University of Maryland’s Center for Social Value Creation Names Board of Advisors

College Park, Md. – September 6, 2011 — The Center for Social Value Creation at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business named six prominent business leaders to form its advisory board. The center launched in September 2009 with a mission to create and educate global leaders to use business as a vehicle for social and environmental change. Board members will meet bi-annually and help guide the center’s strategic functions and its outreach with businesses, nonprofits and the public sector.

Center for Social Value Creation board members are:

• Stanley Litow (Chair), Vice President, Citizenship & Corporate Affairs and President, IBM International Foundation
• John Chickering, Vice President, Fidelity Investments
• Lisa Hall, President and CEO, the Calvert Foundation
• Robert Kashan, Founder and CEO, EarthColor Inc., an environmentally friendly and sustainable printing company based in New Jersey
• Alan Webber, Co-Founder, Fast Company and former managing editor and editorial director of the Harvard Business Review
• Dennis Wraase, Former CEO and Chairman, Pepco Holdings

“We are fortunate to have recruited such a great group of visionaries in corporate social responsibility and sustainability,” said Melissa Carrier, executive director of the Center for Social Value Creation. “These leaders are at the top of their fields and set a great example for our students. They exemplify our mission to use business skills to bring about transformative social change in the world and they’ll help propel the center forward.”

With their extensive professional experience and networks, board members will help build support and advocate for the center by helping to spread the word on its mission and activities to potential partners and donors. Members will provide counsel on key strategies and initiatives. They will help with fundraising and identifying career opportunities and internships for Smith students. Board members will also participate in center events as speakers and panelists, or by helping to recruit other high-profile presenters.

Board members will serve a renewable two-year term.

The Smith School is well-situated to take a leadership role in social value creation business education given its internationally recognized faculty; its extensive relationships with key practitioners, academics, and policymakers, and its proximity to Washington, D.C. Through the Center for Social Value Creation, Smith students have the opportunity to engage in real-world field experiences such as consulting with nonprofits or traveling abroad to work on sustainable projects in developing countries. The center also works with the school’s academic departments on courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The center also supports faculty research in related areas.

More information about the Center for Social Value Creation is available at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/svc/

About the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, executive MS, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.