Number of Students 199 GenderMaleFemale 65 %35 % Average Age 28 Marriage StatusSingleEngaged/CommittedMarried 43 %24 %33 % Minority StudentsAsian AmericanAfrican AmericanHispanic American 14% International StudentsAsiaEuropeLatin America

Hailing from more than 25 countries, they traveled across oceans and time zones, from as far away as India and as close as Bethesda. Leaving behind loved ones, jobs, and friends, they came together in late summer to prepare for the challenges, rigors, and rewards of the Robert H. Smith School of Business MBA program. For the 199 new full-time Smith MBAs, the academic year began August 19 with a weeklong orientation.

As part of a national program that teaches children about business and entrepreneurship, elementary students in Prince Georges (Md.) County Schools benefited from the business savvy of Smith MBA volunteers. Almost 200 fifth graders were able to participate in the program this past spring.

The Accenture MBA Case Competition, the third of four experiential learning modules (ELMs) for Smith School MBAs, took place May 3-8, 2002.

The Graduate Women In Business Club (GWIB) and the Master's Programs Office recently invited prospective female MBA students to explore the Smith MBA from a woman's perspective. GWIB's first annual open house showcased the dynamic women of Smith's past, present, and future, by joining alumnae, current students, and incoming students.

Smith School MBA student Bonnie Glick has been selected by the U.S. Department of State, to be part of a three-member team that will visit China this month to provide an objective assessment of the activities of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The team will gather information to assist the Bush Administration in determining whether or not the United Nations Population Fund?s China program is in violation of U.S. law (the Kemp-Kasten Amendment) and whether the Fund is therefore eligible to receive U.S. Government funding as appropriated.

Five first-year MBA students - Emilia Koesmanto, Kerry Garland, Elisa Foltz, Josh Saragovi, and Kevin Papacek - represented the Smith School at the First Annual Simon-Johnson Case Competition at the University of Rochester, April 6-7, 2002. The competition included 65 students from 13 top MBA programs across the country and required integrated teams, each with five students from different schools. Teams had five hours to develop and support recommendations for a General Mills Customer Web site and approximately 25 minutes to present and answer questions from a panel of judges.

Two incoming Smith School MBA students have received book fellowships through the memorial fund created to honor two Smith MBA students killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks. The students receiving the fellowship money are Timothy Soltren, a first-year, part-time MBA student at the Shady Grove campus, and Michelle Gray, a first-year, part-time MBA student in Washington, DC.

The chance to make a real impact on the community attracted six Smith School MBA students to choose the Patriots Technology Training Center (PTTC) for their MBA Consulting project. The students, all members of the schools Net Impact club, were recognized this month for their exemplary work with the PTTC.

Smith MBAs to Visit Silicon Plateau of India When you think about high technology and business education, the Smith School is one of the top institutions that come to mind. What about high technology and global business? India is surely one of the countries at the top of the list. Besides being the second most populous country and the largest democracy in the world, it is one of the fastest growing markets and an emerging global force on the world technology stage.