Smith professor Jie Zhang and PhD alum Min Kim won the AMA’s 2025 Don Lehmann Award for their Journal of Marketing Research article on predicting online shopping preferences in dynamic, large-scale retail assortments.

Smith’s Roland Rust has been named a 2025 ISSIP Fellow for pioneering contributions to service research, including founding key conferences and journals, and advancing AI scholarship in the field. He ranks among the world’s top 100 business research scientists.

Lemma Senbet, Dean’s Chaired Professor of Finance at Smith, received the African Economic Research Consortium’s Distinguished Service Award for his longstanding contributions to economic research, policy, and capacity building across Africa. He was also recently appointed to the Bretton Woods Committee.

RouteSmart Technologies, founded by Smith School professors Bruce Golden, Michael Ball, Larry Bodin, and Arjang Assad, was acquired by FedEx. The route optimization company, built on academic research, will continue operating independently under FedEx Dataworks with plans for global expansion.

Smith School professors earned AI research seed grants from UMD’s AIM Institute. Louiqa Raschid and Eaman Jahani will use AI for public health; Lauren Rhue will explore legal limits of AI-generated content. AIM awarded 22 grants across interdisciplinary categories.

Smith School associate professors Liye Ma and Bobby Zhou were named 2024 MSI Scholars by the Marketing Science Institute, recognizing their influential research. The honor fosters collaboration among mid-career marketing academics, shaping the field’s future through scholarship and real-world impact.

Rebecca Ratner, dean’s professor of marketing, is serving as president of the Association for Consumer Research, leading efforts to expand member engagement, professionalize operations and amplify research impact. She will deliver her presidential address at ACR 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Smith School professor Vijaya Venkataramani, a 2024 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award recipient, shared insights on workplace creativity during her lecture. She explored how social networks, team dynamics and leadership influence innovation, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and psychological safety.

The AMA TechSIG honored Smith’s P.K. Kannan with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for his impactful research in marketing technology and innovation. Kannan, an expert in digital marketing and AI, shared the recognition with USC’s Gerard Tellis at the AMA Winter Conference.

Lemma W. Senbet, Dean’s Chaired Professor at the Smith School, has joined the Bretton Woods Committee, a leading advocate for global economic cooperation. A renowned finance scholar, Senbet was also inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of International Business in 2022.