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Industry Experts Join University
of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith
School of Business to Lead New Center for Financial Policy
College Park, Md. – August 11, 2009 — The University of
Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business today announced finance industry
leaders Clifford Rossi and William Longbrake have joined the school to lead the
new Center for Financial Policy, which will be launched this fall. Rossi was
named managing director of the center and Longbrake will serve as an
executive-in-residence and senior policy advisor.
“The financial crisis highlighted the need for a broader, interdisciplinary
perspective to addressing financial policy and corporate governance issues and
Cliff and Bill bring decades of industry knowledge and insight to the Center for
Financial Policy,” said Lemma Senbet, the William E. Mayer Chair Professor of
Finance and director of the center. “Our hope is for government financial
regulatory agencies, congressional staffers, industry associations and
corporations to look to the center as a partner and champion of best practices
in the financial arena.”
The Center for Financial Policy will develop thought leadership in financial
policy that impacts corporate performance, capital allocation and the stability
of the global financial system. Located in Washington, D.C., at the Smith’s
School’s campus in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center,
the center is well-situated to take a leadership role with its globally
recognized faculty and its extensive relationships with key policymakers,
practitioners and academics. It will formally launch in November with a
roundtable event with public policy and industry leaders discussing executive
compensation.
As managing director of the center, Rossi oversees operations and outreach.
He will also teach in Smith’s MBA program. Rossi has nearly 25 years experience
in banking and government, having held senior executive roles in risk management
at several of the largest financial services companies. His most recent position
was Chief Risk Officer for Consumer Lending at Citigroup where he was intimately
involved in TARP funding and stress tests performed on Citi. He also helped
start a statistical arbitrage unit at Citi and helped integrate market and
credit risk analytics across Citi’s mortgage portfolios. While there he was
responsible for overseeing a $200 billion global mortgage portfolio with 700
employees under his direction.
Previous to Citi, Rossi held senior positions at other major financial
institutions and worked for a number of years at the Treasury Department and
Office of Thrift Supervision working on key policy issues affecting
depositories. Before permanently joining the Smith School, Rossi served as an
adjunct professor for eight years and has a number of publications on banking
industry topics. He earned his PhD at Cornell University.
As an executive-in-residence at the Smith School, Longbrake works on a
variety of business, policy, and governance issues with faculty, students,
business leaders, government policymakers, and executives of not-for-profit
organizations. Longbrake has extensive experience in finance, macroeconomics and
monetary policy, risk management, housing, public policy and academia,
government, serving both the public and private sectors. He also serves on the
boards of directors of First Financial Northwest, a community bank located in
Renton, Washington; the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle; and the Washington
Financial League.
Longbrake is a member of several committees of the American Bankers
Association, including those for government relations, governance and mortgage
markets. He serves on the boards of trustees of Auburn Theological Seminary; the
College of Wooster; and is president of the Intiman Theatre Foundation. He is
president and chairman of the board of trustees of Lift Up Africa, a charitable
organization that finances humanitarian and economic development initiatives on
the continent of Africa, and is president and chairman of the board of trustees
of the Longbrake Family Foundation.
In the academic sector, Longbrake has published extensively and has taught
courses in business administration and finance. He holds a PhD from the
University of Maryland and in 2007, received the Distinguished Alumnus of the
Year award from the Smith School. Longbrake is active in numerous academic,
business, and community service organizations, particularly those involving
issues surrounding affordable housing and education. He chairs the Washington
State Citizens Commission for Review of Tax Preferences. He is a member of the
Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors for Washington State, a member of the
University of Washington Business School Advisory Board and a member of the
Smith School’s Board of Visitors.
Longbrake is chairman emeritus of the Financial Services Roundtable’s Housing
Policy Council. He served as chief financial officer of Washington Mutual, Inc.
for most of the period from 1982 to 2002, except for 1995-1996 when he was chief
financial officer of the FDIC.
About the University of Maryland’s Robert H.
Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader
in management education and research. One of 13 colleges and schools at the
University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate,
full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, MS, PhD, and executive education
programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school
offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in
North America and Asia.
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