A strategy firm founded by former Bill Clinton speechwriters has recognized a recent graduate from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business for “giving one of the best undergraduate student commencement speeches of 2016.” Rachel George, who completed dual marketing and English degrees in spring 2016, won second prize in the West Wing Writers inaugural Mortarboard Awards.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Walls of yellow lockers have popped up at Shoppers grocery outlets around Maryland, dwarfing the Redbox machines that customers have grown used to seeing near store entrances. The lockers belong to Amazon, which is giving the option of ordering online and then picking up in store.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Rio de Janeiro’s acting governor Francisco Dornelles recently warned that the Rio Olympic Games are headed to a “big failure.” He also called his state’s health care system “c

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — BroadwayHD made history on June 30, 2016, with livesteaming of "She Loves Me," a musical production at Studio 54 in New York. Other companies have done similar things for years.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) has selected Michel Wedel, PepsiCo Professor of Consumer Science at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, for its Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award.

The 25th Annual Frontiers in Service Conference was held June 23-26, 2016, in beautiful Bergen, Norway, the gateway to the fjords of Norway and the birthplace for the world-renowned composer Edvard Grieg. Founded by Roland Rust, the Frontiers Conference is sponsored annually by the Smith School's Center for Excellence in Service, INFORMS, and the AMA SERVSIG. This year, the host institution was the Norwegian School of Economics.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The Federal Aviation Administration’s initial, comprehensive set of rules for commercial drones will open the floodgates to tens of thousands of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in U.S. airspace.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is excited to announce some favorite books in the "13th Annual Top-10 Summer Reading List for Business Leaders" for 2016, as recommended by members of its faculty and administrators.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — P.K. Kannan acquiesced, like a typical parent and consumer, each time one of his daughters learned to ride a bicycle and requested her own pink model. Similar bikes of other colors were lower priced, but try explaining that to a child.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Say you're a hotel manager trying to decide whether to build a pool: Will the additional reservations you bring in from that amenity offset the cost of construction and maintenance? Or say you offer free bottled water to all guests. If you stopped doing so, would you save money in the long run?