News Release

With a dramatic illumination ceremony designed to symbolize The Johns Hopkins University's commitment to the downtown business community, the new Downtown Center of the university's School of Professional Studies in Business and Education (SPSBE) will be dedicated shortly after sundown on March 12.

Johns Hopkins President William R. Brody will officiate at the ceremony during which all the lights in the translucent, glass-walled building at Charles and Fayette streets will be fully illuminated, turning the 35,000-square-foot structure with its three-story atrium, computer-enriched, "smart" classrooms and labs, conference rooms and auditorium into the "lantern of learning" it is meant to be.

The new center is the headquarters of the faculty and staff of the university's Graduate Division of Business and Management and home to its graduate business programs. These include the MBA, Master of Science in Finance, Information Technology, Marketing, Real Estate, Organizational Development and Human Resources, Police Executive Leadership, Business of Medicine and Business of Nursing programs, as well as post-graduate certificate programs.

"The programs housed in this building will provide a service to the professionals working in the community and help to support local companies," says SPSBE Dean Ralph Fessler.

Mayor Martin O'Malley and university trustee Donald Shepard, president and CEO of Aegon Corp., will speak at the ceremony. Brody will honor former SPSBE Dean Stanley C. Gabor and present the first Leadership Award of the university's Allan L. Berman Real Estate Institute to Baltimore attorney and university trustee emeritus Peter G. Angelos.

The award recognizes Angelos's "significant and dynamic role in the new Baltimore renaissance" and his "vision and commitment to the continuing revitalization of the Baltimore Metropolitan region."

Angelos will also address the business leaders, educators and students invited to attend the dedication.

The building, former headquarters of Hamburger's clothing stores, was completely redesigned by Ziger/Snead Architects of Baltimore. Principal architect Steve Ziger has said that he sought to create a building that is "dynamic and open and exciting."

The three-story atrium is connected by an open granite stairway to state-of-the-art classroom and conference facilities. Housed on the second floor are the Jean R. and Allan L. Berman Auditorium and the Stanley C. Gabor Executive Conference Room.

The building has seven "smart" classrooms equipped with integrated multi-media stations. In addition, there are two computer labs with the latest equipment that will accommodate the business technology classes offered by SPSBE. In the large hallway outside the lower level classrooms, 16 more computer workstations are available for students to use. An electronic library and a bookstore also are located on the lower level.

Integral to the exterior is a 210-foot-long, 14-inch-tall electronic news ticker that wraps around the Charles and Fayette street façades in a manner reminiscent of the sign in New York's Times Square. It broadcasts Bloomberg News information 24-hours-a-day.

The center opened for classes in January.