Professional Staff

Elana Fine, Associate Director

Elana FineElana Fine joined the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in 2010 as the Director of Venture Investments and was named Associate Director in January 2012. In this role, Elana continues with her primarily responsibility of managing the Dingman Center Angels, a network of active, accredited angel investors providing open and efficient access to early-stage capital for entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic region, and is also the primary center contact within the Smith School and on campus. Her responsibilities include identifying quality start-ups, screening deal flow, conducting due diligence and providing coaching for companies presenting at monthly review days and investor meetings. In addition, Elana is responsible for program expansion including new investors, sponsors and forging regional partnerships with incubators and technology organizations. [ read more ]

Prior to joining the Dingman team, Elana was an Associate and a Vice-President at the Boston office of Revolution Partners, a national middle market investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions and private capital advisory for the technology industry. While at Revolution Partners, Elana advised on a variety of transactions ranging between $5 million and $100 million, including venture investments for both early and late stage private companies, sell side and buy side acquisitions and fairness opinions. Elana worked with companies in a number of industries, such as enterprise & infrastructure software, technology services and digital media. Elana also served as Revolution Partner's Chief Financial Officer from 2003-2006, and administered the firm's internal controls and its budget as it grew to $10 million annually. From 1997-2000, Elana was a consultant with Accenture, where she implemented technology solutions for clients in the financial services, government and natural resources industries.

Elana earned an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in 2002, and earned a BS in Finance, magna cum laude, from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1997. Elana resides in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband and two children.

Dr. Rudolph P. Lamone, Founder

Rudolph LamoneDr. Rudolph P. Lamone is the Founder and member of the Board of Advisors of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and a Professor Emeritus at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.

From 1973 to 1992, Dr. Lamone served as Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business and as the first chair of the Program in Entrepreneurship. He is co-founder of the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers and a founding member of the National Consortium for Life Science Entrepreneurship Programs. [ read more ]

In 1996, Dr. Lamone was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Ernst & Young for his work in support of entrepreneurship. In 1998, Dr. Lamone was selected to receive the President's Medal at the University of Maryland. In 1999, Dr. Lamone co-founded DirectGene, a biotechnology company that has developed gene therapies directed toward the treatment of metastatic prostate and breast cancer.

Dr. Lamone serves as Director on the board of several companies, public and private. He also serves as a venture partner with Gabriel Venture Partners, Annapolis, MD, and Redwood Shores, CA. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Lamone received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the business school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. J. Robert Baum, Director of Research

Robert BaumDr. J. Robert Baum is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship in the M&O Department and Director of Research for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Dr. Baum teaches MBA new venture courses, and has won six university teaching awards since 2000. His research interests include entrepreneurship, quantitative methods, and strategic decision-making. Dr. Baum runs the Dingman Center’s entrepreneurship research activities, including quarterly research breakfasts, PhD research fellows program and the annual Entrepreneurship Research @ Smith publication. [ read more ]

He has published in The Academy of Management Journal, The Journal of Business Venturing, The Journal of Applied Psychology, Organization Science, Personnel Psychology, Strategic Management Journal, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, and he has chapters in four books. His dissertation, The Relation of Traits, Competencies, Vision, Motivation, and Strategy to Venture Growth won the 1995 Academy of Management, Entrepreneurship Division, best dissertation award. Three of his publications won best paper awards at Babson - Kauffman Entrepreneurship Research Conferences, and he is editor of The Psychology of Entrepreneurship, a Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Frontiers Series book. Baum is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Business Venturing.

Baum earned his BS in engineering from Lehigh University MBA from Northwestern University and PhD from the University of Maryland. He has founded three new ventures, and he is a member of the board of directors of four businesses.

Alla Corey, Program Manager

Alla CoreySince joining the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in 2008, Alla Corey has been managing the center’s service offerings focusing primarily on student programs: Pitch Dingman, Jumpstart, Cupid’s Cup Business Competition and BB&T Business Invitational.

Prior to the Dingman Center, Alla spent 8 years in the publishing industry. She led marketing, publicity, and sales efforts for small independent publishers specializing in professional, trade, and academic books. Alla joined the Dingman Center from the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group where she managed marketing for Rowman & Littlefield Education, Jason Aronson Publishers, AltaMira Press, Cowley Press, and Sheed & Ward. [ read more ]

During her work at RLPG, Alla’s responsibilities included market research, product positioning, branding, planning and executing marketing strategies for various product lines.

Alla received B.A. in English Language and Literature and B.S. in Computer Science from the State University of Moldova. She moved to the United States from Moldova (Eastern Europe) in 1999. Currently she lives with her husband and son in Arnold, MD.

Jennifer Hankin, Event & Marketing Manager

Jennifer HankinJennifer Hankin joined the Dingman Center in 2010 and is responsible for planning, managing and promoting over 40 annual events including donor receptions, investor meetings, speakers, international student programs in China and Israel, and the Center’s signature event, the UMD Entrepreneurship Invitational. In addition, Jennifer is responsible for marketing, web and social media communications, and office operations.

She is the liaison to the Dingman Center’s Board of Advisors and Entrepreneurs in Residence and a key contact for fundraising and development efforts. [ read more ]

Prior to the Dingman Center, Jennifer spent four years in the Robert H. Smith School of Business’ Office of Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) as the Special Events Coordinator and Assistant Director of Special Events. While at DAR, Jennifer was responsible for the planning and promotion of events for the Smith Alumni Community including donor and networking receptions, career service seminars and the ThoughtLeadership@Smith speaker series.

Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Maryland in 2006 and a Master of Tourism Administration, with a concentration in Event and Meeting Management, from The George Washington University School of Business in 2009. While pursuing her degrees, Jennifer completed event and marketing internships at Fandango Special Events, the Cable and Telecommunication Association for Marketing and the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington.

Danielle Bennings, Operations & Events Coordinator

Danielle BenningsDanielle joined the Dingman Center in August 2011 as the Operations and Events Coordinator. She is responsible for supporting the Center’s events, travel and finances, marketing, outreach and social networking, as well as managerial staff support.

Prior to joining the Dingman Center, Danielle was an Event Planner at Events Management, LLC where she planned corporate events for organizations such as The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Magellan Health Services, and the Holy Cross Hospital Foundation in addition to assisting in fund raising and sponsorship efforts. Her work at Events Management focused primarily on the Bobby Mitchell Hall of Fame Golf Classic benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Danielle also has an information technology background having provided technology support for both the School of Social Work and the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. [ read more ]

Danielle received a B.A. in Political Science from the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh in 2011. During her undergraduate career she completed internships with Evergreen Information Technology, Inc. at the United States Department of Agriculture Network Operations Center and with Events Management, LLC.