Maryland Business Roundtable for Education taps retired Army general as new head

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Jaclyn Borowski

Retired Brigadier General Dean Ertwine says his interest in STEM education led him to seek the top job at the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education.

Joanna Sullivan

Editor-in-Chief- Baltimore Business Journal

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A retired Army general who taught at West Point will take the helm of the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, replacing longtime Executive Director June E. Streckfus.

Retired Brigadier General Dean Ertwine officially takes over Jan. 1. The nonprofit organization works with the state's schools to better prepare students for a world where STEM disciplines (science, engineering, technology and math) are needed to succeed.

MBRT selected Ertwine after a nationwide search for Streckfus' successor. Streckfus announced her retirement in May. Ertwine will be introduced Friday at MBRT's annual meeting at the National Electronics Museum in Linthicum.

Ertwine said he applied for the job because he cares about STEM education and its importance in creating a strong workforce in Maryland. He was most recently an executive with Battelle, a nonprofit technology research and development organization based in Harford County.

"It was an opportunity to make quite a dramatic career shift for me," he said in an interview Wednesday.

He sees his next mission as continuing the work MBRT has done under Streckfus for the past 23 years — and increasing its reach among businesses and schools.

"As the voice of business in education, it's hard for me to imagine a Maryland business supporting a cause any more worthwhile," he said.

MBRT's goal is to align academia and business through an emphasis on STEM education. The group is focusing on the tougher standards demanded of the nation's schools through the controversial Common Core curriculum.

Ertwine said he is very much focused on assessment and accountability and wants to measure how well MBRT's efforts lead to improvements in STEM education.

Joanna Sullivan oversees the Baltimore Business Journal editorial staff.