Bowie State University Will Honor Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks

Commencement Speaker to Receive a Presidential Medal and Citation

MEDIA CONTACT: David Thompson, dlthompson@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-4311

(BOWIE, Md.) — U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Maryland’s first African American woman elected to the Senate, will be honored with the Presidential Medal of Excellence and a Presidential Citation following her address at Bowie State University’s Spring Commencement on Friday, May 23, from 9 a.m. to noon at Bulldog Stadium. 

Alsobrooks began her six-year term in the U.S. Senate after her election victory in November 2024. Before taking office, she served as Prince George’s County executive from 2018 to 2024, becoming the first woman to lead the county and the first Black woman elected to the Senate from Maryland. 

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Duke University in 1993 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1996. Alsobrooks launched her legal career clerking for judges in Howard County and Baltimore City. In 2011, she made history again as the first woman and the youngest person ever elected as Prince George’s County State’s Attorney, a role she held until 2018. 

A lifelong Maryland resident, Alsobrooks now serves alongside Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, currently the only other African American woman in the U.S. Senate. 

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About Bowie State University
Founded in 1865, Bowie State University is the first Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in Maryland and one of the ten oldest in the country. Bowie State has earned the ‘Research College and University’ designation in the 2025 Carnegie Research Activity Classification. As a leading institution of higher learning, Bowie State offers more than 65 bachelor's, master's, doctoral and certificate programs across arts and sciences, technology, business, education, healthcare and related disciplines. The university provides high-quality and affordable educational opportunities in a supportive environment that empowers students to think critically, make new discoveries, value differences and emerge as leaders in a highly technical, rapidly changing global society. For more information about Bowie State University, visit bowiestate.edu.