Smith Profiles
Alumni Profile
A ‘30 Under 30’ Recipient, on Embracing Challenges
Ali Salhi, MS ’18
For Loop CTO Ali Salhi, MS in Business Analytics ’18, Maryland Smith was a place to learn about the importance of learning through challenges.
Alumni Profile
On Seeing the Bigger Picture, Not the Puzzle Pieces
Kent Baker, MBA ’69, DBA ’72, MEd ’74
He has invested almost 45 years teaching, earning eight academic degrees, including three doctorates, and publishing 35 books and more than 300 academic and practitioner-oriented articles. Yet, H. Kent Baker, MBA ’69, DBA ’72, MEd ’74, says it isn’t yet time for retirement – not, he says, until he can no longer take the stairs to his office at American University.
Alumni Profile
Qualcomm CFO, on Finding a Passion
Akash Palkhiwala, MBA ’99
For Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala, Maryland Smith was a place to find his passion and adapt to life in a new country.
Student Profile
Fusion100 Clothing Brand: From A Dorm Room to SportsCenter
Ilan Orgel
Ilan Orgel has always had an entrepreneurial drive – and a sense of style. Before coming to the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School and beginning his finance degree, Orgel lived in New York, where he’d often wait in long, early morning lines to buy sneakers he would later resell at a profit.
Student Profile
From High School Onward, Driven Toward Social Entrepreneurship
Michael Zhao
He’s just a semester into his college career at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, but freshman Michael Zhao already knows exactly what he wants to do for the rest of his life – use a finance and computer science education to make the world a better place.
Alumni Profile
For 5 Siblings, Baking and Making a Family Company
Ronnie ’09 and Johnny ’14 Dubbaneh
There are secrets to baking that also apply to being an entrepreneur. And five Maryland siblings are putting those secrets to work in their latest venture. The Dubbaneh brothers and sisters – Ronnie, Danny, Ronia, Johnny and Deanna – know that to be successful in baking, you have to take care in every step of the process, be patient, give it your time and attention, and love what you’re doing. It’s the same for starting a business.
Alumni Profile
As CEO, Leading by Helping Others Grow
Jennifer Felix ’92
Jennifer Felix ’92 has one goal in mind when it comes to leadership – helping everyone maximize their potential. As president and CEO of ASRC Federal – a Maryland-based government services subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation owned by 13,000 Iñupiat shareholders – Felix has learned firsthand what it means to lead. It starts with empowering others and finding inspiration in every journey, she says.
Alumni Profile
At PBS, Finding a ‘Dream’ and Creating Inspiration
Sylvia Bugg, EMBA ’12
When Sylvia Bugg, EMBA ’12, first applied for a job as an administrative assistant at PBS in the early 1990s, she was excited to join an organization that had supported and broadcast so much important content. “It was a dream,” she says, looking back. Today, she’s PBS’s chief programming executive and general manager of general audience programming, playing an integral role in the broadcaster’s mission.
Alumni Profile
An Accounting Journey: From Student Employee to CEO
Anoop Mehta ’84
When it comes to navigating the business world, Anoop Mehta ’84 understands the power of a network.
Alumni Profile
A Film Producer, Making Movies that Inspire
Mark Ciardi ’83
The USA hockey team upsetting the Soviet Union in the Olympics. A 35-year-old pitcher making his MLB debut. A horse owner fostering a colt to Triple Crown glory.