Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich,
Jr., Visits Smith
Governor Ehrlich Talks with Smith MBAs -
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Dean Howard Frank takes Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich,
Jr., on a tour of Van Munching Hall, home of the Robert H. Smith School of
Business. |
Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich,
Jr., visited the Smith School on Monday,
February 21. Smith School Dean Howard
Frank, Arjang Assad, senior associate
dean and professor of management
science, and Lemma Senbet, chair of the
finance department and holder of the
William E. Mayer Chair in Finance, led
the tour through the Smith Schools
Netcentricity Labs for finance, supply
chain management, e-markets, and
behavioral science. The governor was
accompanied by Chip DiPaula, the State
of Maryland's secretary of budget and
management, as well as several other
staff members. After the tour Ehrlich
spoke to a class of first-year MBA
students.
Both Governor Ehrlich and Dean Frank
said they hope greater partnerships will
develop between the Smith Schools
thought leaders and the state
government.
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Russ Wermers (far left), associate professor of
finance, gives an overview of the capabilities of Smith's Netcentric Financial
Markets Laboratory. (l to r) Wermers, Dean Howard Frank, Maryland
Secretary of Budget and Management Chip DiPaula, Governor Ehrlich, University of
Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. |
In one of Smiths two Netcentric
Financial Market Laboratories Russ
Wermers, associate professor of finance,
described the technical capabilities of
the labs as an integral part of the
Smith School agenda. We train students
to use the technology they will find in
their workplaces, and introduce them to
the stresses they will encounter in
their careers.
I admire the way the real world is
being brought into your education, the
governor remarked to a class of
first-year MBA students. The governors
remarks focused on the states new budget
model, which he described as
outcomes-driven, using quantitative
measures of performance for
state-provided services. When he entered
the office, Governor Ehrlich pointed
out, he had to cope with a multi-billion
dollar structural deficit. This year, he
says, the state will end its budgeting
cycle with a $690 million surplus.
It
is a cultural change. We are getting
people to think differently, the
governor said. We are encouraging
positive outcomes by giving more funding
to the most effective programs.
Chip DiPaula, Maryland's secretary of
budget and management, also spoke to the
assembled students about the metrics the
state government used in evaluating the
success of state programs. If the state
of Maryland was a corporation, it would
be 75th in the Fortune 500. The state
has 80,000 employees, almost 20,000 of
them in higher education. We are working
to be more efficient and effective with
our funding, and slowing the rate of
growth across the board.
An
MBA student asked about the states
commitment to funding for public
education in light of the recent $60
million private gift to the university.
This is not a zero-sum game, said
Governor Ehrlich. But it is an intensely
competitive world, and because of the
size of the University and the influence
of its graduates, we expect that those
of you who are successful because of the
University of Maryland will give back.
It is part of your moral obligation to
give back. You should be shaken down
regularly for the rest of your lives, he
joked, to the laughter of the crowd.
Governor Ehrlich Talks with Smith MBAs -
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