Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. was born November 25th, 1957, the only son of Robert L. Ehrlich, Sr., a car salesman, and Nancy Ehrlich, a legal secretary. He spent his childhood in the Baltimore City suburb Arbutus and attended the Gilman School, then studied at Princeton from 1975 to 1979, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Ehrlich remained a committed athlete throughout his schooling, becoming captain of his football team in high school and co-captain in college. After graduating he earned a law degree from Wake Forest University Law School in 1982 and went on to work as an attorney at the Baltimore law firm Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver from 1983 to 1994. In 1993 he married Kendel Sibiski, an assistant public defender, and they have two sons, Drew and Joshua.

In 1987, Ehrlich was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served until 1995 as a representative for District 10 (Baltimore County). During this time he was a part of the House Judiciary Committee, the Tort and Insurance Reform Committee, the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethics, the Governor’s Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the Juvenile Justice Council.

In 1994, Ehrlich was elected to the United States House of Representatives as the representative of Maryland’s 2nd district, which comprises Harford County as well as parts of Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. As a congressman he worked to aid blind and disabled workers and advocated stricter penalties for gun violence. He was a member of the House Majority Whip Team and the Subcommittee on Postal Services. In his work for the latter, he helped to issue various commemorative stamps in tribute to prominent events and organizations.

Ehrlich was elected as the 60th governor of Maryland in 2002, with Michael S. Steele as his lieutenant governor, becoming the state’s first Republican governor since 1966. During his term as governor he focused heavily on youth and education, increasing funding for public schools and investments in need-based scholarships at Maryland colleges as well as enacting a new law to create 15 charter schools, and was a prominent advocate for small businesses in Maryland. He continued in his work with disabled individuals, establishing a state Department of Disabilities, and received the Highest Recognition Award from the US Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2005. He also drafted the Bay Restoration Act to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. As governor, Ehrlich concentrated on homeland security and public safety, and maintained strong ties to the Maryland National Guard, Fraternal Order of Police, and other first responders. In 2007, following the end of his term as governor, Ehrlich led the Baltimore office of law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice until 2011, when he left to become the Maryland Chair of the Mitt Romney Presidential Campaign.

Ehrlich donated a collection of documents and mementos reflecting his time in Congress to the Towson University Archives in 2003, and has since continued to make further donations to the collection. He has also visited and spoken to the students of Towson on several occasions, often as a guest speaker for the communications classes of Dr. Richard Vatz.

Member of:

o Maryland House of Delegates 1987-1994

• Governor’s Council of Child Abuse and Neglect, 1987-94

• Judiciary Committee, 1987-95

• Maryland Juvenile Justice Advisory Council, 1990-93

• Task Force on the Charles J. Hickey, Jr. School, 1991

• Tort and Insurance Reform Oversight Committee, 1991-93

• Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, 1991-95

• Governor’s Advisory Board for Justice Administration, 1994

o United States House of Representatives 1995-2002

• Banking and Financial Services Committee, 1995-96, 1997-98

• Government Reform and Oversight Committee, 1995-96

• Congressional Steel Caucus, 1995-2003

• Budget Committee, 1997-98

• Deputy Majority Whip, 1997-2003

• National Security Work Group, 1997-99

• Speaker’s Special Advisory Committee on Corrections, 1997-99

• Commerce Committee, 1999-2001

• Congressional Biotechnology Caucus, 1999-2003 (Co-Chair)

o Governor 2003-2007

• Board of Public Works, 2003-07 (Chair)

• Governor’s Executive Council, 2003-07 (Chair)

• Board of Trustees, Maryland Environmental Trust, 2003-07

• State Commission on the Capital City, 2003-07

• Rural Maryland Council, 2003-07

• Maryland Veterans Home Commission, 2003-07

• Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, 2003-07

• Appalachian Regional Commission, 2003-07

• Education Commission of the States, 2003-07

• Interstate Mining Commission, 2003-07

• Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, 2003-07

• Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, 2003-07

• Southern States Energy Board, 2003-07

• Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 2003-07

• Southern Regional Educational Board, 2003-07

• National Infrastructure Advisory Council, 2003-07

• Chesapeake Executive Council, 2003-07 (Chair 2005-07)