Born in Manchester, Maryland, Arbaugh majored in Political Science and Economics and was a member of the Gamma Beta Chi fraternity. During his time on the Hill, he met his wife, Starr Ann Beauchamp Arbaugh ’63. Upon graduating, he joined the Air Force and was assigned to Thule Air Base in Greenland. He was later a captain in the Maryland National Guard. After leaving the military, he attended the University of Maryland School of Law and worked at a Coca-Cola bottling plant to pay his tuition. He joined Peterson, Howell, and Heather in 1964 as a member of the legal department and as manager of the contract administration, title, and tax departments, before becoming vice president of all legal services in 1971. He rose through the company’s ranks in the 1970s, ultimately becoming president. His daughter S. Caroline “Carrie” Arbaugh ’92 also attended McDaniel, graduating the same year that Arbaugh was elected to the Board of Trustees at the college. He served on the Board until 1998.
During her 31 years as a professor here on the Hill, she impacted the lives of countless students. She came to the college in 1983, joining the Department of Economics and Business Administration after successfully passing the certified public accountant (CPA) exam on her first attempt. Upon her retirement from McDaniel in 2015, she was granted the status of emerita, as well as Honorary Alumna, for her contributions to the college.
A CPA, Milstein merged her love of math with her passion for teaching. A popular instructor known for “really wanting to help students” and “for making learning fun,” she was instrumental in helping to develop the college’s Accounting curriculum, including instituting intermediate Accounting courses, to ensure that students are prepared to sit for the national CPA exam. She was also known for her Jan Term course on the traditional Chinese game of mah-jongg.
It was through her passion for community service that she introduced the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in 1991. VITA, which provides free tax help to low-to-moderate income taxpayers, gave real-world experience to Accounting, Economics, and Business Administration students by preparing tax returns and helping to answer client questions. Many McDaniel alumni who went on to become CPAs also returned to the college to volunteer with the program. For her commitment and work with this program, she received a Faculty Achievement Award from the college, as well as special recognition certificates from the Internal Revenue Service.
Her legacy at McDaniel also lives on through Interviewing Day, which she founded in 2007 to not just help prepare students for entering the workforce, but to help them land internships and jobs while still students.
In addition to being involved in numerous committees at the college and serving as an advisor to several student organizations, she remained an active member of professional organizations, including the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants, which presented her with its Outstanding Accounting Teaching Award in 1992.
A graduate of Forest Park High School in Baltimore, she earned a B.S. in History and Social Sciences and a M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Towson University. In 1990 while teaching at McDaniel, she received an M.B.A. with concentrations in Accounting and Management from Mount St. Mary’s College.
Joyce Muller, retired associate vice president of communications and marketing at the college, shared the following story: “Milstein loved her students but was most strict in the classroom. She banned the use of cellphones in her classes, and if she heard any ring during class, she demanded that the student leave immediately.
“In her final class prior to her retirement, at the last minute of that class, every student’s cellphone rang. Not only that, but cellphones could be heard ringing outside the room in the building’s hallway. When she opened the door, she saw all her students gathered proudly holding up their ringing phones.
“With great respect and admiration, Professor Milstein was ‘rung’ out.”