Christine
Stewart serves as the assistant dean for
administration at the Smith School.
Stewart is a CPA and has held a number of
positions in the Maryland Association of
CPAs, including president. She is also a
contributing author to two books:
Community Bank Guide to Asset/Liability
Management Policies (1991) and Strategic
Financial Management for Commercial Banks
(1993) and has been on the faculty of a
number of banking schools including the
Graduate School of Banking, and the
Maryland, Ohio, and Mississippi Schools of
Banking.
As assistant dean for administration Stewart oversees a variety of the Smith School’s daily operations such as finance, accounting, HR, and building operations. The diversity of functions is one of the things she likes most about her job. Her daily tasks change every five minutes. Even though Stewart is required to wear multiple hats her main responsibility is the financial aspect. She meets with Dean Howard Frank once a week, and they work on the school’s five-year rolling forecast - a document Stewart says she is changing throughout the day, everyday. She is continually recalibrating and reforecasting.
The position Stewart holds here at the Smith School is quite different from what she wanted to be when she was little. Her dream was to become the popcorn lady at the five and dime. Stewart loved popcorn as a kid and remembers being jealous of the woman that got to stand by the popcorn machine all day.
To balance out her work life Stewart likes to garden, ski, and read. Her favorite book is The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, however The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman has become a close second. She also likes to spend time with her family. Stewart is one of seven children, and every August, for the past 27 years, they all fly in from around the country and meet at the beach for a week; a tradition that is now being passed on to her children and grandchildren.
Stewart has two pieces of advice that she would like to pass on to Smith students. Her first piece of advice is to take a minute to learn a few lessons from people already in the work force, instead of diving right in after graduation. There is a lot to be learned from other people’s experience. Stewart’s second piece of advice it to always offer solutions. Never approach a person with a problem, unless you have solutions to propose as well.
Stewart earned her accounting degree from the University of Maryland and her graduate degree in finance from the University of Baltimore.
Story by Lettie Goodridge, MBA Candidate 2008, Smith Media Group