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.

12th Annual Minority Banquet Awards

When an 80-foot tall tsunami hit the coastal area of Sumatra in South East Asia, the impact was felt all the way across the ocean to Maryland, USA. Manjula Dissanayake a senior business major here at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and a native of Sri Lanka lost several relatives.

Do you know someone who is puzzled by tax laws or unsure about which credits and deductions they can take? Free tax help is available to certain individuals through the Campus Tax Clinic 2005 (CTC '05) hosted by the Smith School and a team of MBA students. Trained and certified community volunteer tax assistors will provide help with basic income tax returns to families earning less than $35,000 per year in Van Munching Hall on April 9th and 10th. Help us spread the word about this unique service!

On March 11, 2005, a group of industry professionals and full-time and prospective MBA students gathered for a day focused on the growing field of biotechnology. Kicking off the day was keynote speaker, Dr. Wei-Wu He, general partner and co-founder of Emerging Technology Partners LLC. Dr. Hes discussion focused on the importance of biotechnology in improving human life. He focused on a case study of the discovery of insulin as a life changing treatment for patients with diabetes. "Insulin," He said, was a perfect example of the team effort needed for success in biotechnology.

On March 4th, 2005, the Smith Association of Women MBAs hosted their marquee event: the Women's Leadership Conference (WLF) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Sponsored by Bank of America, the days activities included a keynote speech by Cynthia Flanders 82, MBA 88, Middle Market Banking Executive for the Mid-Atlantic region of Bank of America, and three panels touching on consulting, finance and non-traditional careers. The day concluded with a special topic seminar on "Negotiation for Women," taught by Dr. Joyce Russell, professor of management and organization at Smith. 

Students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business had an exciting, and possibly unprecedented, opportunity to participate in state legislature when they and their faculty advisor, Charles E. Olson, were invited to present research findings from a graduate field project (GFP) for PEPCO to the Maryland Senate Finance Committee on February 15, 2005.

The MBA program at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland ranked No. 20 among all U.S. MBA programs in the Financial Times MBA 2005 rankings, published January 24th. The influential rankings place Smiths MBA program No. 6 among all U.S. public business schools and No. 30 in the world. For the fourth straight year the Smith School has ranked among the top three of the best 25 U.S. business schools in the value for money category scoring No. 3.