More Smith alumni are giving back to help current students get jobs, thanks to new efforts from the Office of Career Services and the newly launched Office of Experiential Learning.

Not many executives can say they helped a company pivot from Chapter 11 bankruptcy to one of its best earnings years ever in their first two years, but Kenny Cheung ’05 can.

The U.S. National Defense Strategy released this past October emphasizes a strong need to accelerate the Pentagon’s ability to deploy emerging and disruptive technologies vital to America’s military superiority over advanced competitors. At the Smith School, a unique mentorship is helping make this goal a reality.

Lisa Kidd Hunt didn’t exactly leave Smith after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in finance. Not in a Matthew Mcconaughey à la “Dazed & Confused” kind of way, but she’s the kind of person who sticks around, cultivating the relationships and roots she’s planted. She’s a football season ticket holder, she’s served as a commencement speaker and as a board member, and she continues to stay involved, partly because, as she puts it, she’s “jealous” of how much Smith students get out of their education these days.

Want to know how to climb the corporate ladder? Bet on yourself and take risks early in your career, says Neal Shear ’76.

As an African American woman CEO and working mother – in information technology, an area heavily dominated by men - Holbrook understands the weight of her words. One thing she’s learned is that “companies and clients are really all about people.”

After 30 years in the accounting field, Anoop Mehta ’84 is stepping up to lead the profession into the future. Mehta, a Maryland CPA and former chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs’ Board of Directors, was named chair of the American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest member organization in the field, during its May 17, 2022 meeting in Austin, Texas. 

Margo Thomas M.S. ’90 is creating economic opportunities for women and underrepresented groups as founder and president of the Women’s Economic Imperative.

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.

Navigating the higher echelons of the business world isn’t easy. Three Maryland Smith alumni stopped by Van Munching Hall on Monday to share what they’ve learned along their professional journey.