ANNAPOLIS (August 03, 2017)—Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford Wednesday announced that the College of Southern Maryland (CSM); Johns Hopkins University; and the University of Maryland, College Park, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Commerce, have endowed a total of $8.6 million in three new research professorships. The endowments were made through the state's Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative (MEI), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at the colleges and universities. The schools raised a total of $5 million in private funding for each chair and Maryland Commerce approved matching grants of $3.6 million to support the endowments. The announcement took place during Lt. Governor Rutherford's visit to CSM's Leonardtown campus
Wednesday.
"Maryland boasts some of the top academic institutions in the world," said Lt. Governor Rutherford. "We are proud to support the groundbreaking work these schools are doing, from drug discovery research to cybersecurity, to ensure both our local businesses and our residents are the first to benefit from these inspiring academic achievements."
The College of Southern Maryland received $500,000 for the Entrepreneur and Innovation Institute, an initiative to support the college and their existing technology transfer activities, students, local businesses, and federal researchers at the nearby
NAS Patuxent River. The specific initiatives will focus on training and education, technology commercialization, workspace for startups, and the growth and establishment of businesses and their resources for local companies.
"The College of Southern Maryland is honored to be among the three institutions in Maryland to be awarded this endowed matching fund," said Dr. Maureen Murphy, president of the College of Southern Maryland. "These funds will allow the college to create a more sustainable and vibrant innovation ecosystem through public-private partnerships that support and impact the critical and innovative research being conducted at the Navy research labs in Southern Maryland. The Entrepreneur and Innovation Institute will not only support technology transfer initiatives, but will also enhance the regional and state economic and workforce development expansion. "
The Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative was created by the General Assembly during the 2014 legislative session and has provided $20.1 million in funding to leverage $23 million in private donations. The funding can be used to pay salaries of newly endowed department chairs, staff, and support personnel in designated scientific and technical fields of study; fund related research fellowships for graduate and undergraduate students; and purchase lab equipment and other basic infrastructure and equipment.