News

College Park, Md. - August 31, 2005 Lemma Senbet, holder of the William E. Mayer Chair in Finance at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, was recently granted an honorary Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa from the Addis Ababa University (AAU), the oldest higher educational institution in Ethiopia and Senbets alma mater.

The second annual Joseph M. Wikler Finance Case Competition was held on Friday, April 29, 2005, at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Six teams of four to five undergraduate students participated in this years competition, chosen from 2004-5 BMGT 440 class teams. This year's winners are Hallie Aaron, Megan Cantor, Emilie Hendershot, Alisa Michnik, and Jack Seng (pictured, left).

In keeping with its distinguished record of professional leadership, Smiths finance department will host the biennial Maryland Finance Symposium. Titled Governance, Markets, and Financial Policy, the conference is scheduled to run from Thursday, March 31, to Saturday, April 2, 2005, at the University of Maryland Inn and Conference Center.

Four Smith undergrads had some extra spending money this summer, compliments of the Joseph M. Wikler Finance Case Competition, held in April. Nathaniel Zola, Michelle Donnelly, Julianne Kortz, and Zach Barratt each received $1,000 in prize money by earning first place in the competition, which was organized by Smith's finance department.

On April 30, 2004, five select finance student teams participated in the first Joseph M. Wikler Finance Case Competition. The case program is sponsored by Joseph Wikler, who is a director of Oppenheimer Funds and a consultant for T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value Fund. He also serves as a director for a number of other private and non-profit organizations.

On Wednesday, April 28, the Smith School proudly welcomed Donald E. Powell, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), to deliver an address to its business students.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business welcomed 240 high school juniors and seniors and their teachers from eight Prince George's County Public Schools' Finance Academies for a half-day business, finance, and investment workshop, coined Finance Field Day on Friday, April 16.

Lemma Senbet, Holder of the William E. Mayer Chair in Finance at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, is among more than 30 members of the influential Financial Economists Roundtable (FER) signing on to a position paper addressing executive compensation issues.

What common thread is woven among government agencies, business entities, and Smith School finance students, linking them together? The finance faculty, whose connections affect global finance policy and practice, and enhance the education and career prospects of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.