The Baltimore Business Journal has named Dr. Jay Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, as its 2024 CEO of the Year — an honor recognizing his expansive career and significant impact on the region’s higher education and health care industries. Perman is joined by an elite group of business leaders — the BBJ’s Power 10 — the Greater Baltimore business community’s most powerful and effective leaders.

Retired tennis great Roger Federer’s recent commencement speech at Dartmouth College went viral, and it’s easy to see why. The speech was a masterclass in effective communication, blending authenticity with approachability. As Baltimore faces its own challenges, Federer’s words offer valuable lessons for the city’s youth, showing them how to strive for excellence, remain resilient and think beyond their immediate surroundings.

Constellation Energy, the Baltimore-based owner of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland, says it’s in talks with large technology companies that want to build data centers next to the facility and bypass the electric transmission grid. Advocates for building data centers in the state believe they will be a boon for the state economy, but Constellation’s plans put it at odds with its former corporate sibling Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., whose parent Exelon Corp. spun off the energy producing company in 2022.

Mayor Brandon Scott fired Baltimore’s health commissioner Monday, seven months into her tenure, his office announced in a brief evening statement offering no additional information about the circumstances. Dr. Ihuoma Emenuga was sworn in as the commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department in March and was serving in an interim capacity since Scott nominated her for the role in December.

The group seeking to block a nearly $1 billion plan to redevelop Harborplace and Baltimore’s waterfront failed to meet a Monday deadline to qualify their initiative for November’s ballot. Led by attorney and four-time candidate for citywide office Thiru Vignarajah, the petition drive got a late start in June and fell short of the 10,000 signatures it needed to qualify for the November ballot, according to Abigail Goldman, deputy director for the Baltimore City Board of Elections.

Amtrak gained control of D.C.’s Union Station on Monday, and the national passenger railroad company said that it’s launching a program aiming to “revitalize and improve the operations” of the terminal. This comes after a yearslong lawsuit wherein Amtrak argued in court that eminent domain privileges dictate it should be granted full control of the station.

The entire health care ecosystem, and most importantly the communities we serve, have just been uplifted by the transformational generosity of Michael Bloomberg. His recently announced $1 billion gift to the Johns Hopkins University is obviously an incredible act of philanthropy. The beneficiaries of this generational gift are not only the students who will be able to pursue their medical education without the economic burden often associated with it, but also patients, families and communities across Baltimore, the state of Maryland and indeed, the nation.

In the 30 years she has been working with people with disabilities, Ande Kolp has seen tremendous gains in the treatment and acceptance of them. And some not so tremendous gains as well. “I’ve definitely seen how things have changed over the years,” said Kolp, who is now the executive director of the Arc Maryland. “Sometimes progress seems like it’s going really great and then things will happen in the environment and derail progress.”

Ten years ago, as a college graduate looking for a place to live, I chose Columbia. Not for the car-dominated suburbs, the fantastic school system or the amenities provided by the Columbia Association. I chose to live here because it was one of the few walkable and inclusive places in Maryland. The Lakefront Library, announced over a year ago, added to my excitement.

It had been nearly eight years since I visited southeastern Baltimore County to see what was happening at Sparrows Point, the site where Bethlehem Steel had been producing steel products and engaged in shipbuilding for the better part of a century. When I visited in 2016, steelmaking had already ended four years earlier. Shipbuilding had stopped much sooner.