Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., Visits Smith

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.

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.