September 23, 2009 — Coral Gables, Florida — The University of Miami School of Business Administration today announced the appointment of Amelia (Mel) Rea Maguire as associate dean for external affairs. Maguire will lead the School’s development initiatives and oversee executive education programs, communications, and graduate placement, while building a strong brand for the School among global corporations.

“Mel Maguire brings a wealth of experience as an accomplished business, government and community leader and we’re delighted to have her join our senior leadership team,” said Barbara E. Kahn, dean of the University of Miami School of Business Administration. “Mel will play a key role in helping us further define and carry out the strategic priorities we have set to take the School to the next level and to earn it recognition as one the world’s very best business schools.”

Maguire has more than 22 years of experience in government, professional service firms, entrepreneurial start-ups and pro bono service to academia. She served as Florida’s secretary of commerce and assistant secretary of commerce from 1984 to 1987, was a corporate partner at Holland & Knight LLP and Steel Hector & Davis LLP, and has served on the Florida State University Foundation Board and the Women’s Leadership Board at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

“I am thrilled to join the UM School of Business at a time when it is advancing an ambitious agenda to propel the School to a position of global preeminence,” said Maguire. “I look forward to working with the School’s leadership team, faculty and staff to develop and build its academic initiatives and to strengthen its ties with alumni and the wider corporate community in this dynamic period of growth at the School.”

Under the leadership of Dean Kahn, who joined the School in 2007 after 17 years at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, the UM School of Business is pursuing a strategy to achieve global preeminence by focusing on research excellence, the delivery of unique cross-disciplinary programs (in such areas as health care and real estate) and community engagement. As part of the strategy, which Maguire will help carry out, the School has recruited new faculty from some of the nation’s leading business schools, launched new programs in health care and real estate, and hosted impact conferences such as the 2009 Global Business Forum.

Maguire holds a BA from the University of Florida and a JD with Honors from Florida State University College of Law. She is included in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and South Florida’s Best Lawyers Magazine and was named among Florida Trend magazine’s “Elite Florida Lawyers” in 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004.

About the School of Business Administration
The University of Miami School of Business is a comprehensive business school, offering undergraduate business, full-time MBA, Executive MBA, MS, PhD and non-degree executive education programs. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Miami, the School is located in a major hub of international trade and commerce and acclaimed for the global orientation and diversity of its faculty, students and curriculum. The School delivers its programs at its main campus in Coral Gables as well as at locations across Florida and abroad. More information about the University of Miami School of Business can be found at http://www.bus.miami.edu.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A high resolution photo is available upon request.