Community / October 22, 2007

University of Maryland Business School Announces $90M Capital Campaign

College Park, Md. October 22, 2007 The University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business has announced the launch of a seven-year campaign to raise $90 million in private support. The funding will support student scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, facilities and innovation. The campaign is part of the universitys Great Expectations, the Campaign for Maryland drive to raise $1 billion the largest of any public institution in the state of Maryland and the Washington, D.C. region announced last October. So far, the Smith School is more than halfway to its 2012 goal, with more than $47.5 million raised.

This campaign will support the Smith Schools rise from excellence to greatness. We are focused on the present and future we will become one of the worlds greatest business schools, said Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. We already have some of the worlds finest students, faculty, facilities and staff. We need the support from this campaign to strengthen what weve built and propel us further toward our goal.

The Smith School formally kicked off the campaign at a celebration on Oct. 19 before nearly 150 alumni and school supporters, completing a two-year silent phase fundraising period. Speakers at the event, which was held as part of Marylands annual Homecoming/Reunion weekend, included Dean Frank; University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr.; Smith School benefactor and alumnus Robert H. Smith; and Terps mens basketball coach Gary Williams, co-chair of the universitys scholarship campaign and alumnus of the business school. The Smith Schools campaign co-chairs alumni Milton Matthews, former vice president of the Hershey Co.; Robert Johnson, regional president, northeast region for Sprint Nextel; and Richard Schaeffer, chairman of NYMEX Holdings Inc. and the New York Mercantile Exchange announced the campaign total to date and encouraged continued giving.

The University of Maryland has a long tradition of investing in our students intellectually and financially, said Williams. The Great Expectations campaign is a promise that the university, and the Smith School, will continue that investment.

To continue its rise to the top, the Smith School seeks to raise:

  • $40 million for advanced facilities
  • $30 million for student scholarships
  • $15 million to attract and retain world-class faculty
  • $5 million to continue to support innovation

In the past decade, the Smith School has advanced from a regional business program to one of international prominence. Physically, the school has more than doubled in size, with more than 100,000-square-feet added in 2002 and the latest nearly 40,000-square-foot addition to open in spring 2008. Much of the Smith Schools growth in the past 10 years has been funded privately through revenues from graduate-level and executive education courses and through the financial support of donors. About 10 percent of the schools operating funds come from the state of Maryland.

More information about the Smith Schools campaign is available at www.rhsmith.umd.edu/give.

About the University of Marylands 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 14 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 on three continents North America, Europe and Asia.


Click below to watch speeches given at the event (50 to 80 MB QT, get the latest player here )

 

President C.D. Mote Dean Howard Frank Robert H. Smith Gary Williams

For more information please contact:

 

Carrie Handwerker
301-405-5833

 

Media Contact

Greg Muraski
Media Relations Manager
301-405-5283  
301-892-0973 Mobile
gmuraski@umd.edu 

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 flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, 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.

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