The Robert H. Smith School of Business recently held the 31st William D. Bradford Banquet, honoring diversity, equity, and inclusion. Spirit of Excellence Awards were presented to outstanding students and faculty members, emphasizing their commitment to fostering excellence. Distinguished alumni stressed the importance of allyship and advocacy for career success.

The Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 stigmatized local employers by creating the impression that strongly anti-diversity attitudes put on display by white supremacists were widespread in the community. Employers sought to counteract this “stigma by association” by dramatically increasing the extent to which they included pro-diversity language in their job advertisements. This is according to research by Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Reuben Hurst at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The University of Maryland was named the top college in the nation for LGBTQ+ students by Campus Pride and BestColleges.It leads the list of 2023’s Top 25 LGBTQ+-Friendly Colleges, recognizing educational institutions that foster inclusive and supportive environments for LGBTQ+ students. Maryland was No. 1 in 2020 and appeared among the top 25 in 2021 and 2022.

Through the Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Program (DFASP), the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is collaborating with the Deloitte Foundation to help increase representation of racially and ethnically diverse accounting graduate students.

There are two things that U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos says have always been most important to him – statistics and helping others.

Margo Thomas M.S. ’90 is creating economic opportunities for women and underrepresented groups as founder and president of the Women’s Economic Imperative.

Embassy Day, a two-part event of the Smith Start experience and the first introduction to a global mindset as a Maryland Smith student, invites freshmen and transfer students to meet diplomatic representatives in embassies throughout Washington, D.C., and to learn more about the respective countries. This year, 15 countries participated and met virtually with over 100 students.

This spring, 19 exchange students from seven of Maryland Smith’s partner universities are in College Park for their semester-long study abroad experience. "Through Maryland Smith's business exchange programs, visiting students from around the world have the opportunity to study here in Van Munching Hall,'' says Greg Rafal, assistant director of the Center for Global Business. “These students not only learn from our esteemed faculty, but they enrich our classrooms with diverse perspectives on business and culture.”

Navigating the higher echelons of the business world isn’t easy. Three Maryland Smith alumni stopped by Van Munching Hall on Monday to share what they’ve learned along their professional journey.

Four alumni from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business offered their perspectives on global business during the event, “Distinguished Speakers in International Business Series: Global Competencies for the 21st Century Workplace,” describing what they expect work to look like in a post-COVID-19 world, and offering advice to current students.