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Construction photos & more information

NEW CLASSROOMS, TEAM ROOMS AND OFFICES WILL BETTER ACCOMMODATE THE GROWING SMITH SCHOOL COMMUNITY.

The $20 million addition added about 38,000 square feet to Van Munching Hall. The North Wing has two large 80-person classrooms and two 55-person flexible classrooms. Five conference rooms and a dozen team rooms will facilitate the team work that is such an important part of both the undergraduate and MBA curriculum. A large, elegant executive meeting room that can be partitioned in several ways will be used by alumni and recruiters for meetings and events. The doctoral program occupies the third floor. The accounting and information assurance department and the decision and information technologies department have also faculty offices in the new space.

Outside of Van Munching Hall, the new south campus gateway features gorgeous stonework, a new clock tower, and a beautifully landscaped green space with brick walkways.

One of the most highly anticipated spaces in the Smith School’s new North Wing is the section that will be used by the doctoral program. The Dr. and Mrs. William A. Longbrake PhD Suite and the Longbrake PhD program director’s office are named for William Longbrake, PhD ’76, vice chair of Washington Mutual, the nation’s sixth largest bank.

The Longbrake PhD Suite will house the Smith School’s 121 PhD students, who conduct research and often teach classes in addition to completing the coursework toward their degrees.

Longbrake came to the University of Maryland to pursue his graduate degree in business—then a DBA, not a PhD— the business school’s doctoral students were located in the attic of the journalism building. It was a crowded environment, but “at least we had a desk and a place to meet with undergraduates,” remembers Longbrake.

While most doctoral students go on to life as a professor somewhere, Longbrake’s career took him out of academia and into the business world. He started out as a financial economist with the FDIC, doing policy studies that supported the agency’s mission. “We had a fair amount of freedom to pursue research in the areas of banking and finance,” says Longbrake. “I published a lot and learned the policy side of things.” He went on to become Deputy Controller of the Currency, the top executive spot not filled by a political appointee, where he developed policy and interacted with members of the legislature on Capitol Hill.

When he decided to make a change in 1982, he took on a real challenge: the position of CFO of Washington Mutual Bank, which was in serious financial trouble and in danger of complete collapse. Longbrake played an important role in the organization’s turnaround.

During all this time, Longbrake had lost touch with the university, but he was pleased to be contacted by Joanne Ferchland-Parella, assistant dean of external relations, who was interested in reconnecting Longbrake with faculty and students at the school. The involvement grew over the past three years, as Longbrake partnered with Smith faculty on research and spoke to Smith students at graduation. It culminated with his naming gift for the Longbrake PhD Suite.

“When I give a gift to an organization, it’s because I have a connection,” says Longbrake. “It’s more than just the fact that I went to the school, it’s an alive and current connection. I am not just putting my name on a building; I am building a relationship. I look forward to having interactions with the school on an ongoing basis.”

The Longbrake PhD Suite was an exciting project for Longbrake, not just because of his own association with the PhD program but also because he knew that he could really bring a unique benefit to the school. “My original degree was intended to be a teaching degree,” says Longbrake. “I didn’t end up teaching, but it served me extraordinarily well in my career. I feel it is important to connect the academic side of the business school with real-time business and have that engagement and interaction. It is exciting to engage with faculty and students in their research, to share the knowledge I’ve accrued over the years in the rough and tumble world of business.”

Longbrake is excited about the Smith School’s future direction. “My sense is that the vision is well-crafted, and that the projects and initiatives that are underway are well thought through to achieve that vision. I think the school has the right vision and is on the right track to achieve it. And I know that the capital campaign is a key part of creating the financial resources to make these things happen.”

As co-chair of the Smith School’s Great Expectations, the Campaign for Maryland, Longbrake wants to encourage fellow alumni to get enthusiastic about the school’s vision as well.

“I have a real personal commitment to what the school is trying to achieve, and I think it is important for everyone to give back according to their means and capabilities,” says Longbrake. “We’re supporting the difference the school made in our lives and will make in the lives of current students. Alumni can also be engaged by being knowledgeable about what the school is trying to accomplish, encouraging people of quality to undertake their education at the school, and participating in seminars and events that are put on.”