Entrepreneur Sees Himself
in Students

By Lisa Gregory

After attending a dinner honoring UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars, alumnus Robert Baruch, computer science ’89, came away awestruck by what he saw. "There was a procession of one talented young person after another," he says. "I knew then that I wanted to be a part of this."

Supporting UMBC is almost second nature to Baruch, the founder and president of RABA Technologies, a technology consulting firm based in Columbia, Md. He is a member of the President’s Board of Visitors. His company has sponsored both UMBC’s Life Sciences Symposium and the Visionaries in Information Technology speakers’ series. This past spring, he also taught a course on entrepreneurship for the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship at UMBC. For his continuing dedication and commitment to his alma mater, the UMBC Alumni Association honored Baruch as UMBC’s 2003 Volunteer of the Year.

Baruch has become especially involved with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. He and his wife, Kathy, established a scholarship in their name, and he has mentored two Meyerhoff Scholars. "These two young men have schedules that run faster than mine," he says with a chuckle. "I help them out where I can."

No doubt Baruch sees something of himself in these ambitious young students. He too was on the fast track from a very young age. After receiving his first personal computer while in middle school, he immediately began writing his own programs. By the time he was in high school, Baruch was writing software programs for a technology company. So, as he considered college, he was looking for a school that would offer him creative freedom to pursue his subject of interest. He found it at UMBC.

"I visited several schools," says Baruch. None seemed to be what he wanted. Then he met with the chair of the computer science and math department at UMBC. "He really listened to me," says Baruch. "Then, he whipped out three yellow cards with permission to get into this and this and that advanced class. He had this attitude of, alright kid, if you think you can do it, go do it."
Baruch did. "This school let me step up to knowledge," he says.

While still in school, Baruch applied for what he thought was a part-time job. However, when he was hired, he was informed that the job was "eight to five, and that I would be the director of systems technology for the school of neurology and neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins," he recalls. Despite the increased responsibilities and time commitment, Baruch went on to receive a degree in computer science in 1989. Not long after, he became an independent consultant, but soon became restless. "I wanted to take on larger projects and more responsibility," he says.

He found his solution in forming RABA Technologies with a colleague in 1993. During its first five years, RABA experienced a phenomenal growth rate—2,054 percent. The company has been listed by Deloitte & Touche as one of the fastest-growing IT firms in the nation and by Washington Technology as one of the 50 fastest-growing IT firms in the Washington area. Baruch was also an Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.

Baruch sold his company to a conglomerate in 2000, but bought it back this past summer. "I was seeing an erosion of what I had built," he says. Today, RABA Technologies continues to thrive under his direction and leadership.

As such, he brings much to his role as volunteer, mentor and teacher at UMBC. He delighted in having business professionals visit his entrepreneurship class this past semester. His colleagues, he notes, were met with an eager audience. "These UMBC students have a passion to lead and better understand entrepreneurship," Baruch says. "These are incredibly smart and ambitious kids."

Not unlike himself not so long ago.