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 Together Lou and Nancy Grasmick have spent their entire adult lives helping a broad spectrum of those in need, from the youngest citizens in our community to people of all faiths, occupations, and walks of life.
After spending seven years as a professional baseball player, Lor Grasmick turned to the world of business, founding the Louis J. Grasmick Lumber Company, Inc. He has been a leader ever since, as a General Partner of Shugraham Development and Grantlou Associates, Director of Harbor Bank of Maryland and Past President of the Signal 13 Foundation. He also serves on the Board Chairman of the Johns Hopkins Hospital's Broccoli Center.
Perhaps what is most striking is the number and range of people who have turned to Lou Grasmick for assistance or saluted him for his work. Governor William Donald Schaefer, three Baltimore mayors, and Republicans and Democrats alike have called on him to serve. He has received honors from groups as diverse as B'nai-B'rith, the Youth for Christ Organization, and the Fraternal Order of Police, and he was Man of the Year to both the junior Association of Commerce and the Variety Club. Most recently the Children's Guild honored him with their Sadie Award for making the impossible possible.
To even list Nancy Grasmick's accomplishments is a challenge, let alone to summarize them. As Maryland's first female superintendent and the U.S.'s longest-serving appointed school chief, she has worked tirelessly to improve and maintain the state's superlative record in education.
Nancy Grasmick leades by example, having earned degrees from Towson University, Gallaudet University, and graduated with distinction with a Doctorate in Communicative Services from Johns Hopkins University. She began her career as a teacher of deaf children in Baltimore City, before climbing the academic and admninistrative ranks to become Associate Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, Special Secretary for Children Youth and Families, and finally State Superintendent of Schools for Maryland
Under her leadership, Maryland was recently named the number one State education system in the nation by Education Week, the preeminent national newspaper on education. In addition, Maryland received the number one ranking in Advanced Placement's report to the nation by College Board. Her assessmemt policies have shaped national practices and her ideas have been circulated in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the BBC.
Nancy Grasmick has also served on a number of boards and commissions, including the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. Meanwhile, her many honors include five honorary degrees and more than 30 awards in the past decade alone -- most recently the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, the Civitas International Leader Award, and the National PTA Lifetime Achievement Award.
The partnership of Lou and Nancy Grasmick is one of public and private involvement, wide-ranging social interests, and service that has touched nearly every family in Maryland. My Brother's Keeper is proud to salute these friends of the J.P. Blase Cooke Center's namesake for their continuing efforts in serving so many communities.
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