Facing real-world corporate challenges, working on a team to find solutions and presenting the findings within a few days to knowledgeable and invested professionals is a tough way to earn a grade – and some money. But that is exactly what more than two dozen undergraduate finance majors did on April 6, 2018, when they participated in the Emerging CFOs Case Competition. Similar annual events are a big part of what provides the one-year Emerging CFOs Fellows Program with an experiential edge and connects students to experts in the field.
Two of the judges for the four-to-six person teams included top executives with Leidos, the company under the gaze of the case competition. The other three judges brought with them extensive experience in finance. Coordinating the day’s challenge was Clinical Professor Susan White, the Smith School’s Emerging CFOs faculty champion and the faculty chair for all of the Finance Fellows programs.
White described the day’s event: “Five Emerging CFO teams and one Master of Finance team presented in this year's Emerging CFO case competition. We worked with Leidos Holdings, looking at the spin-off of the IS&GS division of Lockheed Martin and the Reverse Morris Trust that made it part of Leidos. Students valued both companies from a hedge fund manager’s point of view, and decided whether to keep Lockheed Martin shares or exchange them for Leidos shares.”
Cash awards are given to the first three teams. Earning $150 each, the first place team members were:
Sam Hartz, Susanna Hassan, Jessica Martins, Nicole Miller and Rahul Vazarkar. The winning team is automatically invited to participate in the upcoming Joseph M. Wikler Case Competition, where students can earn $1,000 each for placing first.
“I'm very proud of all of them,” said White.
The Emerging CFOs program is for students interested in corporate finance and investment banking. Emerging CFOs provides in-depth analysis of corporate finance aspects of finance and provides students with enhanced leadership and communication skills.
For more information on Emerging CFOs Fellows Program or any of the other 14 unique Fellows Programs, visit the Smith Fellows website.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.