On the New Year Eve I received an email from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington about passing away of Robert H. Smith. The letter was recollecting many great philantropic deeds of the man and his contribution to the Jewish community locally and worldwide. It did not mention explicitely his relation to the University of Maryland Business School. So I checked it on internet, and indeed this is the same person whose name is carried by the UMD Business School.
Frankly, even when I was applying to the UMD part-time MBA program I did not take time to learn who was the person behind the school’s name. For me it was an anonymous person, more like a historic fact – I did not even realize if he was still alive at the time. Now it turns out that the person has left quite remarkable legacy behind, and naming the Business School was just one of the many things he will be remembered for. From what I read it appears that prior to R.H.Smith naming gift to UMD Business School, the school was not quite as a major player in the MBA rankings as it is now. There is a short obituary page on University of Maryland website with links to some more information about the life and achievements of Robert H. Smith.
Another interesting fact surfaced when I checked out facts on the internet. The Kogod School of Business at American University is named after Robert P. Kogod, who is a part of the Smith-Kogod family through marriage. He was also working at top positions in the many enterprises founded and controlled by the Smith family. He also has a long list of charitable contributions to business, arts and education. And he is still on the Advisory Council of the Kogod School of Business.
Quite a remarkable family. By the way, one of their biggest business accomplishments was development of Crystal City in Northern Virginia.
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