Maryland Smith students are helping to make the world a better place one project at a time. During the 2021 Do Good Challenge hosted in April by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, two teams featuring students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business showcased how they are making a difference through their work and an opportunity for a share of the $20,000 prize pool.

Two Maryland Smith graduating seniors will be honored this week as part of the 2021 Maryland Medallion Society, which also makes them finalists for the University of Maryland Model Citizenship Prize and the Wilson H. Elkins Award. They join 18 other students from across campus in receiving the honor.

During TechFest 2021, undergraduate students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business took home top honors in the KPMG Excel Competition. Hosted by the Department of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies, the competition was open to all UMD students. 

April is Pride Month at Smith! The Diversity and Equity Council’s thought leadership task force spotlights affinity clubs and organizations to bring awareness to the social identities they represent and how these organizations foster societal change.

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.