Launched this fall, the University of Maryland Research Data Center (UMDRDC) is the newest facility of the national Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDC) network. A Grand Opening Ceremony will be held on Nov. 18, 2016, at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Black Friday is old hat. Cyber Monday is passe. The most interesting shopping day of the year is the one you haven't even heard of: It's Green Monday. It's the Monday after the final shopping weekend before Christmas, when frazzled consumers hit the web to snap up the final few gifts on their list before the window closes on the all-important free-shipping offers.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Donald Trump has a problem that the opinion polls aren't capturing. It's his brand. If the polls hold and Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election on Nov. 8, the New York mogul will be surrounded not just by the tatters of a failed political campaign, but also by a business brand that's been tarnished beyond recognition. Restoring that brand to its former luster could be his toughest challenge yet.

Professors at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business placed No. 1 in the world for "faculty quality" in The Economist's 2016 full-time MBA rankings, marking the third consecutive year atop the category. Prior to the current run, the school finished No. 2 for faculty quality in 2013. Overall, the Smith School finished No. 47 globally and No. 32 in the United States in the latest rankings, released Oct. 13.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — AT&T's proposed $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner could be the first of a string of similar mergers to come.

On Oct. 17, 2016, undergraduate students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business who are in the Hospitality Business Fellows (HBF) program traveled a few miles down the road to visit the headquarters of Chesapeake Hospitality, a nationally-recognized hotel management company.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Just a few weeks ago, Twitter had a multitude of potential suitors, with Google, Disney and Salesforce all said to be considering bids to acquire the mainstay social media platform.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – The NFL's biggest concern this season likely isn't Colin Kaepernick or concussion risks or even who's going to the Super Bowl. It's eyeballs. The television juggernaut National Football League has seen its faithful TV audience unexpectedly deflate by more than 10 percent through the first five weeks of the season, according to Nielsen ratings data, with deeper drops notched during the Sunday, Monday and Thursday evening games.   

SMITH BRAIN TRUST  —  What does the first presidential debate have in common with the famed “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman?

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Love, exciting and new – that’s what Carnival Cruise Lines is going for as its launches its new line of original television programming. Or at least fresh interest in vacations at sea. Carnival Cruise Line is looking to recreate some of the TV magic that helped boost the vacation cruise industry in the 1980s, when the popular hour-long sitcom, “The Love Boat,” was in its heyday and people were flocking to ports like never before in search of a dream getaway.