Speed dating took on a new meaning for undergraduates studying finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business last week. For several hours on Oct. 26, 2016, more than 130 students mixed and mingled with almost 40 professional mentors from the field of finance at the annual Finance Fellows Networking Night. Several of the mentors were Smith alumni who returned to College Park representing firms such as Capital One, Northwestern Mutual, Deloitte, Harborside Group, and SECU, to name just a few.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is excited to announce some favorite books in the "13th Annual Top-10 Summer Reading List for Business Leaders" for 2016, as recommended by members of its faculty and administrators.

Smith student Philip Peker ’18 writes about the Joseph Wikler Memorial Finance Case Competition on April 22, 2016, at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Five teams of undergraduate finance students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business participated in the 12th Annual Joseph M. Wikler Finance Case Competition on Friday, April 24, 2015. Students presented their solutions on a Reliance Communications case, a company overloaded with debt that needed to find financing to continue operations. This year, the competition was sponsored by Madeline Wikler, continuing the tradition started by her late husband Joe Wikler over a decade ago.

Pratik Dixit BS ’13 (finance, information systems) could have chosen a glamorous study-abroad locale such as Amsterdam, Dubai or Paris. Instead, he jumped at a 12-day consulting opportunity in rural Nicaragua. Calling it a “perfect blend of service and business,” Dixit says, “Having this experience on my resume helped me say I’ve done real consulting work. … Companies are very impressed by that.” Deloitte evidently was — Dixit has been working there as a consultant since graduation.

Smith School professors are ready to infuse undergraduate business courses with a healthy dose of East Asia. Five Smith professors were invited to participate in a summer institute with the goal of integrating East Asia into their classes last month. The institute was made possible by a generous four-year grant from the Freeman Foundation to develop undergraduate curriculum in East Asian studies at the University of Maryland, and is part of an ongoing series of summer institutes.

It's the 17th annual Summer Reading List for Business Leaders – your summer reading guide as recommended by Maryland Smith's faculty experts.

The best givers take time to understand their customers, who just might want a Miles Davis poster, shares in the local utility company, a piano or a pocket calculator.