Students at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business spent last week exploring global education and career opportunities during International Education Week, Nov.14-18, 2016. International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of State.

Maryland Smith MBAs can all agree, the people set Smith apart from other MBA programs. On Nov. 14, 2016, the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted the annual one-day event, “Kaleidoscope: Advancing Diversity at Smith,” for prospective MBA students. Prospective students from around the country with a variety of professional backgrounds and cultures visited Van Munching Hall to immerse themselves in a typical day-in-the-life of a Smith student, beginning with a reception dinner.

Launched this fall, the University of Maryland Research Data Center (UMDRDC) is the newest facility of the national Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDC) network. A Grand Opening Ceremony will be held on Nov. 18, 2016, at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

A team of MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business outperformed finalists from Northwestern, Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon Universities to win the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s inaugural MBA Case Competition on Nov. 3, 2016, in Washington, D.C. “Congratulations to the Smith School team for its first place finish in our inaugural MBA Case Competition,” said foundation president Carolyn Cawley. “At the Foundation we believe that business is part of the solution, so it was rewarding to see the team bring that to life.”

It is sometimes said that you cannot truly know another culture without knowing its language. In fact, culture informs the business environment of every country and knowledge of a foreign language is among the most immediately recognizable signs of a global mindset. According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs), 90 percent of employers in the U.S. consider language skills to be important to the international experience of their staff. 

The Robert H. Smith School of Business held its second Sustainability Lunch and Learn session on Thursday, Oct. 20, giving MBA students the opportunity to engage with Maureen Johnson, Global Internal Sustainability Manager at Deloitte. The session was hosted by the Center for Social Value Creation.

Companies worried about disruption need science and technology to stay relevant in the 21st century, but speakers at the fifth annual Smith School Business Summit pointed to soft skills as the real competitive advantage. “If you get leadership, management and culture right, everything else takes care of itself,” keynote speaker David Williams told an audience of more than 300 faculty, staff, students and working professionals gathered Oct.

PepsiCo Awards $15,000 to MBA Students in a Business Case Competition at the TCU Neeley School of Business MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business joined students from 13 other universities to compete in the 2016 PepsiCo MBA Invitational Business Case Competition at Texas Christian University (TCU), Oct. 28-30, 2016.

A team of MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business will compete in the final round of the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Inaugural MBA Case Competition, in partnership with FedEx Freight, on Nov. 3, 2016, in Washington, D.C. The competition is designed to be a forum for MBA students to explore the connection between business success and corporate social responsibility. The four finalists were selected from 34 teams from 12 universities. Winners will receive national recognition and a share of prize money. The finalists are:

Professors at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business placed No. 1 in the world for "faculty quality" in The Economist's 2016 full-time MBA rankings, marking the third consecutive year atop the category. Prior to the current run, the school finished No. 2 for faculty quality in 2013. Overall, the Smith School finished No. 47 globally and No. 32 in the United States in the latest rankings, released Oct. 13.