Sixty-four sophomores in the Business, Society and the Economy (BSE) program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business successfully completed the two-year College Park Scholars program on May 4, 2018. Over 800 College Park Scholars, mentors, and faculty attended the annual academic showcase where the BSE sophomores presented their semester-long Capstone projects. The event was held at the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center.

Since 2006, finance professor David Kass has led students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business on an annual trek to Omaha, Nebraska, to partake in the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting. This year he and Smith School finance professor Elinda Kiss tried something different. They hosted more than 100 students, faculty and staff for a “Watch & Learn” event on May 5, 2018, at Van Munching Hall.

Hundreds of volunteers packed more than 28,000 meals on April 24, 2018, as part of a weeklong Smith Pride initiative at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The Smith Business Academy celebrated its five-year anniversary on April 27, 2018, by hosting the inaugural Men of Distinction Summit for high school students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Students from Paint Branch, Roosevelt, Gaithersburg, Blake and MacGruder High Schools participated in the event, along with students from Ron Brown College Prep and the Literacy Lab in Washington D.C. Overall, more than 150 students attended the summit.

High school students from Prince George’s County applied hard skills in a soft drink case competition on April 20, 2018, at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Each year, the Smith Undergraduate Program partners with the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity chapter at UMD to invite 100 local high school students to compete in a case competition that challenges their critical thinking and business skills.

On the morning of May 4, 2018, Lemma Senbet Fund fellows presented their final reports to Alex Triantis, dean of the Smith School, and the Smith Foundation Board. Seniors David Niezelski and Jacob Biedronoski led the presentation, highlighting overall gains and successful decisions made over the past year. While the equity market for the past 12 months gave the team reasonable hurdles in finding value-driven theses, the cohort persevered and ultimately achieved higher returns than previous years.

Shyama Srikkanth, ’19, contributed to this article. She is an Undergraduate Program Assistant working toward earning dual degrees in Operations Management & Business Analytics and Environmental Science and Politics.

Smith School undergraduates have many opportunities to develop their global mindset, including through study abroad. Studying abroad gives students the opportunity to expand their network, gain skills needed to compete in a global economy, and discover a new sense of adaptability. Devin Thrasher, a Senior Accounting Major, participated in Accounting’s Future, Present, and Past last winter and strongly recommends the program.

On May 3, 2018, Professor Zeinab Karake will receive the “Distinguished Faculty Member” Award at the Robert H. Smith School of Business’s 18th Annual Undergraduate Banquet. Smith seniors overwhelmingly nominated her for this honor: “ … [She] really cares about her students and always does the best for them.” “Karake goes the extra mile to care for her students outside of an academic perspective. She genuinely wants to aid students in their future endeavors.”

On March 3, 2017, Kara Gordon, now a junior double majoring in supply chain management and marketing, attended the Social Enterprise Symposium (SES) in Van Munching Hall. Hosted by the Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation, SES takes place every year. For Kara, it served as an introduction to a new side of business that connected her interest in sustainability with her career goals in a way she had never previously envisioned.