image: This is Wallace Loh, UMD's newly inaugurated president. view more
Credit: UMD
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Wallace D. Loh has officially become the 33rd president of the University of Maryland, promising a "relentless pursuit" of four strategic goals – increased student achievement, innovation and entrepreneurship, internationalization, and service to the people of Maryland.
Among other initiatives, Loh announced the creation of a new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to be led by his predecessor, C.D. "Dan" Mote. As envisioned, the new center will increase twelve-fold the resources spent by the university to bring the fruits of its research to the marketplace.
"We will be relentless in our drive to greater prominence and impact in all that we do: in academics, in the arts, and in athletics," Loh said at installation ceremonies that included national, state, and local leaders.
Throughout the program, speakers repeatedly acknowledged Loh's remarkable background as an immigrant born in China, raised in Peru, speaking Chinese at home and Spanish in school. He came to the United States by himself at age 15, with $300 and enrolled in college at Iowa.
"It's the enduring story of the American dream," Loh said.
STUDENT OPPORTUNITY AND ACHIEVEMENT
Ticking off markers of the university's academic achievement, Loh committed the institution to further strengthening academic excellence:
- Embraced Governor O'Malley's "stretch goal" – 55 percent of adult Marylanders will have a college degree by 2025 – by promising to increase enrollment at College Park and Shady Grove by about 4,000 over the next 10 years;
- STEM graduates – in science, technology, engineering, and math fields – will increase by about one-third during the period.
"If I were applying for admission to Maryland today, I would not be accepted," Loh said. "Fortunately, the standards for hiring a president are not as high as for the admission of freshmen," he added with a chuckle.
INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In the creation of the new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the university will have a "one-stop concierge service," coordinating "under one umbrella the many idea-generation and venture creation activities on campus," Loh explained, adding that it is Mote's "brainchild."
He also endorsed the current goal of creating 100 new companies over the next decade. Since 2002, roughly 40 firms came out of University of Maryland research. While the University currently invests $5 million annually toward these activities, Loh promised to raise $60 million for the new center.
Even in a difficult economy, the University remains committed to innovation, Loh noted, quoting an adage from his Peruvian childhood: "En mares revueltos, ganancias de pescadores – In stormy seas, fishermen prosper." He added, "We will fish and we will prosper."
INTERNATIONALIZATION
In his inaugural remarks, President Loh committed to "carry the banner of Maryland on the global stage of higher education." This will include: deepening students' global competencies, expanding global content in curricula, strengthening international partnerships, attracting additional international students, and sending more Maryland students to study abroad.
"We have a responsibility to educate our students to live and work in an interdependent world. We inhabit the same earth, but we are divided by language, religion, ethnicity, and culture," said Loh. "When we learn to see ourselves in the faces of people who look different than us, we are affirmed in our common humanity."
He noted that Maryland will sharpen its focus on China, where the university is already extensively networked with myriad business and technology partnerships and academic programs.
"No corner of the planet will be beyond our reach. But, we will place strategic emphasis on certain regions, such as Asia. China is the most important economic relationship for the United States in this century," said Loh.
Internationalization also includes athletics, as Loh envisioned the possibility of Terp men's and women's basketball teams playing in China. "Terp athletics will be the front porch of our global house," Loh said. "China fans will learn to 'Fear the Turtle.' Now, how cool is that?"
SERVICE TO MARYLAND
Loh updated and then sharpened the university's focus on its historic priorities. While the mission of service and outreach remains a "guiding principle," he said that it's time to recognize the increasingly urban and suburban character of the state. "Our land-grant mission is to enhance the quality of life of citizens in metropolitan areas, as well as in rural areas," he said. This includes work in the field of urban education, health equity, smart growth, and urban agriculture.
TOUGH TIMES, HARD CHOICES
Acknowledging the tough economy, Loh promised to continue working with the state, while creating wider revenue streams and making hard choices.
"Nobody knows when our nation's economic travails will end," he said. "But they will end. The economy runs in cycles. In our blessed country, we have faced hard times before, and we have emerged stronger than before. We must now position ourselves and make hard choices, so when the lean times recede, we can surge ahead."
To this end, the president promised to continue to:
- Practice fiscal discipline and prudent stewardship of resources.
- Reallocate budgets to protect quality and core missions.
- Advocate tirelessly for state funding by demonstrating our accountability to state priorities and our high return on the state's investment.
- Expand new revenue streams by entrepreneurial activities, philanthropy, and partnerships.
- Make targeted investments in strategic areas.
FULL-TEXT
A full-text version of Dr. Loh's inaugural address is available online: <http://newsdesk.umd.edu/Loh/LohInaugural.cfm>