in Shanghai to a prominent family. His grandparents owned five blocks' worth of downtown Shanghai property, and his father was a diplomat. In 1949, when Mao Zedong took over China after the Communist Revolution, the Loh family sought asylum in Lima, Peru. He went to the United States for college, earning a bachelor's degree from Grinnell College. He later earned a master's degree from Cornell where he was elected for membership in the Telluride House, a Ph.D. degree in psychology from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School.
Academic Career
Before becoming the president at University of Maryland, College Park, Loh spent three decades in higher education. He has been dean of the University of Washington Law School, vice chancellor of the University of Colorado, a dean at Seattle University, and most recently provost at the University of Iowa where he oversaw budgets and personnel for the state university's eleven colleges. During his career in academic administration, Loh has led campaigns to curb underage drinking at University of Iowa, and more recently, to diversify the University of Washington Law School. In his position as President of the University of Maryland he has led many initiatives that have benefited the campus as a whole. Some of his most notable work has been on building diversity at the University of Maryland. Under his direction, the university has seen a 13.8% increase in underrepresented minority graduation rates, and a decrease in the gap between white and underrepresented minority students by 6.1%. He wrote an editorial in Time magazine discussing the importance of an open dialogue on cultural differences between the student population. He also participated in the planning and development of a memorial square to Frederick Douglass to honor his contributions to America's quest for freedom, liberty, and equal rights. In President Loh's vision, a university should have a social responsibility for the world to provide an education of humanities and social science programs to citizens. Therefore, Loh deems that a university should have both humanities, arts, and social programs and STEM programs balanced. He defends for humanities and social programs when other universities are eliminating these programs for reasons that these programs are not popular in job market. Under Loh's leadership, the University of Maryland ranks among the top five quantum computing research universities in the United States and among the top 12 in the world, according to The Quantum Daily, a quantum computing news website. In US News and World Report's 2020 rankings of 1,500 universities of the "best global universities," University of Maryland's College Park campus is ranked 51st in the world, 30th among all U.S. universities, and 15th among all U.S. public universities. Separately, University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is No.2 in Financial Times’ 2018 ranking of Master of Finance programs in the United States. According to U.S. News & World Report Rankings 2017, Maryland's iSchool Earns National Ranking No.8 in Library and Information Studies. Moreover, Maryland Terrapins has achieved ?? National Championships, ?? Conference Championships in the decade. However, he endured a personnel scandal related to the death of a football player, Jordan McNair. Loh announced on October 30, 2018, that he would retire as president of the University of Maryland on June 30, 2019, following a detailed investigation into McNair's death. Loh had conducted his own consultations with students, faculty, and other interested parties and had concluded that an overwhelming majority were concerned about Durkin's return to campus. The following day, October 31, Loh fired D. J. Durkin against the desire of the University's Board of Regents, which voted to retain Durkin as head football coach. Loh also initiated significant reforms within the school's athletics department to ensure student safety was paramount for the remainder of his time at the helm of the university. On January 30, 2019, Loh moved his retirement date from June 2019 to June 2020 due to the University's lack of a ready replacement.
