$3.8M Gift Honors Longtime Business School Dean Rudy Lamone
Renamed Dingman-Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship to Grow Its Programs
The Dingman-Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business is best known for Pitch Dingman, a “Shark Tank”-style competition for students.
Photo by John T. Consoli
A $3.8 million gift from the widow of a longtime, influential dean of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business school will support and expand the work of its nationally known entrepreneurship center, which will be renamed for him.
In recognition of Linda Lamone’s generosity, the Dingman-Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship will honor the contributions and legacy of Rudolph P. “Rudy” Lamone, who led the school from 1973-92. Lamone established the center, one of the first of its kind at a business school, with a gift from founding donor Michael Dingman in 1986.
Former Smith School Dean Rudolph P. “Rudy” Lamone established its entrepreneurship center with a founding gift from Michael Dingman (shown with Lamone at bottom, right) and stayed active in its programs for decades.
“Rudy Lamone was a guiding force at the Smith School for decades, and he made the school what it is today. He was a pioneer in entrepreneurship education not just at the Smith School but across the nation. But the Lamone name resonates far beyond our campus, given Linda Lamone’s long service as Maryland state election administrator,” said Prabhudev Konana, dean of the Smith School. “Their collective influence on the state and the university is reflected in this well-deserved honor.”
He and Dingman had a close and collaborative partnership starting in the mid-1980s, based on their shared passion for entrepreneurship and a vision for what the Smith School could be with dedicated resources. Dingman died in 2017.
The center helps launch 50 to 100 ventures—and entrepreneurs—every year. Its year-round programming staples include Pitch Dingman, which engages students in a “Shark Tank”-style competition; Dingman Center Angels, the largest university-run angel investor network in the country; and the eight-week Terp Startup Accelerator summer program. Lamone remained deeply involved in the center’s work until his passing in 2023.
He was also an entrepreneur himself; he co-founded the biotech company DirectGene and was a venture partner with firms in Annapolis and California.
At the Dingman Center’s 25th anniversary in 2010, Dingman called Lamone “one of the great entrepreneurs of all time.” “I am reminded of what he did in starting this center when I look around at all the students here. This is what happens when you say, ‘What do we do to make schools better? To give people like me a chance?’”
Lamone also co-founded an organization of academic entrepreneurship centers that allows faculty to share ideas and best practices. The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), launched at the University of Maryland in 1997, today includes more than 200 universities and colleges. The Dingman-Lamone Center was among the first of five centers to receive its Nasdaq Award for a center of excellence in entrepreneurship.
“This transformational gift will significantly strengthen the center’s endowment, enabling us to expand our programs and invest in new opportunities to foster entrepreneurship for the next generation of student innovators,“ said Michael Hoffmeyer, managing director of the center. “It will also allow us to deepen our support for ventures with greater seed funding and provide long-term sustainability for the center’s mission to nurture entrepreneurial leaders.”
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