---
title: A Foundational Part of UMD’s Top-ranked Undergraduate Education Produces Business Success
date: 2026-10-02T10:52:00-04:00
author: Geoff Coyle
canonical_url: "https://forward.umd.edu/news/a-foundational-part-of-umds-top-ranked-undergraduate-education-produces-business-success"
section: News
---
# A Foundational Part of UMD’s Top-ranked Undergraduate Education Produces Business Success

*October 2, 2026* — by Geoff Coyle
> The Hinman CEOs Program has created a community around are a shared interest in entrepreneurship. Its alumni have founded or co-founded more than 100 companies.

*Lead image: A photo of Brian Hinman — Brian Hinman*

Zachary Bookman ’02 started his first entrepreneurial venture at age eight—a lawnmowing business in his neighborhood—and just kept going from there.

“I was the kid who would sell candy or bubble gum in sixth grade to other kids,” Bookman said. “I loved the commercial hustle.”

As an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, he followed his entrepreneurial passion into the Hinman CEOs Program, the nation’s first living-learning entrepreneurship program. The government and politics major’s interest in business grew as he listened to speakers the program sponsored, one of whom built a company in Northern Virginia and sold it for $80 million. “I was hanging on his words,” said Bookman.


*A photo of Zac Bookman — Zac Bookman*


# Hinman CEOs Program alumni share thoughts about the program and how it led to their success:


*A photo of Devi Mahadevia*


*Photo of Brija Johnson*