The building which we have erected here to house the activities
of the University of Maryland School of Law marks another significant
advancement in the progress our State has been making in the im-
provement of its educational system.

I told the General Assembly, when it convened in Annapolis last
January, that when its history, and the history of this administration,
is written, "I should not be surprised if the advancement we have
made in... education is not set down as our greatest single achieve-
ment. " I can think of no accomplishment I would cherish more. I
therefore am greatly pleased to see still another example of edu-
cational progress such as we have here in this splendid new law
building.

May I say that the State of Maryland is pleased and highly honored
to have as guest and principal speaker at these dedicatory exercises
the Chief Justice of the United States. Mr. Chief Justice, we are
delighted that you are able to be with us for the ceremony.

On an occasion such as this, I think it is appropriate that we pause
to reflect upon this institution — this school of law of the University
of Maryland — and influence it has had on the people it has served.
Certainly it would be difficult to point to an institution of comparable
size that has influenced government and society more than has this
law school since classes began here nearly a century and a half ago.
Wherever one goes in this State, in government, legal, or business
circles, he encounters those who have had their training at the Uni-
versity of Maryland School of Law. Of the three state-wide elected
officials of Maryland — the Governor, the Comptroller of the Treasury,
and the Attorney General — only one — myself — is not a graduate
of this law school. And, of course, I am not a lawyer. Both of our
United States Senators are graduates of the school. The President
of the State Senate and the Chairman of the Judicial Proceedings
Committee of that body have diplomas from the school, as do nine
of the 12 lawyer-Senators. The Speaker of the House of Delegates is
a graduate, as is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,
and 20 of the 43 lawyer members of the House of Delegates. The
Mayor of the City of Baltimore and the President of the City Council
both received their legal training at this school. Presiding over our
courts, from the highest on down, are a preponderance of University
of Maryland School of Law graduates. In all three branches of our
state government, then — the executive, legislative, and judicial
branches — men who studied law at this school are in dominant
positions. There is also a heavy sprinkling of alumni of the school

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