The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is seeking nominations for the schools 2006 Smith Leadership and Excellence Awards. The annual awards, which pay tribute to business leaders and organizations that have made a significant and positive impact in the mid-Atlantic region, will be presented in four categories: Business Excellence, Leaders for the Digital Economy, Leadership Excellence, and Public Excellence.

The Smith School offers congratulations to the 770 undergraduate, 300 MBA/MS, 25 Executive MBA, and 10 PhD new degree holders who graduated on May 22, 2005.  Kevin Plank '96, founder and CEO of Under Armour Performance Apparel, delivered an inspiring keynote address to a packed Comcast Center. "I'm appreciative of the life and business skills that UM taught me," he began. Drawing on his experience as a football player at Maryland and his keen entrepreneurial instinct, Plank recounted his vision and roadmap to "creating the world's greatest football undershirt."

For the past two years eSmith has been evolving into a comprehensive gateway that allows students, faculty, and staff to navigate through a network of public and private information, services, and business functions of the Smith School and the University of Maryland. The internal portal provides a secure infrastructure to present Web-based applications and information to the Smith community, focusing on tools for collaboration, research, and personal productivity.

When Charlotte Cullen graduated from Maryland Smith in December 2019, she did so at the perfect moment – the prelude to tax season.

Deloitte tax consultant Ekaterina “Katya” Tour ’17, MS ’18, made the most of a four-year tennis scholarship at the University of Maryland. By the time she graduated, she not only collected 70 singles wins and led the Terrapins to their first-ever Big Ten Tournament victory, she also finished an undergraduate degree and tacked on a Master of Science in Accounting in the “Plus One” program at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “I knew I had four years,” she says. “And I didn’t want to miss out.”

As an accounting major during his undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida, Christopher Rolle wanted to jumpstart his career as a certified public accountant by starting graduate school immediately. He also wanted to try something completely different, having spent his whole life in Florida, so he thought he’d try out the Washington, D.C., area for its history, culture and even its unpredictable winters.

Hayley Smith ’15, MS ’18 has not yet graduated from the Master of Science in Accounting program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. But already she has people coming to her for tax advice.

"Multiple directorships may enhance firm performance through board connections, but may also hinder firm performance through time constraints," the authors write.