Center for Global Business Concludes Academic Year 2018-19

Santiago Luna, the coordinator for the Center for Global Business at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, reports on the center's annual performance. 

During the 2018-19 academic year, the Center for Global Business (CGB) continued to be the driving force behind the internationalization of Maryland Smith. Some highlights of this academic year include the renewal of Center for International Business Education (CIBE), a four-year, $1.2 million Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education, 61 global mobility and on-campus programs with nearly 1,300 student participants, $175,000 of scholarship funding awarded to students, and engagement with over 100 companies to provide students with experiential global learning.

“This academic year was truly a remarkable year for the center,” said Rebecca Bellinger, executive director of CGB, “not only did we renew the CIBE grant, we expanded our portfolio to ensure that our community members have numerous opportunities to develop their global mindset. We are committed to delivering  a high-quality global education to all of our students in order to equip them with skills that employers seek in top candidates.”

A distinct achievement of the year was the center’s successful competing for a new CIBE grant in the newest round of funding, enabling CGB to expand its portfolio of activities and deliver on its commitment to building capacity in international business education across the United States. CGB also hosted several high-level thought-leadership events at Maryland Smith, including the Distinguished Speaker Series in International Business (DSS) and annual forum. In the spring, newly-appointed Maryland Secretary of Commerce, Kelly Schulz, joined CGB for the final DSS of the academic year; and Eurasia Group’s President, Ian Bremmer, was the guest speaker for CGB’s first annual forum. The final event of the year was the Global Young Professionals Institute, an introduction to global mindset for Smith freshmen, where students were given the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. to visit one of six different embassies and were officially introduced to the Passport to Global Mindset mobile app, a gamified tool to help students demonstrate their grasp of global competencies.

Visit CGB’s website to learn about our existing programs and upcoming events, and read wrap-up stories and watch video recordings of some of our thought-leadership events that took place during the academic year.