DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

SECRETARIES

FORMER SECRETARIES

[photo, Aris Melissaratos, Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development] ARIS MELISSARATOS
Secretary of Business & Economic Development, 2003-07

Secretary of Business and Economic Development, January 31, 2003 to January 17, 2007. Acting Secretary of Business and Economic Development, January 15-31, 2003. Member, Governor's Executive Council, 2003-07; Governor's Subcabinet for International Affairs, 2003-07; Smart Growth Subcabinet, 2003-07. Member, Environmental Restoration and Development Task Force, 2003; Task Force to Study the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, 2003; Task Force on the Marketing of Grain and Other Agricultural Products, 2003; Unemployment Insurance Funding Task Force, 2003; State Information Technology Board, 2003-04; Task Force to Study the Economic Development of the Maryland Seafood and Aquaculture Industries, 2003-04; Western Maryland Economic Development Commission, 2003-04; Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy, 2003-05; Cabinet Council on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, 2003-05; Advisory Council for Port Land-Use Development, 2003-05; Task Force on Broadband Communications Deployment in Underserved Rural Areas, 2003-06.

Aris Melissaratos, Secretary of Business & Economic Development, February 2003. Photo by Richard Lippenholz.

Chair, Maryland Military Installation Strategic Planning Council, 2003-06.Member, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Board, 2003-07; Maryland Aviation Commission, 2003-07. Board of Directors, Bainbridge Development Corporation, 2003-07. Member, Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays, 2003-07; Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority, 2003-07; Maryland Economic Development Commission, 2003-07; Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, 2003-07; State Highway Access Valuation Board, 2003-07; Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, 2003-07; Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2003-07; Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority, 2003-07; Maryland Advisory Commission on Manufacturing Competitiveness, 2003-07; Maryland-Israel Development Center, 2003-07; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs, 2003-07; Maryland Advisory Council for New Americans, 2003-07; Governor's Interagency Council for the Nonprofit Sector, 2003-07; Statewide Commission on the Crisis in Nursing, 2003-07; PenMar Development Corporation, 2003-07; Rural Maryland Council, 2003-07; Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority, 2003-07; Maryland Technology Development Corporation, 2003-07; Governor's Workforce Investment Board, 2003-07 (executive committee); Governor's Task Force on Centralized Bidder Registration for Minority Business Procurement, 2004-05; Task Force to Study the Dynamics of Elderly and Retiree Migration Into and Out of Maryland, 2004-06; Governor's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland, 2004-05 (subcommittee on global best-practices in education); Interagency Disabilities Board, 2004-07; State Planning Committee for Higher Education, 2004-07. Board of Directors, Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation, 2004-07. Board of Advisors, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Member, Task Force on Traffic Capacity Across the Chesapeake Bay, 2005-06; Governor's Task Force on Workforce Housing, 2005-06; Renewable Fuels Incentive Board, 2005-07; Governor's Intergovernmental Commission for Agriculture, 2006-07; Maryland Pandemic Influenza Coordinating Committee, 2006-07; Maryland Rural Broadband Coordination Board, 2006-07. Chair, Maryland Military Installation Council, 2006-07.

Member, Maryland Economic Development Commission, 2015-.

Board of Visitors, University of Maryland, College Park, 1992-99.

Born in Galatz, Romania, December 3, 1943. Emigrated to Maryland from Greece in 1956 at age 13. Attended Patterson High School, Baltimore, Maryland; The Johns Hopkins University, B.S. (electrical engineering), 1966; George Washington University, M.S. (engineering management), 1969. Graduate Program for Management Development, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University. Doctoral work (international affairs), Catholic University of America. Vice-President, Science and Technology, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1994-98 (32 years with company). President and Chief Executive Officer, Coleman Research Corporation and Thermo Coleman Corporation, 1998-2001. Chair, Armel Development Corporation, Armel Scientifics, LLC, and Armel Capital Management, LP, 2001-03. Special Adviser to President for Enterprise Development, The Johns Hopkins University, 2007-13. Executive-in-Residence and Senior Advisor, Carey School of Business, The Johns Hopkins University, 2014. Interim Dean, Brown School of Business and Leadership, Stevenson University, 2014-. Founding Co-Chair, Greater Baltimore Technology Council, 1987-88. Chair, Maryland Manufacturing Association, 1988-91. Vice-President, Maryland Chamber of Commerce, 1988-92. National Advisory Council, Whiting School of Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 1996-. Board of Directors, Technology Council of Maryland, 2001-; Emerging Technology Centers, 2002-; Greater Baltimore Alliance, 2003-07. Board of Trustees, Baltimore Museum of Industry, 2008-; Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs. Chair, Tocqueville Society, United Way of Central Maryland, 2009-10. Chair, Board of Directors, Maryland Chapter, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award, Electronic Industries Association, 1997. Distinguished Alumnus Award, The Johns Hopkins University, 2001. Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service, The Johns Hopkins University, 2007. Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Ernst & Young, 2009. William Donald Schaefer Industrialist of the Year Award, Baltimore Museum of Industry, 2009. Extraordinary Technology Advocate Award, Greater Baltimore Technology Council, 2009. Outstanding Director Award, Baltimore Business Journal, 2014. Legacy in Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement, Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools, Inc., and Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities, 2014. Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year, Maryland Chapter, Association of Fundraising Professionals, 2014. Distinguished Grand Champion of Maryland Manufacturing, Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland, 2018. Icon Honors, Daily Record, 2019.

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