Maryland Smith Faculty: Shaping the Future of Business

Smith’s faculty are dedicated educators and influential thought leaders, consistently recognized among the best scholars in the world. Their groundbreaking work is helping to frame policy, guide industry and solve some of society’s most pressing challenges.

Kyle Earns Prestigious Research Prize

Albert “Pete” Kyle, the Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance, won the Wharton-Jacobs Levy Prize for Quantitative Financial Innovation from the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research at the Wharton School. Kyle was recognized for his groundbreaking market microstructure research, widely used to understand market dynamics and develop algorithmic trading strategies. 

Anenson Named UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

T. Leigh Anenson, professor of business law, received the university’s Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award, honoring faculty who combine outstanding scholarly accomplishments with teaching excellence. 

Schlake, UMD Tackle Hunger With $5M NSF Grant

Clinical professor Oliver Schlake is part of a multidisciplinary UMD team that received a $5 million National Science Foundation grant for tech solutions to reduce food waste and feed hungry people. They created a portable food quality sensor that can detect early-stage food spoilage and a real-time app to distribute surplus food before it goes bad.

Faulkender Testifies Twice on Capitol Hill

Finance professor and former U.S. Treasury official Michael Faulkender testified before the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee on March 12 on the correlation between personal finances and the nation’s fiscal situation. In December 2023, he testified before a House Ways and Means subcommittee on how much federal debt costs taxpayers.

Maksimovic, Yang Show Social Capital Is Key for Small Business Success

Vojislav Maksimovic, the William A. Longbrake Chair in Finance, and associate finance professor Liu Yang, working with UMD journalism professors, have a university Grand Challenges Grant to study the impact of social capital on outcomes for small businesses. Their initial study of 1.2 million businesses reveals that social capital significantly influences small business financing, more so than local bank presence, income and educational levels.

Raschid, UMD Team Create Innovative Video Calling for People With Autism

Louiqa Raschid, Dean’s Professor of Information Systems,is part of a cross-disciplinary University of Maryland team working to decrease miscommunication and workplace discrimination for autistic people with a new video-calling platform, called Fostering Inclusivity through Technology. The team received a UMD Grand Challenges Grant to develop an efficient, effective and ethical technology system to help autistic and neurotypical people communicate better. 

Bjarnadóttir Develops Better Way to Address Pay Gaps

Margrét Bjarnadóttir and her co-authors developed a better way for companies to close pay gaps, outlined in Harvard Business Review. Their approach says companies should go department by department to get rid of pay gaps, figure out where the biggest pay distribution differences are and rebalance them, and use data to find and close pay gaps, but not without working with managers to determine which employees should get raises. 

Gupta Honored for Scholarly Impact

Anil K. Gupta, the Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, received the 2023 CK Prahalad Award for Scholarly Impact on Practice from the Strategic Management Society. The award recognizes excellence in the application of theory and research in practice. 

Starr’s Research Bolsters FTC Noncompete Ban

In April, the Federal Trade Commission banned noncompete agreements that keep workers from taking jobs at rivals or starting a competitor. Professor Evan Starr was cited in the ban over 110 times for his extensive research on the subject.

Rust Named Among Most Impactful Researchers Worldwide

Roland Rust, Distinguished University Professor and David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, was named one of the top 86 most impactful researchers in business and economics worldwide, the only University of Maryland professor on the list. The list was compiled using research citations and other variables by Clarivate in 2023. Rust also ranked 88th in the world in the business and management category and No. 52 in the U.S. across all business fields in the Best Scientists ranking by Research.com, 2023.

Ratner Elected President of Association for Consumer Research

Rebecca Ratner, the Dean’s Professor of Marketing, was elected the next president of the Association for Consumer Research. 

Kannan Wins European Distinguished Marketing Scholar Award

P.K. Kannan, the Dean’s Chair in Marketing Science, won the 2024 European Marketing Academy Distinguished Marketing Scholar Award for extensive, impactful research contributions.