Baltimore, MD - April 3, 2003 -- Maryland's International Leadership Awards were presented to Chris Westphal, Co-Founder and CEO Visual Analytics, Dr. Leslie Mancuso, CEO, JHPIEGO (Affiliate of Johns Hopkins University) and Todd Ruppert President & CEO of T Rowe Price Global Investment Services Limited and T Rowe Price Global Asset Management Limited. "Each of these international business champions stood out among their peers in terms of their respective visionary leadership, international business accomplishments and how their efforts have positively impacted the State of Maryland," said Gary Collins, Senior Vice President of Bank of America and Chair of the Awards Committee. The awards program was hosted by The World Trade Center Institute and Bank of America.

Maryland's International Business Leadership Awards are presented annually to an individual within a Maryland company who has led their company to new global heights. The award also recognizes individuals for their entrepreneurial spirit, determination, creativity and cultural sensitivity that the global marketplace demands.

The International Business Leadership Awards program shared the spotlight with Governor Ehrlich and the presentation of the Governor's Leadership Award to former Governor William Donald Schaefer. The Governor's Leadership Award recognizes sustained, exemplary leadership efforts in support of Maryland's international relations. Past award winners have included last year's winner, Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs' President Frank Burd. "The former governor had a tremendous role in shaping Maryland's engagement of new global frontiers resulting in Maryland Sister State relationships from Japan to Mexico," said Deborah Kielty, President of the World Trade Center Institute.  

Mr. Westphal and his partners (David O'Connor and Bennett McPhatter) have pioneered a unique data mining software application to allow numerous public agencies to share critical data to combat financial crimes like fraud, embezzlement and insider trading. Mr. Westphal pioneered Visual Analytics' overseas expansion and now the firm has a client base in about a dozen countries and expects to expand this number significantly in the coming year. "Mr. Westphal and his partners have made Visual Analytics an integral resource to the U.S. government for its war on narcotics, terrorism and financial fraud," said John Moran, Associate Dean at the Sellinger School of Loyola College and a member of the Awards Review Committee. "This company is doing fascinating work with tremendous global implications," Mr. Moran.  

Dr. Mancuso oversaw the initiation of a comprehensive strategy to help re-build Afghanistan's midwifery practice and improve access to quality childbirth services. Dr. Mancuso's leadership led to the selection of JHPIEGO and the Johns Hopkins Consortium by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop model training and service delivery for its Global AIDS programs.

"Dr. Mancuso is leading a Baltimore-based effort to help improve the health of women and their families around the world," said Gary Collins, Senior Vice President of Bank of America. "This is Baltimore's best kept secret, it's an incredible missionary effort," he said.

Mr. Ruppert and his global team have led T. Rowe Price's focused strategy for entering the very competitive foreign investment management market. Since their recent overseas investment in 2000, T. Rowe's subsidiaries now manage over $4 billion for more than 60 clients located in 15 foreign countries. "Todd Ruppert and his team's dedication to developing customized services and solutions tailored to the needs and cultural requirements in doing business overseas has helped T. Rowe's global investment establish higher standards for client satisfaction and asset growth," said Jim Doub, Principal with Miles & Stockbridge, PC and member of the World Trade Center Institute Awards Review Committee.

An independent review committee received the nominations, conducted the interviews and selected the finalists. The review committee is comprised of representatives from Bank of America, Miles & Stockbridge PC, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Baltimore Export Assistance Center, Loyola College and the World Trade Center Institute, as a non-voting member. The top three awardees were not announced until the April 2 awards ceremony. Awards were presented in three business categories: small and/or emerging, medium and large. "This has been an extremely difficult decision for the Review Committee," said Mr. Collins. "We had some outstanding finalists and they should all be considered Maryland's finest," he said.

The other finalists included Frederick County's E. Smith Yewell, CEO Welocalize, Inc.: a recognized industry expert adapting and translating English computer software code to foreign languages; Baltimore County's Ernest Ellis from Seafire Marine: a global leader in the design and manufacture of fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems for the marine and pleasure craft industry; Eric and Faye Johnson, Owners of Chesapeake Medical: a remarkable story of a small family business providing a critical need to amputees throughout the world through revolutionary advancements in prosthetics construction; Queens Anne's County's Kevin Leaverton, President and International Marketing Manager of Shore Genetics: he oversees two Maryland companies that export bull semen, cow embryos and live animals, and travels the world trying to find buyers in 45 countries; Baltimore City's Mary Tritch, General Manager North Atlantic Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines Americas: Ms. Tritch oversaw the signing of a 20-year agreement with the Port of Baltimore, expected to create more than 1000 jobs and generate a minimum of $50 million in revenues for the state over the next two decades; and Montgomery County's Michael Rae, President Argus Limited: whose firm represents a niche business of providing world-class products for the pipeline construction industry. Argus' past three years of international sales have averaged $26 million a year, more than double the previous two-year average.

"Although the Awards Review Committee could only select the top three finalists to receive the Awards, all of our finalist are really winners," said Deborah Kielty, President of the World Trade Center Institute. "We have such great stories to tell about all of them and we will do that," said Ms. Kielty. Within the week, the Institute will be posting an electronic publication on their website www.wtci.org featuring marketing pieces on each international champion to highlight their unique accomplishments. The Institute will connect the publication to over 300 world trade centers from across the U.S. and around the globe and will also connect the publication to over 150 U.S. Embassy commercial sections. "This effort will help showcase Maryland and its breadth of international expertise to the world," said Kielty.