Organizations of all sizes need more of the entrepreneurial spirit that pervades the University of Maryland, PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said March 25, 2015, during CEO@Smith at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “People often think that entrepreneurship is about the little guy, the garage tinkerer  -- David going out to battle against Goliath,” Nooyi told a packed auditorium of about 400 faculty, staff and students. “I say 'no'.

In the largest CEO@Smith event to date, Wes Bush, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman, discussed developing critical technologies of the defense industry and developing great employees and leaders that make those technologies happen. “One of the most important activities of any leader is developing the team of leaders for the future,” he said to the audience of students, faculty and staff in Frank Auditorium. Bush came to the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, on Feb. 3, 2015, as the first speaker in the 2015 CEO @ Smith Speaker Series.

Smith Promotes Leadership with Corporate Partners You might not think of yourself as a leader, but BB&T CEO Kelly King insists you are. “The question is: Are you going to be a good leader or a bad leader?” King explained to the students, faculty, staff and guests at his CEO@Smith presentation on Nov. 6, 2013, that while you may not always be in a leadership role, you can still be a leader to others.

“Enthusiastically go after every single day.” This was the message of BB&T Chairman and CEO Kelly King’s Nov. 6 CEO@Smith presentation at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “Passion causes us to give it our all. Be passionate and purposeful about life – you can make a difference.”

“My day started at 3:45 a.m.,” said Chester “Chet” Burrell. And that’s typical for the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield president and CEO. He spends his first two hours every day answering emails and making important decisions in the quiet of his home office before heading to work for a typical 12-hour day of meetings, presentations and perhaps a speaking engagement. But Burrell says none of it seems like work to him. Running CareFirst is his passion and mission in life. He encouraged students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

“I believe that businesses are meant to serve the society, not simply meant to serve the shareholders,” B. Muthuraman told an auditorium filled with students, alumni, faculty and staff on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Muthuraman, vice chairman of Tata Steel, joined the Robert H. Smith School of Business as the final speaker of the semester in the CEO@Smith speaker series. He spoke to the audience in Frank Auditorium about corporate social responsibility and India’s economic growth, in addition to giving advice to students.

Ninja innovation can foster individual and company success, and ultimately, a robust national economy. This message was central to the latest CEO at Smith lecture, given March 13 by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) which produces the yearly International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Mike Kahn said he’s never seen an organization so concerned and caring toward its students as the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, and knew he wanted to be a part of that. He was happy to share some of the wisdom he’s gleaned from his years in the aerospace and defense industry with business and engineering students as the first speaker in the spring line-up of the CEO@Smith speaker series, Feb. 5, 2013.

David Williams may have surprised a room full of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business when he gave them some advice for the future during a speech on Sept. 19, 2012. Quite simply, he told them to use a common tool from their elementary school days: the Venn Diagram.

C.E. Andrews has seen it all – from the demise of Arthur Anderson to the conflicts at Sallie Mae, his business career has been full of challenges. Andrews transformed these difficult situations into learning situations and joined students at the Robert H. Smith School of Business to share common myths of the business world and tips for being a successful leader in whom others can place their trust.