Fall 2025
We are so excited to share the Smith School’s incredible research and the huge impact it has. In just the past three years, our faculty have produced nearly 500 accepted or published journal articles, nearly half of which were in premier academic journals or top practitioner journals like Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review.
An impressive 21 Smith professors were identified among the top 2% most-cited scholars and scientists worldwide. Not only do these researchers have great influence in the academic world, they also have enormous impact in practice.
For example, management professor Evan Starr’s extensive research on noncompete clauses formed the basis of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission push to ban the practice in labor contracts.
Finance professor Michael Faulkender recently returned to Smith after serving in the No. 2 position in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he had great influence over the country’s economic policies.
Professors Balaji Padmanabhan and Siva Viswanathan, along with a PhD student, have used their research on deepfake technology to develop a patent-pending method to root out bias in AI-generated facial images.
Smith faculty have also been working closely with Maryland officials to assess federal spending in the state, analyze earned wage access regulations, and explore artificial intelligence.
Our faculty are being recognized for their amazing work with numerous awards and top positions in some of the biggest industry organizations. Wedad Elmaghraby was elected president of INFORMS, Rebecca Ratner heads the Association of Consumer Research, and Rajshree Agarwal was recognized by the Academy of Management for mentoring students.
Those are just a few recent examples. We’re sharing more of our faculty's tremendous impact in this newsletter. I’m inspired by these academics and honored to work with them.
Smith will launch the H. Kent Baker Center for Behavioral Finance with a generous gift from scholar H. Kent Baker, MBA ’69, DBA ’72, M.Ed. ’74. His gift will also create the Baker Endowed Chair in Behavioral Finance and provide additional faculty support. READ MORE
Former Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender Shares Economic Policy Views
Former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Michael Faulkender — the William E. Longbrake Professor of Finance who served in the No. 2 post at Treasury until earlier this year — candidly discussed economic policy at the first event in the Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series. READ MORE
Conference to Honor 40 Years of Pete Kyle’s Impact
In March 2026, Smith’s Center for Financial Policy will host a conference to honor Albert “Pete” Kyle, Distinguished University Professor and Charles E. Smith Chair in Finance, and the 40-year impact of his groundbreaking research on market structure. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
Students Assess How Federal Spending Impacts State of Maryland
A joint report from Maryland’s Comptroller and Smith School researchers reveals $150 billion in recent federal spending in the state. Students, guided by professors Liu Yang, Vojislav Maksimovic and Kislaya Prasad, gained valuable experience in data analysis and government collaboration. READ MORE
More than 37,000 learners worldwide have enrolled in Smith’s free online certificate course, Artificial Intelligence and Career Empowerment. Launched in May 2025, the course was designed for federal workers but open to all. Balaji Padmanabhan, director of Smith’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Business, initiated the course of 10 self-paced modules taught by top Smith faculty. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
Patent-pending Method Uses Deepfakes to Eliminate Bias
Siva Viswanathan, Balaji Padmanabhan and PhD student Yizhi Liu harnessed deepfake technology to develop a patent-pending method to detect and mitigate bias in decision-making. Their study, “Deception to Perception: The Surprising Benefits of Deepfakes for Detecting, Measuring, and Mitigating Bias ," shows how AI-generated facial images can improve fairness in hiring, healthcare and criminal justice. READ MORE
Elmaghraby Elected INFORMS President; Raghavan Named Fellow
INFORMS, the top international association for operations research, analytics and AI professionals, elected Wedad Elmaghraby, Dean's Chair of Operations Management and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty, as president-elect. S. Raghu Raghavan, Dean's Professor of Management Science and Operations Management, was named one of 12 new 2025 INFORMS fellows. READ MORE
Undergrads Gain Edge in Data-Driven Decision Making
Professors Dave Waguespack and Evan Starr developed “Making Better Business Decisions with Data,” a course teaching undergraduates causal inference and AI-aided data analysis for strategic decision-making. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
Harnessing Large Language Models in Health Data
Associate Professor Margrét Bjarnadóttir explores how recent advances in large language models present new opportunities for progress, as well as new risks, in synthetic health data generation. The paper, "Large Language Models and Synthetic Health Data: Progress and Prospects," was published in JAMIA Open. READ MORE
Rebecca Ratner, the Dean's Professor of Marketing, began her duties as the president of the Association of Consumer Research. She spoke about the loneliness epidemic, her research, and how marketers can help at the group’s annual conference in August. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
3 Keys to Big Tech’s Success that Your Company Can Implement Now
Bobby Zhou’s research highlights three strategies any company can use to grow like tech giants: open to third parties, connect customers, and reach customers’ customers. “ Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation ,” was published in NIM Marketing Intelligence Review. READ MORE
Using AI to Understand Competition and Predict Customer Behavior
P.K. Kannan and PhD candidate Zipei Lu have produced an AI-based model that they say predicts digital customer behavior and delivers personalized marketing insights, outperforming traditional methods. “ Identifying Competitors in Geographical Markets Using the CSIS Method ” is published in the Journal of Marketing Research. READ MORE
Want a Review You Can Trust? Ask Someone Who Did It Alone.
People trust reviews of leisure activities more when they come from someone who did the activity alone, according to Rebecca Ratner. Her research shows solo consumers are seen as more focused and credible, influencing recommendations significantly. “ The Influential Solo Consumer: When Engaging in Activities Alone (vs. Accompanied) Increases the Impact of Recommendations ” is published in the Journal of Marketing Research. READ MORE
Smith Management and Organization faculty and PhD students made an impressive showing at the 85th Academy of Management Annual Meeting. In total, 26 Smith scholars were involved in 22 research presentations, and three professors received awards at the premier international conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in July. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
Supportive Co-Workers Make it Harder to Bounce Back from Your Mistakes at Work
Jennifer Carson Marr, Edward Lemay and Hyunsun Park find workplace support after status loss can worsen outcomes. Instead of helping, supportive groups may create ambivalence, reducing engagement. “Conflicted About Coworkers: How Coworker Support Influences Engagement After Status Loss” is published in Personnel Psychology. READ MORE
Space at Smith, a new initiative to develop undergraduate and graduate programs focused on the commercial space industry, launched with the inaugural Space Economy Symposium event. READ MORE
Faculty-founded Logistics Company Acquired by FedEx
RouteSmart Technologies, founded by Smith professors 45 years ago, was acquired by FedEx. Bruce Golden, emeritus professor Michael Ball and two other former professors started the company, which helps newspapers, postal and parcel delivery, public works, utilities and waste collectors optimize vehicle routes. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
Logistics Service Provider Tech Report
Smith's Supply Chain Management Center will release a new annual report on logistics service providers’ (LSPs) spending on technology. It’s the first report to detail IT spending practices among these companies, which typically provide third-party transportation, warehousing or distribution services. READ MORE
Samuel Handwerger built a Justice for Fraud Victims Project affiliate at UMD. Just a year into the program’s existence, Handwerger’s students helped crack a murder case. READ MORE
RECENT RESEARCH
Having an Egomaniac CFO Brings a Company Higher Valuations
The more narcissistic a company's CFO, the higher the analysts’ valuations of the firm, finds new research from Nick Seybert. He looks at conference calls with analysts and finds that narcissistic CFOs talk more, use euphemisms, and push back against — even threaten — pessimistic analysts. “CFO Narcissism and the Power of Persuasion Over Analysts: A Mixed-Methods Approach” is published in the Review of Accounting Studies. READ MORE
Rajshree Agarwal: Outstanding Educator Award, Strategy Division of the Academy of Management (2025) for her mentorship of Smith PhDs. She’s been dissertation chair or co-chair to more than 20 students and a committee member for numerous others.
Wedad Elmaghraby: President-elect of INFORMS, beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
P.K. Kannan: AMA TechSIG Lifetime Achievement Award for his influential work in digital marketing, online product reviews, and machine learning applications that have shaped the field.
S. Raghu Raghavan: Named 2025 INFORMS Fellow.
Roland Rust: International Society for Service Innovation Professionals (ISSIP) 2025 fellow for “his significant leadership role in establishing the ‘big tent’ field of service.”
Lemma Senbet: African Economic Research Consortium’s Distinguished Service Award for his longstanding contributions to economic research, policy, and capacity building across Africa. He was also appointed to the Bretton Woods Committee.
2025 RESEARCH AWARDS
Sean Cao: Fama-DFA Prize for the best paper published in Journal of Financial Economics in the areas of capital markets and asset pricing, “From Man vs. Machine to Man + Machine: The Art and AI of Stock Analysis."
Hui Liao: Best Paper Award, Management Education and Development Division of the Academy of Management, for "Breaking ceilings: Debate training promotes leadership emergence by increasing assertiveness ," published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Alyssa Tedder-King: Saroj Parasuraman Outstanding Publication Award from the DEI Division of the Academy of Management, for paper " Faiirness Judgements in the Context of Structural Sexism: Individual and Structural Causes of Success,” published in the Academy of Management Journal.
Jie Zhang and PhD alum Min Kim: AMA’s Don Lehmann Award for for best dissertation-based article recently published in the Journal of Marketing Research, titled " Discovering Online Shopping Preference Structures in Large and Frequently Changing Store Assortments."
Wendy Moe: Sheth foundation Journal of Marketing Award, honoring her co-authored article “Uniting the Tribes: Using Text for Marketing Insight,” for its lasting impact on marketing theory and practice.
Kanat Isakov, PhD candidate: CIBE International Research Award for his study on how external economic shocks affect wage setting and inequality in developing countries.
RESEARCH EXCELLENCE
P.K. Kannan: Sixth most productive research author in the world in premier marketing journals (JM, JMR. JCR. and MKS), AMA DocSiG.
Rajshree Agarwaland Hui Liao: Top 100 Most Prolific Business and Economics Scientists in Top 50 Journals in the World.
Roland Rust: Top 100 Best Scientists in Business and Management, research.com.
21 Smith School professors named among Top 2% Most Cited Scholars Worldwide, Elsevier.
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS
Dive deeper into research and innovations from each of Smith's six academic departments in these newsletters:
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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.