Recent Articles

Smith Research

Online Marketplaces: Beyond the Number of Buyers and Sellers

New online marketplaces often rely on network effects to grow, but inviting prominent sellers can shape their long-term reputation. Research from Wedad Elmaghraby and Ashish Kabra shows that high-quality sellers attract premium buyers, while lower-quality sellers foster price-sensitive markets.

Water Sustainability Initiative Underway from Smith’s CSVC, AquaKraft

The Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation and AquaKraft Ventures launch Water Parliament, a global think tank advancing water sustainability. Led by Nima Farshchi, it promotes governance, innovation, and investment, including AQOIN, the first water-backed digital asset.

Community

Building Financial Literacy, One Terp at a Time

The University of Maryland’s new Financial Wellness Center empowers students with financial literacy through peer mentoring, classes, and events. Led by the Smith School, it centralizes resources on budgeting, investing, and financial planning, preparing students for real-world financial decisions with confidence.

Suzanne Hillman Receives Inaugural Smith School Award for Community Service

The University of Maryland’s Smith School honored Suzanne Hillman with its inaugural community service award at the 2024 Accounting Graduation Dinner. A business leader and philanthropist, Hillman’s legacy of leadership, education, and economic impact inspired the award, now an annual tradition.

Alumni

Vet Ventures Into Finance

Smith MBA students and military veterans German Salazar, MBA ’25, and Charles Castelly, MBA ’26, leveraged the University System of Maryland’s Venture Fellowship to gain hands-on VC experience. Their shared journey highlights Smith’s strong veteran community and career-building opportunities in venture capital.

Experiential / Reality-based Learning

10 Career Tips From Silicon Valley Terps

Students in the QUEST Honors program explored Silicon Valley over Spring Break, pitching at Meta, visiting top tech firms, and networking with alumni. Highlights included winning Meta’s competition, touring Google and Nuro, and bonding over Bay Area adventures.

World Class Faculty & Research

Risk Matters: Tariff Risks and Opportunities for Pharma Manufacturers

Clifford Rossi, Academic Director of the Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium, warns that pharma tariffs could disrupt supply chains, raise costs, and pressure manufacturers, especially generics. Adopting continuous manufacturing (CM) offers efficiency gains, balancing risk mitigation with strategic investment.

Experiential / Reality-based Learning

Experiential Learning Abroad: Smith Students Transform Their Design Perspectives in Spain

Smith School students explored design thinking in Spain through hands-on experiences, from paella-making to site visits at iconic landmarks. Led by Professor J. Gerald Suarez, the short-term abroad course fostered creativity, innovation, and a global perspective on problem-solving.

Experiential / Reality-based Learning

Lessons Beyond Borders: Short-Term Study Abroad 2025

Smith School students participated in short-term study abroad programs across the UAE, U.K., Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Portugal, and Morocco. Led by faculty, these experiences provided firsthand exposure to global business practices, emphasizing finance, technology, sustainability, and international market dynamics.

TerpTax: Understanding Form 1099-K

Samuel Handwerger, faculty advisor for TerpTax, explains Form 1099-K—an IRS record for online sales and payments through apps. Understanding taxable income, tracking expenses, and correcting errors can save headaches. Keep good records and report income accurately to avoid issues.

Smith Research

How Cities Can Attract Remote Workers and Keep Them

When the Covid pandemic made the already growing trend of remote work ubiquitous five years ago, it also opened possibilities for where people could decide to live.

Smith Research

Flipping the Deepfake Narrative

Professors Siva Viswanathan, Balaji Padmanabhan, and PhD student Yizhi Liu at UMD’s Smith School developed a patent-pending deepfake method to detect and mitigate bias in decision-making. Their study shows how AI-generated images can improve fairness in hiring, healthcare, and criminal justice.