Meet the Staff

Lisa Barnard, Director 

Lisa Barnard is Director of the Office of Global Programs in the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. She built the Smith short-term abroad programs from two a year to now an average of 20 undergraduate and graduate programs a year. She also oversees the incoming and incoming business exchange student program (graduate and undergraduate) as well as hosting groups from Korea, Australia, Israel and China. The Smith School of Business now represents the largest population of UMD students abroad.

Ms. Barnard is an alumna of the Smith School, achieving her MBA/MS degree in International Business and Human Capital Management in 2000. She lived abroad for one year when she participated in the IIE/USAID program Emerging Market Development Advisors in 1998/99, placed with the Grenada Chamber of Commerce along with nine other advisors in the Eastern Caribbean; the project goal was to bolster good business practices and strengthen microcredit institutions. She authored a case study on the experience, published in 2000.

Lisa grew up in Alabama and received her B.A. in English, from Emory University in Atlanta. She then lived in the San Francisco Bay Area of California for five years before moving to the Baltimore/Washington area in 1996. Lisa has travelled to Mexico, Argentina, all over the Caribbean, Canada, England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Greece, Ghana, South Africa, Tahiti, India and China.

She lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband, three kids, a dog and various other creatures.

Phone: 301-405-9575; Email: LBarnard@rhsmith.umd.edu

Claudia Donnelly, Assistant Director

Claudia Donnelly is the Assistant Director for the Office of Global Programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, coordinating the graduate and undergraduate short term study abroad programs and the special study tours for visiting foreign universities. In addition, Ms. Donnelly is the Assistant Director of the Business, Society & the Economy (BSE) program of College Park Scholars, a special living-learning by-invitation only program for UMD freshman and sophomores. Claudia helped BSE add an international component to its curriculum in 2009 with a short term study course to the United Arab Emirates, and since then has helped organize and has accompanied students in the BSE program to Singapore and Malaysia and Australia.

Claudia received her Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Ohio University and her undergraduate degree in Communication from Rutgers University. She is a first generation American and recognizes the unique opportunities and responsibilities that go along with this. She grew up on Long Island, New York, enjoys living in Maryland with her husband and family, but still misses being just minutes from the beach.

Phone: 301-405-0200; Email: CDonnelly@rhsmith.umd.edu

Christopher Olson, Program Coordinator

Chris coordinates the semester programs (undergraduate and graduate) for the Office of Global Programs. He serves as the main point of contact for both outgoing and incoming exchange students participating on the Smith School of Business exchange programs.

Chris' international experiences began with a semester program in Paris as an undergraduate at the George Washington University. After graduation, he returned to France as an English teaching assistant working in a middle and high school in Tours – about two hours southwest of Paris. While in France, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and developed a taste for extravagant pastries and Wiener Schnitzel. He’s traveled extensively throughout France and also to Italy, England, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Austria, Mexico, and of course, Canada.

While at GW, Chris studied international affairs at the Elliott School. Combined with his experiences abroad, he is excited to be able to help American and international students have similarly impactful opportunities.

Originally from the Boston area, Chris has lived in DC since 2004.

Phone: 301-405-4824; Email: CLOlson@rhsmith.umd.edu