SMITH BRAIN TRUST — To what extent will president-elect Donald Trump and Congress deliver on a campaign pledge to rebuild U.S. infrastructure? Professor of international business Peter Morici at the University of Maryland’s Robert H.

Smith School students had the opportunity to take a field trip unlike any other when they visited the Under Armour Distribution Center and Total Distribution Services Inc. (TDSI), a CSX subsidiary, on Oct. 7, 2016. The Supply Chains Management Fellows Program, funded by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), made the tour possible for students. The program allows students to go on tours to get an authentic experience of day-to-day life in a corporation.

Professors at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business placed No. 1 in the world for "faculty quality" in The Economist's 2016 full-time MBA rankings, marking the third consecutive year atop the category. Prior to the current run, the school finished No. 2 for faculty quality in 2013. Overall, the Smith School finished No. 47 globally and No. 32 in the United States in the latest rankings, released Oct. 13.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Air passengers are poised for improved baggage handling as a result of a broader set of forthcoming rule changes announced by the White House Tuesday night on behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Contracts help human beings do what at times seems impossible. They help us cooperate and trust each other. It’s not that we fundamentally don’t trust one another.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Retweets aren't necessarily endorsements, and they definitely aren’t votes. So what can Twitter tell us about the 2016 presidential election? Maybe more than you think, new research from the University of Maryland suggests. For starters, Republican nominee Donald Trump is winning — at Twitter anyway — over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Southwest Airlines has long swiped left on online travel agencies. But now a trio of matchmakers is pushing the airline into a forced marriage of sorts in the name of consumer protection.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is happy to welcome six new full-time faculty members for the 2016-2017 academic year. New faculty joined the Smith School in August in following areas: Decision, Operations and Information Technologies Wei Chen, Visiting Lecturer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (PhD) Courtney Paulson, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California (PhD)

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — On Women’s Equality Day last week at the White House, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, General Motors and other big U.S. companies signed an “Equal Pay Pledge” to close the gender pay gap for their employees. On the same day, a pair of states passed laws for the same objective — to eliminate the often-cited statistic of U.S.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Selling your house and needing help? You’re likely focused on finding a competent agent with a successful track record, and it’s unlikely you’ll make extra time to seek character references.