About the Smith School

One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland in College Park, the Smith School is plugged into the business, government, nonprofit and professional networks of the Washington, D.C., metroplex.

Our community of scholars and practitioners is deeply supportive of learning while equipping students to succeed in an often contentious marketplace.

Our broad range of programs, certificates and degrees are designed to prepare working professionals to hit the ground running in a world economy that is in flux, with technology and global competition accelerating the pace of change.

To do that, we offer undergraduate, online and on-campus business master's, full-time, part-time, online and executive MBA, and PhD degree programs, and non-degree and executive education programs.

The world economy is in flux. Technology and global competition are accelerating the pace of change. Entrepreneurs are working relentlessly to find the next big ideas and take them to market and to scale. The future is uncertain but filled with boundless opportunity.

Smith Leadership

Prabhudev Konana became Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business on January 2, 2021. In this role, he leads the Smith School in its mission to promote research excellence, sustainable innovative programs, and an inclusive learning environment that fosters intellectual discovery and equips current and future leaders to assess complex problems and deliver innovative solutions. Dean Konana previously served as Associate Dean of Instructional Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. The school recognized him for championing innovative specialty programs, technology-enabled instruction, and experiential learning, and for promoting strategic partnerships with businesses to support transformative research and learning experiences for students.

Quick Facts

Robert H. Smith School of Business

A premier, global business school.
The flagship home of business education in Maryland.
A recognized leader in education and research.
With a rich mix of innovative programs.
Serving students, employers, alumni, business, government, nonprofits.

Where We Are

Campuses: In Maryland, in College Park, Baltimore and Rockville; in Washington, D.C., and in Beijing, China.
10 minutes from Washington, D.C., the seat of the U.S. government and home to international consulting firms, global advocacy and nonprofit firms, financial institutions, hospitality headquarters and technology businesses. There’s no better place to be.

What Distinguishes Us

Our analytics-focused curriculum;
Our world-renowned faculty; and
Our thriving and diverse community.

Our People

Faculty: 246 faculty members

Staff: 196 staffers

Students: 47% out-of-state, 53% in-state; from 38 states, 86 countries

2,898 undergraduate students
139 full-time MBA students
492 part-time MBA students
345 online MBA students
764 specialty master's students
80 PhD candidates
39 executive MBA students

Alumni: 70,000+ worldwide, 35,000+ in metro D.C.

Robert H. Smith ’50, prolific real estate developer and the visionary behind the interconnected underground Crystal City complex in Arlington, Va. The namesake of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
Leo Van Munching ’50, former CEO of Heineken, North America
Allen J. Krowe ’54, former CFO, EVP of IBM; former CFO, Vice-Chairman of Texaco
Ed Snider ’55, former chairman of Comcast-Spectacor and owner of the Philadelphia Flyers
William Mayer ’66, MBA ’67, founder of Park Avenue Equity Partners and former CEO of First Boston Corporation, now Credit Suisse
Gary Williams ’68, Former Head Coach of University of Maryland Men’s Basketball
Robert "Bob" Basham ’70, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse
Michael J. Ward ’72, former chairman, president and CEO of CSX Corporation
Eric Billings ’77Chairman/Founder of FBR Capital Markets, Chairman and CEO of Arlington Asset Investment Corp
Carly Fiorina, MBA ’80, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
Rob McGovern ’83, founder of CareerBuilder.com
Brenda Freeman, ’87, MBA ’91, CEO of Arteza
Andrea Brody ’87, CMO at Riskonnect
Richard Dickson ’90, president/COO of Mattel
Beatriz Perez ’91, SVP, chief communications, public affairs, sustainability and marketing assets officer at Coca-Cola
Marguerita M. Cheng ’93, founder and CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth
Lisa Anders, MBA ’95, vice president of business development at MCN Build
Kristen Welch ’90, MBA ’96, Chief Financial Officer at Illustrative Mathematics
Kevin Plank ’96, founder and executive chairman of Under Armour
Roy Schwartz ’98, MBA ’01, Axios co-founder
Jigar Shah, MBA ’01, President and Co-Founder of Generate Capital, founder and former CEO of SunEdison
David Quattrone, MBA ’05, co-founder and CTO of Cvent Inc.
Sherika Ekpo, MBA ’09, global diversity and inclusion lead at Google AI
Donna Blackman, MBA ’10, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer for K12

MBA

Deloitte

Citi

IBM

Northrop Grumman

Amazon.com

PepsiCo

Specialty Master’s

PwC

EY

KPMG

Deloitte

Capital One

Amazon Web Services

Undergraduate

Accenture

Capital One

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Northrop Grumman

PwC

MBA

Technology

Consulting

Financial Services

Consumer Packaged Goods

Specialty Master’s

Technology

Financial Services

Consulting

Undergraduate

Professional Services

Financial Services

Technology

Consulting

1921: Business curriculum launched by Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Maryland.
1938: Department becomes College of Commerce.
1942: College renamed College of Business and Public Administration.
1966: Doctoral program established.
1973: College’s business administration department becomes College of Business and Management.
1995: College becomes Maryland Business School.
1998: Robert H. Smith, ’50, pledges $15 million; school renamed Robert H. Smith School of Business.
1999: Leo Van Munching Jr. ’50 donates $6 million to help finance the expansion and renovation of Van Munching Hall, which will give Smith the most advanced information technology infrastructure and learning environment in the nation.
1999: The Smith School launches a Baltimore-based, part-time evening MBA program.
2000: The Smith School launches a part-time, evening MBA program in Washington, D.C.
2003: The 18-month executive MBA (EMBA) program is launched.
2005: Smith launches the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS).
2005: Smith launches its Undergraduate Fellows Program.
2006: In response to a critical shortage of auditors after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Smith launches its Master of Business in Accounting program. It will become the first of several new MS programs.
2006: A $1.4 million grant from the Department of Education allows the Smith School to launch the Center for International Business Education and Research. It would later be called the Center for Global Business.
2009: The Smith School launches the Center for Social Value Creation.
2009: The Center for Financial Policy is launched.
2010: The Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change is launched.
2013: The school’s first online degree program, the online MBA, is launched.
2014: The Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets launches with a $5 million gift from the Snider Foundation and $1 million from the Charles Koch Foundation.
2015: The Smith School receives a $10 million gift from the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation to support MBA scholarships, undergraduate leadership programs and facility enhancements.
2021: Prabhudev Konana appointed as dean of the Smith School. New programs launched: Online MS in Business Analytics, Graduate Certificate in Technology Management, Business Honors program and Smith Business Leadership Fellows.

Location

If you want to connect to the forces that are transforming the way the world does business, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland is your gateway.

Located in College Park, Md., eight miles from The White House, The Smith School is plugged into a metroplex that is wired to the circuitry of government, corporate and international power.

The region is rich in unparalleled professional opportunity, smart people and jobs, and diverse cultural and recreational resources.

One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, The Smith School is a short drive or metro ride to the nerve center of leaders and policymakers who shape the national economy and drive the global marketplace.

Learn More: Location

Global Community

Our more than 70,000 alums across the globe weave together a bright and accomplished tapestry that spans all facets and levels of business. Our faculty is complemented by many international professors, whose global lens bring a different and refreshing perspective to the classroom and their renowned research. This sprawling community of Smith School graduates and faculty means that, no matter where you find yourself, you’ll have a connection.

Learn More: Global Community

Meet Bob Smith

Robert H. Smith walked through the corridors of Van Munching Hall more often than most students realized. Trim and silver-haired, the man who named the Smith School was unassuming, genial and genuinely interested in everyone he met. His enormous natural talents took him to the top of his profession. His passionate beliefs in the goodness of our country, the potential of every person and the importance of investing in excellence made him one of the most influential philanthropists the Washington, D.C., region has ever known.

Learn More: Robert H. Smith

Mission and Values

Mission

The Smith School's mission is to create knowledge, promote an inclusive learning environment that fosters intellectual discovery, and equip current and future leaders to assess complex problems and deliver innovative solutions.

Values

We act with integrity and practice intellectual honesty
We treat each other with respect, embracing diversity of viewpoints and values
We see beyond our own interests and seek to have a lasting impact on those around us
We advocate for equity for all members of our community

We’re passionate about the pursuit of new insights in research
We’re fearless about incorporating new methods and ideas into our classrooms
We champion intelligent risk-taking and learn from our failures
We fearlessly communicate around issues of inclusion to create a welcoming environment for all

We make decisions based on rigorous examination of the evidence
We practice what we teach in all areas of management
We collaborate to create long-term value for our students, our university, our communities and our state
We value diverse teams as critical assets that drive business excellence

Civility Statement

We as OneSmith promote academic freedom, DEI and civility. True to our common values, we expect our community to deliver -- and receive - communication in a courteous and open-minded manner. Mutual respect, politeness and civil behavior are vital to our shared success, and we will hold ourselves accountable to this standard.

Administrative Offices

Smith is a large and complex organization, with more than 5,000 students across five campuses – in College Park, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md., Rockville, Md., and Beijing, China. To serve the needs of all of those students, Smith has 200 faculty and 155 staff members.