Best College/University
A Dynamic Experience that Offers the ‘Best of All Worlds’
By Kate McDermott
Donald Wright, Ph.D., has experience in a wide range of higher education environments. He earned his doctorate at the Paris-Sorbonne University IV and his master’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh.
But as an associate professor of Arabic and French and director of Middle Eastern Studies at Hood College for the last eight years, Wright believes the small school offers a dynamic mix of students and faculty that makes it a definite “Best of” candidate in the area of higher education.
He credits Hood’s professors and its students, whom he describes as an “intuitively positive and happy group of people,” for creating an environment of impassioned learning that has contributed to the school’s ranking as a “Best Value” by U.S. News & World Report.
“Our proximity to Washington, D.C., creates a lot of opportunities for our faculty and their research,” Wright said. “But our students also benefit, thanks to internship opportunities, especially given our proximity to places like the National Institutes of Health, government agencies and the international embassies.”
In fact, one of Wright’s students, Kelly Brown from Poolesville, completed an internship with a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and was prehired for a job she’ll begin after she graduates next spring. “I really believe that I would not have even chosen Middle Eastern Studies as a major and have gotten the internship I did had I not come to Hood,” she said.
Since its founding in 1897, Hood College has grown from a small college for women to an independent liberal arts college that offers 33 majors toward bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s degrees, 11 post-baccalaureate certificate and certification programs and doctorates in organizational leadership and business administration.
For students like Alex Jarnot, a chemistry major from Huntingtown in Calvert County, Hood College offers the best of all worlds. With its beautiful campus, its proximity to the vibrant offerings of downtown Frederick and its location just 45 miles from the nation’s capital, the college has given him an experience that he says has been “over the top.”
He credits the school’s faculty for adding another layer of excellence to his Hood College experience. “They are some of the best people I’ve ever met,” he said. “I feel so comfortable with all of my professors and that makes a huge difference.” Now in the midst of his senior year, Jarnot is well prepared for whatever the future may hold. He completed an internship with NASA last summer, one that he hopes to parlay into experience and networking that will help him land a job when (or before) he finishes school.
In Wright’s opinion, Jarnot embodies the very essence of Hood College. “Our students are eager to learn about the world,” he said. “They have a very fresh energy and are excited about where they will go in the future.”
