Recent Activities

                The last several months have been an extremely exciting and rewarding time. On April 3, we successfully began a distinguished lecture series with a presentation by Norman R. Augustine, former CEO/Chairman of Lockheed Martin. The event was tied into a President’s Forum Breakfast that worked well as a lead in to the MBI event.

                On April 12th the MBI honors students acted in support of the Community Conversations event on “Ethics in Biotechnology.”  The MBI students participated on levels varying from event management to a study of the issues.

                On April 19th the weekly MBI seminar moved to the residence of Board member Brian Cunningham. The afternoon included lunch and an engaging presentation on leadership and success. This session was followed in a subsequent seminar with a visit from former MC president,  Dr.Robert Parilla who furthered our discussion of leadership. Dr. Parilla has lead the college’s leadership training activities over the last several years.
 
                As the end of the academic year approached it was determined that all nine MBI honors students would likely be transferring to the Smith School of Business, UMCP. Of the nine, two were awarded A.A. degrees on May 19th. Several others are expecting to finish coursework during the summer session 2000 and thus complete their degree requirements. All departing students are being encouraged to allow follow up on their academics and transfer back from UMCP the credits needed for completion. Among the graduates, Asiya Ourmanova was awarded the Board of Trustees Scholarship – and valedictorian for the Rockville Campus, for her achievements and 4.0 GPA. She delivered a speech to the board entitled “What is Success?”
to earn the honor. Many other achievements by MBI Honors Scholars should be noted. All three Business & Economics departmental awards went to MBI students. Six of the students were inducted into Phi Theta Kappa.

                The NASD awarded two summer internships to Macklin scholars; Jeremy Kemp and Fadwa Natour. Mr. Macklin’s name and relationship to the program continues to open doors and create opportunities for our students. We should be eternally grateful to him.

                The application period for the class of 2000-2001 began in February and ended April 30. Acceptance letters went out June 1 to what already appears to be a stellar group of students who will set out to continue the success brought to the Institute by their predecessors.

Ongoing Activities and Upcoming Events:

                Spring Board Meeting –  June 8th  includes an event celebrating our first “graduating” class.  Invitees include the incoming and outgoing classes of MBI students, mentors, business faculty, internship providers, and college development staff/faculty who have been closely aligned with the students and the institute.

                With our pilot year behind us, we embark on meeting the challenges and raising the mark set by first year accomplishments. Phase 2 and Phase 3 activities will be addressed and implemented as soon as funding and opportunity mesh. The new group of students will likely be challenged to great heights by the legacy of the first class and the ability to learn from their experiences

                This spring, as a phase 2 activity, we launched a pilot Summer Faculty Fellows Program, where faculty can work/consult with local industry. MBI had four interested faculty apply.  Attempts were made to match interests and expertise with companies with whom MBI have had contact. Results are pending.

                MBI Center for Entrepreneurship – a work in progress and phase 3 activity. MBI is assembling resources and individuals whose total may well be greater than the sum of their parts. With nothing firmly in place at this writing, I comment only that making this happen can indeed change a great number of lives.

1999-2000 Highlights

                In February, the MBI honors students, and guests, including board member, Mrs. Vivian Teets went on a field trip to the NASDAQ facility in Rockville. It was not only an enlightening experience, but an opportunity to see how important our mentor, Gordon Macklin was to the creation of the NASD market. His
portrait hangs in the lobby of the building which is named in his honor; the Gordon S. Macklin Building.

                The family of student, Simona Assenova, invited the group to Sunday dinner in March and it was a very successful social gathering. Gordon and Marilyn Macklin also attended. They enjoy the students immensely and appear to find these relationships among the most valuable aspects of their association with Montgomery College.

                Footnote: Simona Assenova also participated in a recent Ad campaign and her photo appears on the cover of the new MC catalog and on the side of many Metro buses around town.

                Professor Schwartz, and MBI student Asiya Ourmanova made an appearance on CTL – MC cable show with Helen Youth and Alan Vincent. The 30-minute talk show airs on MC Cable, on various Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Our appearance is broadcast on a revolving basis. Ms. Ourmanova also joined Professor Schwartz in presenting to the Rockville Faculty at convocation on January 12, 2000.

                The December 9th 1999 President’s Forum Breakfast led to an internship at Spacehab, Inc. for student Simona Assenova. She began in January. MBI student Fadwa Natour spoke at the breakfast and was both inspiring and impressive. Students, John Rueger and Oana Udrea, our MedImmune scholar and intern, also attended.

                Regarding other internships, Andela Mala is still enjoying hours at Ernst & Young LLC, and Eshe Terry spent income tax season at Stoy Malone & Co. CPA’s. Reda Hachani will continue to intern at the American Federation of Teachers in their accounting department throughout the summer. Asiya Ourmanova has been a legal intern since last September and has received rave reviews from Howard Metro, the attorney who employed and mentored her. John Rueger also began his internship last September and after a break for the summer will likely return to Aronson Fetridge & Weigle CPA’s as a part-time employee while attending UMCP. Jeremy Kemp had the pleasure of various roles to play in property management and development while interning at Carl M. Freeman Associates.

                New internships are being developed with other organizations and we should be able to create a nice inventory for fall 2000.