Silver Jubilee

Researchers are navigating the future of remote work, figuring out how to achieve pay equity, and determining how gender impacts the way managers advocate for their employees.

Rebecca Hann, assistant dean of doctoral programs and Dean’s Professor of Accounting, co-authored a study that found peer pressure among companies determines their long-term work-from-home strategies. Many CEOs are “reluctant to move completely to remote work," but if their competitors are doing it they have “to seriously consider it or risk losing talent.” 

Associate professor Margrét Bjarnadóttir designed an algorithm that measures an employer’s gender pay gap and suggests salary adjustments to close them. “We don’t focus on whether or not somebody is paid less than what we expect, but on who is facing the most bias—those are the employees we target for raises.”

Associate professor Cristian Dezsö’s research finds female managers are more competitive than their male counterparts when advocating for protégés, regardless of whether their subordinate is a man or a woman. Dezsö says men are more competitive on behalf of a male protégé so they could perpetuate gender disparities when they decide who to compete for.

Smith researchers are deciphering how artificial intelligence and new app technologies are impacting people and industries. 

Assistant professor Lauren Rhue examined how AI facial recognition emotion tracking technology disproportionately negatively affects Black users. Using photo sets of NBA players, she conducted an emotional analysis comparison of two prominent facial recognition services. Both services interpreted Black players as having more negative emotions than white players. The findings, Rhue says, serve as a reminder that disparities in AI often mirror the disparities in the offline world.

Associate professor Jui Ramaprasad studied an online dating app feature that allows users to see the identities of people who “like” them and how that impacts their behavior on the platform. If a user thinks their digital admirer is attractive, it boosts their confidence and can cause them to be more active on the app. “Once you see the person who likes you, it increases the number of matches you achieve in the end,” Ramaprasad said. For women, the researchers saw an increase in the number of messages they sent and the matches they received.  
 

Smith faculty are helping to navigate the impacts of climate change, labor laws, the COVID-19 pandemic and international trade relations.

Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi and 11 master’s students worked with Freddie Mac to develop an interactive dashboard to pinpoint U.S. regions with the highest risk for property damage from weather extremes and natural disasters intensified by climate change. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, banks, insurance companies and policymakers can all use this information for underwriting mortgages and insurance policies, and for figuring out which areas need more government resources. 

Assistant professor Evan Starr has done extensive research on noncompete agreements and just how pervasive and detrimental they are—especially for low-wage workers. Starr’s work has been the impetus behind the Biden Administration’s work to curb these agreements. His research was cited more than 60 times in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission proposal to ban noncompete agreements in labor contracts. 

Michael Faulkender, Dean’s Professor of Finance and former assistant U.S. Treasury Secretary, led the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program, which helped millions of businesses keep their workers on the job during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Russell Wermers, Paul J. Cinquegrana ‘63 Endowed Chair in Finance and director of the Center for Financial Policy, serves on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Asset Management Advisory Committee to advise the SEC on how regulations and industry trends impact investors. The committee includes regulators and top executives and investment managers at some of the country’s largest banks and institutional investment advisors.

Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance and a founder of the Center for Financial Policy, was tapped by the Biden Administration to help navigate a push to strengthen economic ties with Africa. Senbet, the former head of the African Economic Research Consortium, provided expertise for a summit of leaders from across Africa in December 2022 and consulted with congressional staff members on legislation to strengthen U.S.-Africa trade relations.

Faculty are taking on food insecurity, nutrition and financial fraud against vulnerable populations.

In 2023, clinical professor Oliver Schlake began work on the Mid-Atlantic Food Resiliency Network, a program funded by a $750,000 National Science Foundation grant to help the 9 million U.S. children that grapple with food insecurity. Schlake is “studying patterns, finding factors that influence a food emergency, dialing these factors down and finding out there are certain factors that exist when an urban area becomes a food desert.”

When the USDA undertook an overhaul of the food pyramid in 2011, Rebecca Ratner, Dean’s Professor of Marketing, helped create and test the new visualization tool: MyPlate. This graphic taught Americans to fill half of their plate with fruits and vegetables at any given meal—a simple directive that had the sticking power the USDA sought and the program launched under then-First Lady Michelle Obama.

Accounting lecturer Samuel Handwerger has developed a path to restitution for victims of financial fraud. In collaboration with the Prince George’s County Police Financial Crimes Unit and the State Attorney’s Office, Smith’s Justice for Fraud Victims Program offers students a unique volunteering opportunity to investigate instances of financial fraud against members of vulnerable populations.

The school’s nine Centers of Excellence stand at the intersection of scholarship and business enterprise.

Smith’s Centers of Excellence position students at the cutting edge of business—even before they don their cap and gown.

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship is renowned for empowering students' dreams of starting their own businesses. It’s the #1 graduate entrepreneurship program in the Mid-Atlantic and has ranked among the Top 10 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the country for eight years straight.

Michael Hoffmeyer, the center’s managing director, says it “offers aspiring student entrepreneurs a wealth of real-world experiences. Entrepreneurial alumni also receive support, including access to vital programs like Terp Startup Fellows, which provides funding and other assistance for up to two years.”

One of the many examples of how essential the Dingman Center is to getting student start-ups off and running is Aurora Tights. It’s an athletic apparel brand for performers of all shades and sizes. Jasmine Snead ‘18, MBA/MPP ‘21, is one of the co-founders and says, “Dingman played a critical role in my entrepreneurship journey.” She won the $15,000 grand prize during the 2019 Pitch Dingman Competition.

The Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets leverages its programs, events and interdisciplinary research to promote a free market. “We strive to understand and explain how enterprise and markets create value, thereby enabling upward mobility, progress and broadly shared prosperity,” says Rajshree Agarwal, Director of the Snider Center. “This work is a reflection of Smith’s central belief that business done right and well is a benefit to society.”

In keeping with its mission to educate, engage and empower the Smith community, the Center for Social Value Creation gives students, alumni and faculty the chance to learn the latest green business practices.

The Center for Global Business brings international business to Smith’s doorstep and takes students abroad.

The Center for Financial Policy, the Supply Chain Management Center and the Center for Excellence in Service also number among Smith’s specialized hubs of scholarship.