Community / May 16, 2018

24 Seniors Graduate from the Business Honors Program

24 Seniors Graduate from the Business Honors Program

Kristin LaRiviere, associate director in the undergraduate program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business writes about Smith seniors graduating from the Business Honors program.

On April 26, 2018, the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business celebrated 24 outstanding seniors graduating from the highly-selective Smith Business Honors program.

During the catered evening event, each senior was presented with a gold-colored stole to be worn at commencement. Seniors at the dinner were asked to provide advice to younger students in the program and to reflect on what they have learned during their program. Advice ranged from subscribing to—and more importantly reading—the Wall Street Journal daily to simply taking advantage of the many opportunities to regularly interact with faculty.

For many seniors, the most meaningful part of their experience was the community built through honors courses. “I have really enjoyed participating in the Business Honors program and constantly being surrounded by so many intelligent and driven peers who constantly inspired me,” reflected senior and Business Honors student co-chair Melissa Horovitz. Horovitz will graduate this week with dual degrees in finance and operations management & business analytics.

Ivy (Xueting) Xia added how the community in the honors program led to greater learning. “From learning and applying the case method in the capstone to gaining new perspectives from the talented peers in my cohort, being a part of this community allows me to constantly challenge myself with the support of my peers. I'm thankful for Business Honors and the community it brings.” Ivy, who was recently honored at the Undergraduate Awards Banquet in early May with the award for “The Outstanding Senior in Operations Management & Business Analytics (OMBA).” She earned dual degrees in marketing and OMBA with a minor in sustainability studies.

“Classes in the H-version were more writing-based, and featured more in-class deliberation among students and with professors,” said Kyle Brown, reflecting on the academic rigor of the program. “The capstone course, BMGT493H, really pushed my critical thinking skills and felt a lot like an MBA seminar; I didn't really have any other courses like that as an undergraduate.”

Fellow Business Honors co-chair Jacob Veitch added, “The honors capstone course with Dr. Charles Olson was without a doubt, the best and most challenging course I have had the privilege of taking during my time in the Smith School!" Veitch was also recently honored at the undergraduate banquet with the award for Outstanding Senior in International Business.

Charles E. Olson has been the faculty champion for the Business Honors program for most of its 25 years of existence. Olson was also honored at the undergraduate banquet with the Outstanding Faculty Member award. The recipient of this award is selected via nominations by Smith seniors.

Business Honors graduates are going on to jobs with top firms and innovative companies such as Deloitte Consulting, IBM, and 2U.

Congratulations to the class of 2018 Business Honors graduates!

Learn more about Smith's Business Honors program

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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

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