Rare Triple Smith Terp Gives Back To The School She is “Proud Of”

Cristina M. Giannantonio ’80, MBA ’82, PhD ’88, had just finished a final project in one of her undergraduate classes at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Her name was on the board to stay after class to talk with Professor Steve Carroll. “Of course, I thought, oh, I failed.” But it was the opposite. The professor had asked her if he could publish her case study and analysis in his textbook and credit her with the work. “I never thought you could have your name in print. That’s how I started to talk with him about how to become a professor.”

With aspirations to possibly teach or to become a corporate trainer, that Organizational Behavior class further inspired her to continue to pursue her education. “By my senior year of college, I knew I wanted to get my PhD to be a professor.” Giannantonio ended up becoming a rare Terp. She earned three degrees from the Smith School. Her bachelor's in what was then Personnel and Labor Relations, an MBA and then a PhD in Human Resource Management. 

“I always liked the social science side of business,” she said. “‘Why do people behave the way they do? What do we do in organizations to help people perform well and be satisfied?’ I always found that interesting.”

After graduating from the University of Maryland, she became an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. She then moved to Chapman University, where she is currently a Professor of Human Resource Management and the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Institutional Effectiveness.

“[Chapman] offered a Master of Science in Human Resources, and I managed that program as well as the Master of Arts in Career Counseling. To be able to teach, to really teach the stuff that I love in depth instead of one elective every other year, that was exciting, and our graduate students were fabulous.”

“I enjoy working with senior leadership,” said Giannantonio, who served as the Faculty Ombudsperson for three years and served as the Faculty Senate President.

“The field I chose to study has really been helpful to me,” she said. “I view everything from an organizational behavior or human resources perspective, so I’m pleased that it's been so useful.” It’s what she attributes to her success and advancement at Chapman. “I hope that I’ve contributed to Chapman through these different roles and helped faculty.”

Recently, Giannantonio made a generous gift to the Smith School to establish the Susie and Joseph Giannantonio Endowed Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Business and the Susie and Joseph Giannantonio Current-Use Endowed Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Business in honor of her parents. 

“I spent a lot of time [at Smith],” she said, and as a Marylander at heart, she tells everyone College Park is “the most beautiful campus in the world. The University of Maryland is extremely well respected, and I am very proud to have earned three degrees from the business school.”