As part of the #KeepGlobalSmith campaign, the Center for Global Business held the International Business (IB) Agility Lab: Entrepreneurship from April 7-9, 2021. The IB Agility Labs are a series of short, virtual case competitions that allow undergraduate students to learn from global business leaders, collaborate with international peers, and focus on business resilience.

Maryland’s agricultural businesses are great at what they do – catching seafood, cultivating crops and raising livestock. But on the business side, growing is a trickier thing, and Maryland Smith students know just how to help with that. This semester, undergraduate students in BMGT 484’s Electronic Marketing are helping small businesses and nonprofits across the state enhance their digital marketing offering.

Tom Savransky, a finance student and College Park Scholar who co-founded a virtual fitting company that would improve the experience of shopping online, is being remembered with a memorial scholarship. Savransky died last month after sustaining injuries during a car accident. He was 23. Colleagues and peers considered Savransky a software innovator with an entrepreneurial spirit.

At Maryland Smith, and at organizations across the business world, our diversity is a strength. At Smith, that strength shows through in numbers. “It shows because of the things that we do to nurture students and support students,” says Victor Mullins, associate dean of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

When it comes to determining the sustainability of an investment, these four Maryland Smith students are tough to beat.The team of undergraduate seniors – Ajay Shankar (finance and information systems), Faben Henok (OM/BA and SCM with a minor in technology entrepreneurship), Josh Chen (economics and minor in business analytics), and Alex Leipold (marketing and OM/BA) – recently won first place honors in the Milgard Invitation Case Competition on Social Responsibility, garnering the coveted first place title and a $1,000 cash prize per student.

A virtual trip to the doctor’s office was quite productive for these Maryland Smith students. This past semester, a team of four QUEST Honors Program students worked with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., to provide recommendations toward improving the patient experience, reducing provider burnout, making providers more productive, and increasing the hospital’s bottom line.

At Maryland Smith, learning is a cooperative effort. And this semester, representatives from PepsiCo worked with Maryland Smith students to teach them about the ins and outs of the sales industry. This semester in BMGT 350, a marketing principles course offered to nearly 700 students across 11 different sections, took those principles into practice by partnering with PepsiCo for a class project.

As twins, Camila, ’21, and Valeria Arrieta Palacio, ’21, have lived their lives at each other’s side. Now, even as they graduate from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, that continues. They are taking their first steps into the workforce together, accepting positions at Freddie Mac as capital market analysts. It’s just another part of their journey. The pair immigrated from Colombia six years ago and, overcoming language barriers, enrolled at Maryland Smith as finance and marketing majors.

Whether in the classroom or on the field for the University of Maryland field hockey team, Carla Tagliente ’01 was as fierce a competitor as anyone. Now, she’s on the sidelines, sharing her experiences and ushering in the next generation of student-athletes. As the head coach of the Princeton field hockey team, Tagliente has helped transform the program into a powerhouse, leading the school to its first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, amassing four tournament appearances (2016-2019) and reaching the Final Four three times (2016, 2018 and 2019).

As she graduates from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business this spring, you can trust that Goodness Ihekweme will wear something special. She says she wouldn’t have it any other way. Ihekweme is graduating with a marketing major and technology entrepreneurship minor – and with an apparel e-commerce business she launched on her own, called GStyles.