UMD Smith School Opens New Campus at Baltimore Peninsula

Baltimore Peninsula picked up a new anchor Tuesday as the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business opened a 12,480-square-foot campus on the third floor of Rye Street Market, the building’s first tenant and a new base for working professionals in South Baltimore.

The Smith School marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and community open house on April 7, 2026, bringing its Flex MBA program about 3.5 miles south from UMD BioPark. The move gives the school a more visible foothold in a waterfront district that has spent more than a decade trying to turn a former industrial stretch once known as Port Covington into a true business neighborhood.

Maryland officials said the campus is meant to deepen ties between students and Baltimore’s growing business community through partnerships, networking and proximity to major employers. The Flex MBA program at Baltimore Peninsula is one of three Smith locations, alongside Rockville at the Universities at Shady Grove and Washington, D.C., at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. It offers in-person, online and hybrid options, a structure aimed at people who are already working and need a degree path that fits around jobs and family schedules.

WBAL-TV 11 News reported that the campus will serve dozens of students each semester. That scale is modest compared with a traditional undergraduate campus, but it matters in a district where daily foot traffic helps determine whether restaurants, retail and public spaces feel active outside of office hours. By putting students inside Rye Street Market, the school also adds another reason for people to move through the Baltimore Peninsula waterfront rather than simply pass by it.

The opening drew a mix of education and business leaders, including Smith School dean Prabhudev Konana, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, UMD Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice and then-Secretary of Higher Education Sanjay Rai. Plank, a Smith alumnus, underscored how closely the campus is tied to Baltimore’s corporate network, especially as Under Armour continues to build out its nearby presence at Baltimore Peninsula.

For Baltimore, the campus is more than a polished new address. It is another sign that the 235-acre redevelopment south of Interstate 95 is filling in with institutions that can bring regular activity, executive education and business connections. With the Smith School now in place, Rye Street Market is no longer just a building in the plan. It is part of the neighborhood’s economic infrastructure.