Smith Celebrates its Class of 2026 at Undergraduate and Graduate Commencement Ceremonies

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business celebrated its newest graduates on May 19, 2026, at the XFINITY Center, honoring 2,082 undergraduate students, 475 business master’s students, 403 MBA students, 12 PhD students, and 38 EMBA students. Across two ceremonies, keynote speakers and student leaders highlighted resilience, purpose and the power of expectations.

Undergraduate Commencement Highlights

The undergraduate ceremony opened with the National Anthem performed by Dayanara Serrano, a graduate in international business and marketing, followed by a student address from Eileen Chen, who earned dual degrees in information systems and finance. Associate Dean Joseph Bailey presented the graduates, and Dean Prabhudev Konana delivered closing remarks.

Student Address: Eileen Chen

Chen reflected on a childhood spent in her family’s Japanese restaurant, where she learned that “nothing beautiful happens alone.” Constant moves shaped her, but the restaurant—and later Smith—gave her purpose. She compared the unseen teamwork behind a dining counter to the hidden effort behind students’ achievements: late nights, quiet setbacks, and steady encouragement. Like the tangerines her parents set out each Lunar New Year, she said good fortune isn’t luck but something “built patiently, through sacrifice.” Chen urged graduates to honor the work behind the scenes that brought them to this moment.

Keynote Address: Beatriz “Bea” Perez 

Beatriz “Bea” Perez ’91—Executive Vice President and Global Chief Communications, Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships Officer for The Coca-Cola Company and Chair of The Coca-Cola Foundation—delivered the keynote address. Perez, a marketing alumna whose Smith education shaped her data-driven leadership philosophy, has built a distinguished career spanning global communications, sustainability, strategic partnerships, and some of Coca-Cola’s most iconic marketing relationships, including with the IOC and FIFA.

Perez congratulated graduates who survived “morning classes that tested your discipline… and group projects that tested your patience,” reminding them that reaching commencement “is a team sport.” She dismantled the myth of a flawless career blueprint—“There is no perfect career plan”—and urged graduates to follow purpose rather than rigid expectations. She offered three reflections: embrace uncertainty (“When something both excites you and scares you, pay attention”), recognize that influence requires responsibility (“AI can analyze, optimize, recommend. It can’t care”), and anchor leadership in humanity. She closed by urging graduates to “command” the future with courage, character, and heart.

Graduate Commencement Highlights

Student Address: Ruth Ati

Online MBA student Okeoghene Oseyemere (Ruth Ati) reflected on the diverse paths that brought her classmates together, joking that many she knew only from “LinkedIn profile pictures and group chat usernames.” She shared how a consulting project with a small Pittsburgh pizza shop owner revealed the deeper purpose of their work—“reminding him that his future was still worth investing in.” Ati spoke of her journey from Lagos, Nigeria, shaped by parents who moved forward “with a kind of faith that doesn’t wait for certainty.” She urged graduates to embrace intentional hope—“the courage to move forward before you have all the answers”—and to remember that their value exists before any title or accomplishment.

Keynote Address: Göran Espelund

The graduate ceremony featured keynote speaker Göran Espelund, MBA ’87, a Fulbright Scholar whose decades of leadership helped shape the Swedish investment landscape. Espelund chose Maryland for its close-knit community and proximity to Washington, D.C.—a decision he has long described as “life-changing.” He credits Smith with strengthening his communication skills, shaping his professional trajectory, and introducing him to his wife, Cristina (Mencia) Espelund ’85, MBA ’88.

After a 12-year rise at Robur, Sweden’s largest mutual fund manager, Espelund and his partners founded Lannebo Fonder, an active equity fund management firm grounded in responsible investment. The company grew into the largest privately owned fund manager in the Nordic region before its 2024 sale to Öhman Asset Management. Today, Göran and Cristina lead their family office, investing across private and public markets while supporting philanthropic initiatives. Espelund remains deeply connected to Smith as a member of the Dean’s Board of Advisors.

In his address, Espelund opened with humor—“I am Swedish… so apologies up front for any abuses of the English language”—before turning to the graduates. He recounted his rapid ascent to CEO of Sweden’s largest investment firm at age 38 and the abrupt reversal that followed: “In one evening, I went from great job to no job… Change can be sudden.” What some would call failure, he said, became the catalyst for founding Lannebo. “Failure is not necessarily something bad… it may very well open up new possibilities. 

Go to the 2026 Commencement homepage to view the recordings of both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies and read the program for both ceremonies.