Smith And Amazon Explore Current and Future Paths in Collaborative Research
Leaders from Amazon Research Initiatives and AWS visited UMD’s Smith School on Nov. 10, 2025, to explore research collaborations. Faculty shared innovative projects in AI, logistics, sustainability, and digital marketing, strengthening Smith’s partnership with Amazon and highlighting opportunities for future funding.
Elmaghraby Elected to Top Leadership Role of INFORMS
Wedad Elmaghraby, Dean’s Chair of Operations Management and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, was elected president-elect of INFORMS, the top international association for operations research, analytics and AI professionals, beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Smith Hosts DMV Business School Deans Meeting
Business school deans from across the DMV gathered Aug. 15, 2025, at UMD’s Smith School to address AI, international students, enrollment and workforce challenges, underscoring collaboration between higher education and industry to strengthen economic resilience and future business education.
Inside a PhD Powerhouse
Smith’s PhD program launches impactful academic careers through close mentorship, collaboration and a strong sense of community. Alumni like Audra Wormald, Jane Yi Jiang and Jingwen Yang credit the program for preparing them to thrive as faculty.
Business Meets Journalism: UMD Experts Tackle Local News Crisis
Smith School and Merrill College faculty joined journalists to explore innovative business models, AI tools and cross-disciplinary solutions to help local news organizations adapt to declining revenue, shrinking readership and the disruptive impact of digital platforms.
20 Faculty Teams Awarded Smith Internal Research Grants
The Smith School has awarded 2025 Smith Internal Research Grants to 20 faculty-led teams to support high-impact research in areas including AI, entrepreneurship, labor markets, corporate communication, and online learning, fostering innovation across disciplines.
Center for AI in Business, UMD Students Tackle Food Insecurity
The Smith School hosted UMD’s first university-wide AI case competition, challenging students to use artificial intelligence to tackle food insecurity. Partnering with Capital Area Food Bank, the event drew 100+ students who developed AI prototypes to address real-world issues.
Online Marketplaces: Beyond the Number of Buyers and Sellers
New online marketplaces often rely on network effects to grow, but inviting prominent sellers can shape their long-term reputation. Research from Wedad Elmaghraby and Ashish Kabra shows that high-quality sellers attract premium buyers, while lower-quality sellers foster price-sensitive markets.
Exploring Workplace Creativity and Innovation
Smith School professor Vijaya Venkataramani, a 2024 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award recipient, shared insights on workplace creativity during her lecture. She explored how social networks, team dynamics and leadership influence innovation, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and psychological safety.
Marketplace Expansion Through Marquee Seller Adoption: Externalities and Reputation Implications
In the race to establish themselves, many early-stage online marketplaces choose to accelerate their growth by adding marquee (established brand name) sellers. We study the implications of marquee seller entry on smaller, unbranded sellers in a marketplace when both unbranded sellers and marquee sellers can vary vertically across reputation (referred to as sellers’ quality). While recent literature has shown that higher-quality unbranded sellers fare better than their lower-quality peers, we posit that this may not hold for entrants of any quality.