In December 2005, the Smith School co-sponsored and hosted the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) USA Inc. Mid-Atlantic Conference 2005. The theme of the conference was Business Opportunities in a Globally Networked Economy.

The Smith Schools Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship recently hosted two MBA interns from the University of Groningen, Netherlands an experience that helped the Dutch students gain U.S. insight, as well as further promote international understanding for the U.S. students at the center.

Robert Isaman '85, vice president, integration at UTC Fire & Security (UTCFS), a division of United Technologies Corporation, addressed a lively audience of Smith School graduates, family members, friends, and Smith faculty and administrators at the Smith School's winter commencement ceremony on Thursday, December 22. Nearly 350 candidates were eligible to attend the graduation ceremony, which was held at the Comcast Center: eight doctoral, 25 executive MBA, 100 MBA/MS, and 210 undergraduate business degrees were awarded.

College Park, Md. November 28, 2005 - For the second time in a row, a team of MBA students from the University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business won first place in the MBA case competition held during the national "Reaching Out MBA" student conference. The winning team included Smith MBA students Michael Carney, Catherine Sheehy, and Daniel Mantell, along with Kevin Smith, an MBA student at NYUs Stern School. The Smith team beat out a number of other top business schools, which were represented at the conference in Chicago November 17 20.

Montezuma's Marauders, represented by five Smith MBA students, won the top prize in the 2005 Smith MBA Case Competition this week. The team, also voted the audience favorite, received $1,500 and included Subho Goswami, Carolina Puerto, Bankole Osimokun, Aviral Singh, and Amy Williams. The 22nd annual event brought students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and friends together for an evening of intense competition followed by an evening of networking and celebration. The event was held on October 19 at the Smith School's home, Van Munching Hall.

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 MBA Association is collecting donations to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina this week and next week. The initiative is headed by two first year students Noah Greenberg and Leslie McDowell (pictured, right). We are all very busy right now with quizzes and material to read but there is simply no way of ignoring a disaster of this magnitude, says Greenburg. Their goal is to collect $2,007. (The significance is that they are in the "Class of 2007.")

The Robert H. Smith School of Business, along with the University of Maryland, is opening its doors to help undergraduate business and MBA students displaced from Gulf Coast universities by Hurricane Katrina. The Smith School is working with the university's Undergraduate Admissions and Registrars Offices to admit as many displaced undergraduate business students as possible for the fall semester. As of midday Friday, nearly 40 students had been enrolled in classes at the Smith School. The visiting students are primarily from Tulane University with a few from Loyola University.

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."

A team of four Smith MBAs -- Casey Rentch, Matt Adinolfi, Kamran Shahid, and Mohammed Alam -- took home first place and $4,000 at the Second Annual Inter-MBA Asset Management Competition, held at the the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. Six student teams from area graduate schools participated in the seven-month competition by managing investment portfolios and issuing final reports on strategy and performance.