On Monday, October 20, 2008, Smith students learned an important lesson about ethics: “Do the right thing, and when you are not sure -- consult.” This was the central message from guest speaker Jeffrey R. Hoops, Ernst & Young’s Ethics and Compliance Officer for the Americas as well as the Chief Privacy Officer. Hoops has worked for Ernst & Young since 1974, and for most of that time advised clients on tax matters. In 2005, he was appointed to his current role, in which he originated the first ethics and compliance program at Ernst & Young.

College Park, Md. – Sept. 2, 2008 – The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business today announced 21 outstanding faculty members have joined the school from leading universities to start the 2008-2009 academic year.

In the 10 years that Lawrence Gordon, Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, has spent pondering the economic issues related to cybersecurity, the risks have changed significantly. Businesses and government agencies no longer have to worry about teen hackers taking a shot at their organizations for bragging rights. Instead, multinational corporations and government agencies are suffering cyber-attacks from organized crime, large-scale fraud, disgruntled employees and even terrorists.

It is with great sadness that the Smith School community mourns the recent passing of our colleague and friend Bruce Michelson.

Jim Lager, Government Accountability Office deputy ethics counselor, shared his experiences and discussed what drives behavior, compliance-based thinking and regulation with 75 Smith students on November 7. His lecture was the third and final installment of the Robert H. Smith School of Business's Business Ethics Lecture Series for fall 2007.

Nancy Grunberg, head of Venables Securities and Exchange Commission and white collar defense practice group, shared her experiences as a securities law and financial disclosure lawyer with 75 Smith students on Oct. 15, 2007. Her lecture was the second installment of the Robert H. Smith School of Business's Business Ethics Lecture Series for the fall semester.

Nancy Grunberg, head of Venables Securities and Exchange Commission and white collar defense practice group, shared her experiences as a securities law and financial disclosure lawyer with 75 Smith students on Oct. 15, 2007. Her lecture was the second installment of the Robert H. Smith School of Business's Business Ethics Lecture Series for the fall semester.

Dr. Lawrence A. Gordon, Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, gave testimony concerning his research (with Dr. Martin Loeb, professor of accounting and information assurance and Deloitte & Touche Faculty Fellow) on cybersecurity economics to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Homeland Security on October 31, 2007. The Subcommittee is working on emerging threats, cybersecurity, and science and technology.

Michael Fu, professor of management science, and Lawrence Bodin, professor emeritus of management science, have been named as fellows for 2008 by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). This singular honor, awarded to about 2 percent of the organizations 11,000 members, has now been held by six members of the Smith Schools decision and information technologies department.

On Monday, Sept. 17, 2007 the Robert H. Smith School of Business welcomed Kurtis A. Wolff, Principal in Charge of Audit and Assurance at the Reznick Group, to its Business Ethics Lecture Series. Wolff, speaking to a large crowd of Smith School students, shared his thoughts on Ethics Everyday in Public Accounting. Wolff shared his experiences in accounting and auditing with the group both from his time at Reznick, a top-20 public accounting firm, as well as from his prior experiences within the industry.