Mark Wellman, a widely admired management and organization professor at Maryland Smith, died unexpectedly on Dec. 26, 2021. He was 59.

Commencement, no matter its form, is a moment of pride, accomplishment and celebration. It’s a moment, in the words of undergraduate student speaker Juliet Jack, to see opportunity.

It’s clear that internet buzz and news affect stock prices – just look at the wild rides of 2021’s meme stocks like GameStop and AMC for proof. New research from Maryland Smith’s Prabhudev Konana creates a new methodology to translate just how news and internet discussions impact stock prices and simulates  trading strategy that shows to yield excess returns.

What is the best pathway to unlock opportunities that will allow Americans to realize their dreams? And is that route lined with government programs or free enterprise? Those questions were at the center of a debate tour recently hosted by Maryland Smith’s Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets, in partnership with The Steamboat Institute.

Blockchain and bitcoin often conjure images of far off billionaires and technology companies trying to profit off the “next big thing.” It’s more than that.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has named Russ Wermers as the Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63 Endowed Chair in Finance. Named for the late Paul J. Cinquegrana ’63, the newly created endowed professorship was established by a gift bequeathed to Maryland Smith by his late wife, Betty Cinquegrana.

For Doug Peters ’85, there’s a tie to Maryland Smith that runs deep. Now, the former Maryland state senator is helping others form a Maryland Smith bond of their own, establishing a Maryland Promise scholarship to help support need-based scholarships for UMD undergraduate students, with a preference for those who plan to study at Smith. Peters worked to establish the endowed fund over the summer, as he retired from Maryland’s state senate and was appointed to the University System of Maryland Board of Regents.

The University of Maryland and its Robert H. Smith School of Business are launching two new undergraduate programs that will give highest-achieving students a big-picture view of business and industry in the changing workplace. The Interdisciplinary Business Honors Living-Learning Program and the Smith Business Leadership Fellows Program are each designed to enrich the college experience for the highest-achieving undergraduate applicants and further nurture their intellectual curiosity.

At Maryland Smith, students are prepared with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their fields. But as those fields constantly evolve, education must too. That’s why Maryland Smith has created a suite of Advisory Councils.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has recently established a partnership with Ashesi University, a private university in Accra, Ghana. This partnership will first involve a yearlong faculty development program, focused on enhancing Ashesi’s scholarship of teaching and learning. The initiative also taps Maryland Smith faculty in the top 2% of the most-cited scholars and scientists worldwide and ranked No. 16 in the University of Texas at Dallas’ Top Worldwide Business School Rankings.