In an event organized by four Smith MBA students, 40 students from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Naval Academy drove Land Rovers off-road as part of a program to help them become safer drivers. The event was held on April 12, 2003, and hosted by Land Rover University in Lanham, Md.

Reaching across the academic community, Smith′s Graduate Women in Business club (GWIB) gathered more than 50 Smith alumni, current and prospective students, faculty, and administrators to discuss ways women can achieve influence in the workplace. In honor of Women′s History Month, the event was held on March 6 and included a networking session followed by a panel discussion about strategies on how women earn respect and gain power in the workplace.

The Graduate Women In Business Club (GWIB) and the Master's Programs Office recently invited prospective female MBA students to explore the Smith MBA from a woman's perspective. GWIB's first annual open house showcased the dynamic women of Smith's past, present, and future, by joining alumnae, current students, and incoming students.

The Smith School first offered its part-time MBA program in Washington, D.C., only 18 months ago, but its success has made the program grow by leaps and bounds. The school launched the evening component in fall 2000 with 98 students. The weekend component followed in fall 2001. Today, the Washington location in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center boasts 239 part-time MBA students on evenings and weekends.

Blanka Thibaud was ready for a change. She’d been working as an economist, but had an eye on a career in commercial real estate development. In 2016, she enrolled in Maryland Smith’s Part-Time MBA program (now called the Flex MBA), loading her schedule with real estate courses that would give her in-depth knowledge of the development process. While a part time student, she worked for a real estate developer in Washington, D.C., and then was hired at Freddie Mac as a real estate asset manager.

Chris Steadley, MBA ’12, has consistently used his global mindset in his eight-plus years at advisory and research services firm Gartner. His current role as a senior partner in consulting includes managing business in the Midwest region of the U.S. from a public sector, education, and nonprofit perspective. Steadley’s main responsibility is to oversee the growth of Gartner’s portfolio, which includes delivering the right solutions for clients. He enjoys leading his team to success.

Seble Alemayehu, PTMBA ’12, and Felekech “Fei” Biratu, PTMBA ’13, started as high school friends. After a similar journey through life, a move around the globe and MBA degrees from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, they now are proud cofounders of Yenaé, an online high-end fashion jewelry brand.  Alemayehu and Biratu grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and moved to the United States on the same plane after completing high school.

Business conditions change over time and across regions, but finance professional Dan Freiman '94, MBA '04, says one thing remains constant. "Building relationships is key, as is going in with understanding and respect," he says. "That goes a long way and is a constant process."

Surprises come with the territory when working in international development across India. As senior engagement manager at Sattva Consulting, Rahul Shah, PTMBA ’15, MFin ’15, must navigate uncertainty as he works across all domains with all types of stakeholders on a diverse subcontinent.

When Jyoti Sardana started the part-time MBA program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, she never anticipated she would be working alongside professional athletes before her graduation in December 2018. “I knew I wanted a graduate degree, and I was taking a few tests to get my security licenses so I could trade,” says Sardana, who worked as a registered associate at Morgan Stanley when she started the evening program at Maryland Smith’s Shady Grove campus in Rockville, Md.