Hot Topic Alert: March 26, 2014 Attention: Economic and financial reporters and editors

The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) has awarded two PhD candidates at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business $4,000 each to support international business-related research focused on Chile and China.

Congratulations to the Top Graduating Seniors in each major for 2013-14! We will honor these seniors at our 14th Annual Robert H. Smith School of Business Undergraduate Awards Dinner later this semester. Dean's Leadership Award: Stephanie Graf Accounting: Kristen Ballou Finance: Hrach Kelejian Information Systems: Miles Dickinson International Business: Claire Moriarty Management: Sara Ali Marketing: Lindsay Djuhadi

The PhD program at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, is No. 11 in the world and No. 8 in the U.S., according to new rankings by The Financial Times.  The rankings are based off data collected in 2013 and can be found in the fields of the Global MBA Ranking on the Financial Times business education website. 

All faculty, program directors, deans, department chairs, alumni, and students of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business are invited to nominate deserving Smith School faculty members (i.e., tenured, tenure-track, Tyser Teaching Fellow, lecturer, adjunct, or Ph.D. student) for one of several Krowe Teaching Awards in areas of general excellence. 

1.  Be Entertained MBA Monte Carlo Night February 22, 2014 Ritz Carlton, Washington, D.C. 2. Be Inspired Social Enterprise Symposium March 7, 2014 Stamp Student Union

Shawn Mankad, assistant professor of business analytics in Smith's Decision, Operations & Information Technologies department has co-developed a formula, “RegRank,” which gauges how effectively federal regulators incorporate public feedback.

The growing crowdfunding phenomenon has exploded in the past five years with sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. With crowdfunding, startups raise the funds they need in small doses, and “investors” get returns on their small investments, or products, perks or rewards for their donation-based funding. And now recent changes to SEC rules have made it possible for crowdfunding sites to allow startups to offer qualified investors a small slice of equity.

Hank Lucas drew energy and optimism from a recent retreat amidst the world's foremost thinkers. Organizers of the 100th Renaissance Weekend invited Lucas, the Robert H. Smith Professor of Information Systems in the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, to contribute his expertise to their summit designed to build bridges among innovative leaders from diverse fields.

Academia + Entrepreneurship: When science meets great business ideas