University of Marylands Business School Ranked Among Top 13 in Entrepreneurship

College Park, Md. March 7, 2006 The entrepreneurship program at the University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business is ranked among the top 13 nationally in research firm EntrePoints Annual Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program Rankings. This is the fourth consecutive year that the survey, which in previous years was published in Entrepreneur magazine, has included the Smith School at the top in its annual list of the best 100 collegiate entrepreneurship programs in the United States.

Entrepreneurship is a major driving force and source of wealth creation in todays global economy, said Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. The Smith School is committed to nurturing entrepreneurship in our students and in leveraging our expertise and leadership to positively impact the growth of entrepreneurship around the world. Im pleased that the Smith Schools entrepreneurship programs are rated among the best in the country.

Among the Smith Schools resources supporting entrepreneurship is the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, a nationally-recognized, leading entrepreneurial center that assists students and regional entrepreneurs with expertise and funding. The center, celebrating its 20th anniversary in April 2006, has assisted hundreds of successful start-up businesses and served as an early model for similar entrepreneurship centers later launched at business schools around the nation.

There was very little supporting infrastructure in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area for entrepreneurs when the Dingman Center was founded in 1986, said Asher Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center. Not only has the center been a model as a leading source of research, resources and assistance, but it has a long and rich history as an institution that was instrumental in building the current entrepreneurial culture in the national capital area.

The Annual Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program Rankings were compiled from a combination of primary survey information from faculty, center directors, deans, and program heads, along with public secondary data culled from college program catalogs, viewbooks and Web sites.

About the 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. One of 13 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School 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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