SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Saudi Arabia has announced a plan to spin off about 5 percent of its state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco — which, at $2 trillion (some estimates are even higher), may be the most valuable company on Earth.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The price of crude oil dipped below $40 for the first time since 2009 this week — a sign of the relentless pressure on oil companies caused by high global output.

A team of MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business developed and presented a health care management solution to capture the fourth annual Cognizant Business Consulting Case Competition. The Smith MBA Consulting Club hosted the competition’s final round in Van Munching Hall on October 16-17, 2015.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- U.S. oil prices have dropped to six-year lows, and the main reason is no secret. “The world is currently oversupplied,” says Charles E. Olson, a professor of the practice at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Media Alert:  July 31, 2014 Attention:  Economic, business or public policy reporters and editors COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Responding to U.S. employment figures, economic strategy experts in the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, say cheaper, plentiful energy is fundamental to the apparent economic upswing.

Despite early August rainfall, about two-thirds of the United States – mostly across the Midwest and in the South – has endured what climatologists have described as this country’s most severe drought in more than 50 years. Robert H. Smith School of Business faculty experts are available to comment on the implications for food and energy consumption. The Smith School has an in-house facility for live or taped interviews via fiber-optic line for television or multimedia content. Food Chain

Gas prices are rising with no end in sight, which would seem to indicate bad timing for a proposed gas tax hike in Maryland. Even with more pain at the pump, a tax increase could be the needed catalyst for Americans to shift to alternative energy sources. In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Charles Olson talks about how a gas tax increase in Maryland could help encourage the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel.

We’ve seen volatility in the prices at the pump this summer. Have we already hit the peak this summer or should we expect prices to continue to rise? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Charles E. Olson talks about the factors that impact gas prices.

We’ve seen volatility in the prices at the pump this summer. Have we already hit the peak this summer or should we expect prices to continue to rise? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Dr. Charles E. Olson talks about the factors that impact gas prices.

Students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business had an exciting, and possibly unprecedented, opportunity to participate in state legislature when they and their faculty advisor, Charles E. Olson, were invited to present research findings from a graduate field project (GFP) for PEPCO to the Maryland Senate Finance Committee on February 15, 2005.