Smith Research
AI for Customer Journeys: A Transformer Approach
Smith School DBA Prepares Leaders for Tomorrow's Challenges
World Class Faculty & Research
Smith School Celebrates Third INFORMS Marketing Science Fellow P. K. Kannan
Alumni
July 23, 2025
For the Love of the Game
Amiel Sawdaye ’99 turned a childhood love of baseball into a World Series–winning career. Now SVP and assistant GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks, he credits Smith with sparking his passion for sports analytics.
July 01, 2025
Smith MBA Alumnus on Learning at Industry Speed
Marc Russo, MBA ’96, is CEO of Careforth, a company supporting family caregivers. He credits his Smith MBA with shaping his leadership path across top healthcare firms and says team-based learning at Smith prepared him for long-term success.
June 27, 2025
A Legacy of Love
Deborah ’68, MA ’75, and Daniel Ahalt ’73, inspired by their UMD experiences and modest upbringings, have given over $200,000 to support Smith students and athletes. Their lifelong Terp pride continues through philanthropy, mentorship and cherished university memories.
July 24, 2025
Launched in 2023, the Smith School’s part-time Doctor of Business Administration program equips working professionals to lead in a tech-driven world through cross-disciplinary research, specialized coursework, and faculty-guided, practice-focused learning.
July 17, 2025
P. K. Kannan, associate dean and marketing professor at the Smith School, was named a Fellow of the INFORMS Society for Marketing Science, honoring his decades of influential research, mentorship, and service in digital marketing, analytics, and marketing science.
MSIS Mentorship Program Uses AI to Strengthen Alumni-Student Connections
Smith MSIS students launched a mentorship program connecting 80 students with 20 alumni mentors. Powered by LighthouseAI, the initiative enhances career guidance, tracks progress, and fosters long-term professional relationships. Expansion to other cohorts and programs is planned.
Faculty Insights On Latest News
May 30, 2025
Summer Reading List 2025
Get ready for summer with the 22nd Annual Summer Reading List for Business Leaders—featuring Smith School faculty picks on investing, neuroscience, human connection, and more, including a novel inspired by a radio show turned TV series.
Management and Organization
April 24, 2025
“The Future is Not What it Used to Be”
Ambiguity arises when choices must be made despite unclear outcomes, says Professor J. Gerald Suarez. In today’s fast-paced world, discernment, flexibility, and embracing uncertainty—not rigid control—are key to navigating change, complexity, and an unpredictable future.
Marketing
October 04, 2024
Small Businesses Take Big Hit from Apple’s Privacy Regulation
Smith marketing professor Daniel McCarthy's research found that Apple's 2021 App Tracking Transparency (ATT) significantly impacted small direct-to-consumer businesses. ATT caused a 37% drop in ad click-through rates and up to a 60% revenue decline for smaller firms reliant on Facebook ads.
Zipei Lu and P.K. Kannan’s forthcoming Journal of Marketing Research study introduces a Transformer-based AI model that accurately predicts digital customer behavior and delivers personalized marketing insights across complex, multi-touchpoint journeys, outperforming traditional methods in both precision and ROI.
Logistics, Business and Public Policy
July 15, 2025
A Way to Minimize the Pension Problem
Public pensions face mounting pressure amid economic uncertainty and legal battles. The Smith School’s T. Leigh Anenson offers a legal framework for reform, advocating “contract minimalism” to balance state budget constraints with fair protections for employee retirement benefits.
Accounting and Information Assurance
Study Shows EPA’s Unintended Effect on Voluntary Climate Disclosures by Public Firms
Public firms disclose significantly less about environmental risks when under EPA scrutiny, new research by Mark Zakota shows. His study highlights how such oversight may undermine SEC climate-transparency efforts—unless firms improve governance or agencies better coordinate enforcement.