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Alumni

From PepsiCo to Ocean Spray: How Alumna Utilized Smith MBA to Pivot to Consumer Products

Monisha Dabek, MBA ’06, credits the Smith School for propelling her into consumer products, starting at PepsiCo and leading to her current role as COO at Ocean Spray. She values the Smith network, career pivots, and supporting women in business.

Alumni

Supportive Smith Network Inspires Alumnus to “Uplift” Current Students

Renard Brumfield, MBA ’22, studied finance during his time at Smith and is currently a Finance Business Manager with JPMorgan Chase. Brumfield credits his Smith network for helping him get to where he is today and he pays it forward by engaging with the Smith community and mentoring current students.

Alumni

Vet Ventures Into Finance

Smith MBA students and military veterans German Salazar, MBA ’25, and Charles Castelly, MBA ’26, leveraged the University System of Maryland’s Venture Fellowship to gain hands-on VC experience. Their shared journey highlights Smith’s strong veteran community and career-building opportunities in venture capital.

News

Alumni Panel Shares Insight on Finance Career Pathways

Eight distinguished Smith School alumni shared diverse finance career paths with students during an April 4 panel and breakout sessions. The event offered real-world insights into finance roles, emphasizing flexibility, collaboration, and skills needed for long-term success.

Center for Social Value Creation Hosts Sustainable Cooking Demo with Virtual X Kitchen

The Center for Social Value Creation hosted a Sustainable Cooking Demo with Virtual X Kitchen, where students prepared adobo chicken rice bowls using locally sourced ingredients. The event, part of DC Climate Week, emphasized sustainability in cooking and food sourcing.

When Tax Scams Hit Home: What to Know About Theft Loss Deductions

Samuel Handwerger, CPA and TerpTax faculty advisor, explains how victims of investment scams may qualify for theft loss tax deductions under IRS rules. He outlines key eligibility criteria, recent IRS guidance, and the importance of intent, documentation, and expert advice.

Smith Brain Trust

Faculty Insights On Latest News

Management and Organization

“The Future is Not What it Used to Be”

Ambiguity arises when choices must be made despite unclear outcomes, says Professor J. Gerald Suarez. In today’s fast-paced world, discernment, flexibility, and embracing uncertainty—not rigid control—are key to navigating change, complexity, and an unpredictable future.

Marketing

Small Businesses Take Big Hit from Apple’s Privacy Regulation

Smith marketing professor Daniel McCarthy's research found that Apple's 2021 App Tracking Transparency (ATT) significantly impacted small direct-to-consumer businesses. ATT caused a 37% drop in ad click-through rates and up to a 60% revenue decline for smaller firms reliant on Facebook ads.

Decision, Operations and Information Technologies, Finance, Marketing

Smith Experts Explain Google Antitrust Implications

Google faces major antitrust cases for monopolizing digital advertising and search. Research Professor Kislaya Prasad suggests that ending exclusive agreements could increase competition, while Associate Professor Bobby Zhou emphasizes breaking up business units like Google’s search could benefit competitors, advertisers, and consumers.

Research

Decision, Operations and Information Technologies

Smith Research Develops Model to Address Product Life Cycle Forecasting

Smith’s Xiaojia Guo co-authored a study on forecasting demand for new products using Bayesian model averaging. The research offers a robust, flexible model for predicting life cycles of fast-evolving items like fashion, news topics and digital content.

Decision, Operations and Information Technologies

Online Marketplaces: Beyond the Number of Buyers and Sellers

New online marketplaces often rely on network effects to grow, but inviting prominent sellers can shape their long-term reputation. Research from Wedad Elmaghraby and Ashish Kabra shows that high-quality sellers attract premium buyers, while lower-quality sellers foster price-sensitive markets.

How Cities Can Attract Remote Workers and Keep Them

When the Covid pandemic made the already growing trend of remote work ubiquitous five years ago, it also opened possibilities for where people could decide to live.