Speaker Busch, USM's Kirwan receive 2014 Regional Visionary Awards from Greater Baltimore Committee

BALTIMORE, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Michael Busch and Chancellor of the University System of Maryland William E. "Brit" Kirwan received Regional Visionary Awards at the Greater Baltimore Committee's Annual Meeting on May 22 in Baltimore.

The award, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the betterment of the Greater Baltimore region, was presented to Busch for his role as an advocate for revitalization in the Baltimore region. Kirwan, who recently announced his decision to retire, was recognized for nurturing the state's university system to achieve nationally recognized excellence.

Busch has represented Anne Arundel County in the House of Delegates since 1987 and is the highest-ranking member of the General Assembly from the Baltimore region. Last year, he created the House Baltimore Regional Revitalization Workgroup to identify revitalization opportunities in the region, noted GBC President and CEO Donald C. Fry. Last fall, an initiative that grew from the workgroup channeled almost $4 million in grants to home rehabilitations and energy retrofit projects in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

This year Busch championed, along with Senate President Mike Miller, the passage of the first-ever joint legislative agenda for Maryland economic growth and job creation. In 2013 he also championed passage of landmark legislation that supports a multiyear, $1.1 billion public school construction initiative in Baltimore City.

Fry noted Kirwin's aggressive advocacy to close workforce development gaps, transformational leadership as a higher educator and voice of knowledge and reason on the GBC's Executive Committee and Board of Directors, where Kirwan served for 12 years.

"His extraordinary leadership, knowledge, communication and diplomatic skills and his relentless pursuit of quality enabled him to nurture the state's university system to achieve nationally recognized excellence," Fry said.

The GBC's Regional Visionary Award was created in 1997 to honor individuals for outstanding contributions to the betterment of the Baltimore region. Past recipients have included retired Executive Director of The Leadership Jan Houbolt, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski, Walter Sondheim, former Legg Mason CEO Chip Mason, Governor Martin O'Malley, and developer and philanthropist Willard Hackerman.

SOURCE Greater Baltimore Committee