Bob Smith, a 1950 accounting graduate and honorary trustee of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, is chairman of Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty, a division of Vornado Realty Trust, and chairman of Charles E. Smith Residential, a division of Archstone-Smith, both REIT's listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1998, Mr. Smith contributed the naming gift for the university's business school, and a year later he and his wife Clarice, an internationally renowned artist, again made a naming gift for Maryland's new performing arts center. In honor of the Smith family's generosity and distinguished service, the Board of Regents designated the school as the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the center as the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland.

After graduating from Maryland, Mr. Smith joined his father's firm as a labor foreman and timekeeper. At the time the company was engaged in building post World War II affordable rental housing. Later, the company built several of the grand apartment buildings on Connecticut Avenue such as the Brandywine, Albemarle, and Calvert-Woodley, and many office buildings in downtown Washington, D.C.

In 1961, Bob Smith spotted a site in Arlington that included a drive-in theater, pawn shops, abandoned railway yards, and places that sold junk and used tires. With the vast number of workers at the Pentagon and the growth of National Airport, Mr. Smith saw the potential of what would become Crystal City. In Charles E. Smith's autobiography, "Building My Life," he credited his son for having the vision that would transform the company from a builder into a real estate powerhouse. By 1996, Crystal City had more than 43 high rise buildings.

The Smith Family is legendary for its civic leadership and philanthropy in the Washington area and beyond. The Smith Center at George Washington University, where Mr. Smith has served as a trustee, is named for his father, as is the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, one of the areas finest K-12 private schools. A man of broad interests, Robert H. Smith has served on many boards including as President and Trustee of the National Gallery of Art and as Chairman of The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Mr. Smith received the university's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997 and on June 4 this year, Mr. Smith will be inducted into the University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame. Mr. and Mrs. Smith live in Arlington.