News

Eight distinguished Smith School alumni shared diverse finance career paths with students during an April 4 panel and breakout sessions. The event offered real-world insights into finance roles, emphasizing flexibility, collaboration, and skills needed for long-term success.

Merging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a critical step before privatization, argues Clifford Rossi, to reduce systemic risk, eliminate duplicative costs, and simplify the mortgage system—setting the stage for a safer, more efficient housing finance market transition.

The University of Maryland’s new Financial Wellness Center empowers students with financial literacy through peer mentoring, classes, and events. Led by the Smith School, it centralizes resources on budgeting, investing, and financial planning, preparing students for real-world financial decisions with confidence.

Clifford Rossi, Academic Director of the Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium, warns that pharma tariffs could disrupt supply chains, raise costs, and pressure manufacturers, especially generics. Adopting continuous manufacturing (CM) offers efficiency gains, balancing risk mitigation with strategic investment.

The Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium (SERC) at UMD’s Smith School released Q2 2024 results for its Mortgage Credit Risk Index (MCRI) and Mortgage Redtail Risk Index (MRRI). SERC Director Clifford Rossi noted that credit risk remains stable despite a slight year-over-year rise.

Lemma W. Senbet, Dean’s Chaired Professor at the Smith School, has joined the Bretton Woods Committee, a leading advocate for global economic cooperation. A renowned finance scholar, Senbet was also inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of International Business in 2022.

Risk expert Clifford Rossi testified before Maryland lawmakers on January 21, 2025, warning that extreme climate events, like the recent LA fires, are overwhelming insurance companies. He proposed creating a federally chartered National Hazard Insurance Corporation (NHIC) to address the crisis.

Risk events often deemed "unprecedented" are typically extreme iterations of past occurrences, argues Clifford Rossi, Professor of the Practice and Director of the Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium. Comparing these to “Killer Bees,” he emphasizes proactive risk management, urging organizations to anticipate and mitigate low-probability, high-severity scenarios with robust strategies and resources.

Poor risk management practices eventually come back to haunt those organizations that fail to take a broad and proactive view at managing risk.

Michael Faulkender, Dean’s Professor of Finance at the Smith School, has been nominated as U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. A former Treasury economist, he played a pivotal role in shaping COVID-19 relief efforts and is a leading voice in financial policy research. His nomination awaits Senate confirmation.