Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series
The Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series offers the Smith community an opportunity to engage with influential leaders from business, government and academia. Each event features candid conversations and expert perspectives on the ideas, challenges and innovations shaping today’s world.
Upcoming Events
Bill Fishlinger ’71
CEO and Chairman
Gramercy Risk Holdings
March 11, 2026
William J. Fishlinger is the founder and former CEO and chairman of The Wright Insurance Group and its subsidiary companies and a leading entrepreneur in the insurance industry who built WRM and guided it through its 2014 consolidation with Brown & Brown, one of the industry’s largest transactions that year. He helped transform public sector risk financing with the creation of the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal in 1989 and the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal in 1992, both now the predominant underwriters of public sector risk in New York state. In 2008, he partnered with Aquiline Capital Partners to form WRM America and capitalize WRM America Indemnity Co., later expanding into federal flood insurance with the 2010 acquisition and rebranding of Wright Flood. In 2014, he founded Gramercy Risk Holdings LLC, where he serves as chairman and CEO. Fishlinger also leads Congdon, Flaherty, O’Callaghan, Fishlinger & Pavlides, a New York-based law firm focused on insurance and complex civil litigation. A graduate of the University of Maryland and St. John’s University School of Law, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and a member of the New York state and federal bars, he serves on the boards of the University of Maryland Foundation and the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation and has received numerous honors, including the Insurance Federation of New York’s Free Enterprise Award.
Mark Ciardi ’83
Co-Founder, CEO and President
Select Films
April 9, 2026
Mark is one of Hollywood’s most prolific true-story producers, having spent 12 years under a first-look deal with Walt Disney Studios, where he produced films including The Rookie, Miracle, Invincible, The Game Plan, Secretariat, Million Dollar Arm and McFarland, USA. He later founded Select Films, producing Miracle Season, Disney’s Safety, Lionsgate’s American Underdog, the recently released A Million Miles Away for Amazon Prime starring Michael Peña, and the upcoming film The Senior. In unscripted content, he has produced Netflix’s Miracle: The Boys of ’80, the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Big Shot, 42 to 1, and Peacock’s 72: A Gathering of Champions.
A University of Maryland graduate with a B.S. in business, Mark was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1983 and reached the major leagues in 1987; he is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the University of Maryland Board of Trustees.
Past Events
Dan Ives
Managing Partner and Senior Equity Research Analyst
Wedbush Securities
November 11, 2025
Daniel (Dan) Ives is managing director and senior equity research analyst covering the technology sector at Wedbush Securities, where he has worked since 2018. He also serves as the firm’s global head of technology research. Ives has been a Wall Street tech analyst for more than two decades, beginning his career as a financial analyst at HBO before earning his MBA in finance from the University of Maryland. He later became a managing director at FBR Capital Markets, where he spent 16 years focused on enterprise software and hardware, including cybersecurity, cloud computing, big data and the mobile industry. His current research includes electric vehicles and disruptive technologies expected to shape the next decade. Ives is a frequent commentator on the technology sector, speaking at events worldwide and appearing on networks including CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Fox News, BBC and Sky News. His insights have been cited in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Penn State University and an MBA from the University of Maryland.
Michael Faulkender
William E. Longbrake Professor of Finance
Former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
September 24, 2025
Michael Faulkender, the William E. Longbrake Professor of Finance at Maryland Smith, joined the University of Maryland in 2008 and served as associate dean of master’s programs in 2017-2018. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 26, 2025, as the 16th deputy secretary of the Treasury, he was later appointed acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service on April 21, 2025. He previously served as assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department from 2019, where he advised the secretary on domestic and international economic issues, helped negotiate the CARES Act and led the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recognition of his service, he received the Alexander Hamilton Award for Distinguished Leadership, the department’s highest honor. His research, which explores the intersection of financial economics and public policy—including corporate capital structure, risk management, liquidity, executive compensation and the job impacts of the PPP—has been published in leading academic journals, won numerous best paper awards and been cited in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times.