[4] The planning of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was first discussed in the 1950s due to the post-World War II baby boom, the expansion of higher education under the GI Bill, and the large amount of growth both in population and industry in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area.

At this time, the University of Maryland, College Park was the main higher education source in the region, so talks began of adding a branch campus in the Baltimore area.

By the end of that year, 435 acres were purchased from Spring Grove State Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Catonsville, Maryland.

While undergoing the Civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, UMBC would prove to be a new and different atmosphere with open and peaceful minds during campus protests.

Five years later in 1976, John Dorsey, administrative vice president at the University of Maryland, College Park was appointed as UMBC's third chancellor.

In addition, University of Maryland, College Park alum Jim Henson funded the establishment of the Imaging Research Center at UMBC.

Located off of Walker Avenue, the Hillcrest Building was originally built in 1921 to house patients of Spring Grove State Hospital.

A common campus urban legend claims that the man that Hannibal Lecter was based on lived in a basement cell of the building.

[37] Hillcrest was demolished in 2007 due to toxicity concerns, leaving the farm silo on UMBC Boulevard to be oldest surviving structure on the university's campus.

Opened for enrollment in 1966, UMBC was created to serve the overflow of students from the Baltimore area seeking admission to University of Maryland, College Park.

Academic Row is known to be the central pedestrian concourse and maintenance vehicle highway in the campus that borders along a series of buildings.

Academic Row terminates at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, where multiple paths radiate across Erickson Field towards the Commons, the Physics and Public Policy Buildings, West Hills, Hillside, and Terrace Apartments, as well as additional dormitories.

On the southern side of the Commons, a large grassy area known as the Quad is where many student events and activities take place throughout the school year.

In addition, the MARC Penn Line serves the UMBC population at Halethorpe Station, which is located approximately two miles away on Southwestern Boulevard in Arbutus, Maryland.

While its suburban campus has minimal interaction with its surroundings, students variously consider it to be located in the towns of Catonsville (by CDP) or Arbutus (whose street grid it borders).

Research Park tenants include the US Geological Survey, US Forestry Service, CardioMed Device Consultants, Audacious Inquiry, Med-IQ, Physician Practice, Inc., Retirement Living TV, Ascentium Corporation, Solvern Innovations, RMF Engineering, Inc., Convergent Technology, Clear Resolution Consulting, Fearless Solutions, Potomac Photonics, and Next Breath.

The Wave ‘n Ride was historically available to anyone who needs intra-campus transport around Hilltop Circle and UMBC Boulevard, but the service is pending decommission.

The MARC Train provides Penn Line rail service two miles from the campus at Halethorpe station, connecting the university to Baltimore and Washington.

[citation needed] Under his leadership, UMBC has been ranked the #1 Up and Coming University in the US for six consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

[67] This shared program allows students and faculty to receive grants for research, increased collaboration, as well as the ability to use the facilities of both universities.

The two announced the opening of the first Naval ROTC unit in Maryland, on the campus of UMBC, with the US Navy sponsoring a multitude of four year full-ride scholarships for select candidates.

[70] In 1997, President Freeman Hrabowski created the Conservation and Environmental Research Areas of UMBC also known as CERA on the south end of the campus.

The conservation area encompasses 50 acres surrounding Pig Pen Pond and Bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park.

Management of CERA is guided by the need to maintain these landscapes as natural areas to be preserved and protected for approved uses in education, research and wildlife observation.

The first, Retriever Treasure, collects unwanted furniture, clothes, and other items from students moving out of dorms and apartments at the end of each school year.

These tables promote the idea of sustainable energy by directly demonstrating how solar panels are used to charge a battery and power devices in areas that normally would not have electricity readily available.

He attends many athletic events and an online poll was held on the Retriever Activities Center website to choose his name, which was ultimately decided as "Gritty".

[citation needed] Professor of Computer Science Alan Sherman has been instrumental in building up the UMBC chess dynasty by recruiting players from around the world.

The university is a member of the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the America East Conference since the 2003–04 academic year.

[103][104] In 2007, the unseeded Retrievers upset seventh-seeded Maryland, 13–9, in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Division I second round for the first, and so far only, time in school history.