Highly Regarded Investor and Incubator of Start-up Companies To Assist Student Entrepreneurs at University of Maryland Business School

College Park, Md. July 18, 2005   The Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland today announced that Adam Lehman, president of Rock Ridge Ventures, will join the schools Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, a nationally-recognized, leading entrepreneurial center that assists students and regional entrepreneurs with expertise, resources and funding, as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Lehman will leverage his substantial experience in identifying and developing new business ventures to assist student and local entrepreneurs in creating and managing their businesses.

Adam brings valuable experience in guiding, building and investing in start-up ventures, said Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. The perspective, advice and mentoring that he will be able to impart to students offers tremendous advantages for the Dingman Center and the Smith Schools leading entrepreneurship program.

As president of Rock Ridge Ventures, Lehman develops and invests in new business ventures and provides a variety of strategic advisory and management services. Lehman also serves as executive vice president of ZG Ventures, which is developing for-profit education ventures based on the innovative In2Books non-profit literacy program. Prior to his roles with Rock Ridge and ZG, Lehman was an executive with America Online for seven years, ultimately serving as a senior vice president. During his tenure with AOL, Lehman participated in the development of a wide range of new domestic and international business ventures and opportunities. Prior to joining AOL, Lehman was an associate in the Mergers & Acquisitions group of the corporate law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, working on investments, acquisitions and financings, principally in the media, communications and technology sectors. Lehman is currently a member of the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and of the Advisory Board of Fair Chance D.C. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (summa cum laude) and Harvard Law School (cum laude) and a 1987 Truman Scholar.

Our entrepreneurs-in-residence offer an immeasurable resource to our Dingman scholars, said Asher Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. When you are building the confidence not to mention the skills to run your own business the ability to access someone whos not just been there, done that, but been there and successfully done that, can make all the difference.

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 for the digital economy. The Smith School one of 13 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, 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 four continents including North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. More information about the Robert H. Smith School of Business can be found at www.rhsmith.umd.edu.

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