Maryland Today | UMD Lauded for Commitment to Innovation and…
The University of Maryland received the Entrepreneurial University Award at the annual Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education held last week in College Park.
The symposium’s awards committee cited UMD’s innovative curriculum and robust engagement in entrepreneurship throughout the university community. Nearly one in four undergraduates—more than 7,000—in 89 majors are enrolled in undergraduate entrepreneurship courses at UMD, taught by 59 faculty members across 30 departments.
“Students, faculty, staff and alums of the University of Maryland have a long and inspiring tradition of innovation that spans the arts, humanities and sciences, from Google and Beyond Meat to the Muppets and Under Armour,” said university President Darryll J. Pines. “This award from the Deshpande Symposium will undoubtedly help our university build upon a distinguished past and present in innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Beyond traditional entrepreneurship, UMD also offers over 100 courses in innovation-related areas like creativity, entrepreneurial mindset, social value creation, business models and design thinking, said Chief Innovation Officer Dean Chang.
“We’re teaching our students that concepts learned through these courses can be applied to all aspects of life and careers in any field at any size organization, whether it’s a startup, large company, nonprofit, government agency or elsewhere,” he said.
Programs that foster diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship also helped UMD stand out as worthy of this award, Chang said.
The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine recently ranked UMD No. 5 across all institutions, No. 4 among public universities and No. 1 in the mid-Atlantic for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs—marking a ninth straight year in the top 10.
Additionally, together with other schools in the University System of Maryland, the University of Maryland ranked ninth among U.S. public institutions and 21st in the world for patents awarded in 2023, according to the National Academy of Inventors.
To learn more, visit UMD’s Innovation Gateway.
