University of Maryland B-School Launches $12M PhD Program Initiative

College Park, Md. - February 14, 2008 - The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland today announced a $12 million PhD program initiative that will significantly enhance the schools ability to retain and attract the worlds best and brightest students. The initiative one of the most ambitious in the United States increases annual doctoral stipends by 45 percent to $32,500 and provides research and travel support. Philanthropist and school namesake Robert H. Smith, a 1950 graduate, contributed $6 million toward the program, matched with funds from the University of Maryland and the business school.

The University is very grateful for Bob Smiths generosity. The Smith School of Business is already internationally renowned and this latest gift will give the students in its Ph.D. program even greater opportunity, said University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. The University of Maryland is very fortunate to be collaborating on this initiative with Bob Smith. Together we are investing in a program that will significantly create educational opportunities for students planning a future in research.

The Smith School is investing in its PhD program at a time when PhD programs are in crisis from a lack of sufficient resources, and business schools likewise suffer from a lack of talent to fill faculty positions, said Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. We hope to set an example by changing where the bar is set so ultimately, more and more talented students will consider entering an academic career.

The shortage of qualified business school faculty is so severe the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) created a Management Education Task Force that, in its 2003 study Management Education At Risk, declared Unless decisive action is taken to reverse declines in business doctoral education, academic business schools, universities, and society will be faced with an inevitable erosion in the quality of business education and research.

The Smith PhD Initiative includes a number of components designed to offer its doctoral students an unprecedented degree of compensation, resources and benefits. These include:

• Super-stipends: Incoming PhD candidates will benefit from a $32,500 annual stipend and subsequent $1,000 increases each succeeding year. Stipends for graduate students currently in the program will increase to average more than $25,000 per year. Additional stipends will be available for students who advance to candidacy and those who publish papers in A level research journals.
• Dissertation support office: A dedicated office with a professional editor and English-language training resources will assist the production of effective dissertations, teaching and communications training
• Research support: Doctoral students will gain from year-round support to facilitate research and fifth-year fellowships for top students in order to increase research output and improve placement prospects.
• Increased travel budget: Students will be encouraged to more actively exchange knowledge and ideas with $1,500 per year available for travel and conferences
• State-of-the-art facilities: PhD students will enjoy a dedicated suite and offices in a newly completed wing of the Smith Schools Van Munching Hall, opened January 2008. The PhD space was funded by William A. Longbrake, a 1976 doctoral alumnus now vice chair of Washington Mutual.

The Smith Schools PhD program, ranked No. 6 in the United States and No. 13 in the world by theFinancial Times (2008), has grown in both numbers and reputation over the past decade. The program attracts a global and very diverse group of PhD students. Currently 95 students represent 17 countries; about 69 percent are international and about 46 percent are women. Students regularly present papers at national as well as regional conferences and have papers accepted in major academic journals. In the past five years, 99 percent of Smiths Ph.D. students have been successfully placed directly after they graduate about 80 percent as tenure-track assistant professors at accredited universities, and the rest as researchers in private or government organizations.

About the Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research for the digital economy. One of 14 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, MS, 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 three continents including North America, Europe and Asia.