The UMD Smith Summit is the best way to find your fit at the Smith School.
Featuring Olympic Gold Medalist and entrepreneur Dominique Dawes ’02, as well as industry-focused panels staffed by some of our most successful alums, this experience aims to answer your questions and give you a taste of what the Smith student experience is all about. Admissions counselors will be on hand to advise on graduate programs that will help you meet your career goals.
Those who attend the event will be immediately entered into consideration for a $15,000 Summit Scholarship, to be applied to a Smith School master's degree started in 2023.
Please note that this event is live and in-person with no virtual option.
Affectionately known as ‘Awesome Dawesome,’ Dominique Dawes was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, a three-time Olympian, and a member of the gold-medal-winning "Magnificent Seven" team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics, and the first Black person of any nationality to win an Olympic-gold-medal in gymnastics, she is also one of only three female American gymnasts to compete in three Olympics, winning medals each time: Barcelona 1992 (bronze), Atlanta 1996 (gold), and Sydney 2000 (bronze). She also won the Olympic bronze medal on floor exercise at the 1996 Atlanta games.
Owner of the Dominique Dawes Gymnastics & Ninja Academy, Dominique opened her first location in Clarksburg, Md., July 2020 to continue her commitment to developing a healthy and compassionate culture in the sport of gymnastics. She will be opening her second location in Rockville, Md., in early 2023. Dawes also holds minority ownership of the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League. She’s also an investor in Thin Energy Hydration, an energy and hydration drink that is Plant-based Certified, and she served as the co-chair of the President’s Council for Fitness, Sports and Nutrition under the Obama administration. Alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, she recently served as Executive Producer of the Peacock docu-series “Golden”, the journey of USA’s elite gymnasts on the road to the Tokyo Olympics, which was nominated for a Sports Emmy in 2022.
Dawes holds her degree from the University of Maryland 2002, and in 2023, her hometown of Montgomery County, Maryland will honor her career and legacy with a life-size statue to continue inspiring the next generation to follow in her footsteps.
