Smith Business Magazine: Special Silver Jubilee Edition - Magazine - Page 2
DEAN’S CORNER
Greetings from the Dean
Twenty-昀椀ve years ago, Robert H. Smith
’50 saw the potential in the University of
Maryland’s business school, and chose
to invest in our future. Twenty-昀椀ve years
before that, the department of business
administration 昀椀rst became a school of its
own. What remarkable achievements have
been made in just 50 short years!
In this Silver Jubilee edition of Smith
Business magazine, we celebrate the
history of the school that became the
Robert H. Smith School of Business, and
re昀氀ect on the impact of Mr. Smith’s
transformational gift.
Thousands of students have gone on
to ful昀椀lling careers in every industry
imaginable. Our alumni have led Fortune
500 companies in the C-Suite, many
of them as CEOs. They have served in
the government, in the military, and in
nonpro昀椀t organizations. They have created
new products and brands that went on
to become household names, like Under
Armour, SkinnyPop and Cvent.
The school is also an intellectual
powerhouse. Our research informs
policy decisions, creates improvements
in healthcare, drives innovation, and
challenges the status quo.
The next 25 years will be crucial as
we reimagine learning in order to educate
students to become the thought leaders
of tomorrow. They will change the shape
of the world and address its biggest
challenges. Global friction, social inequities,
the role of AI—as the world around us
transforms in unprecedented ways, our
students must be ready to create a better
society for all.
It is incredible to see all of the progress
being made just over the past two years as
we pursue an ambitious strategic plan that
will better prepare students to lead and
thrive in a technology-driven future.
We are incredibly proud to be the Robert
H. Smith School of Business. I invite you
to share that pride as you look through
these pages.
Best,
—Prabhudev Konana
The next 25 years
will be crucial
as we reimagine
learning in order to
educate students
to become the
thought leaders
of tomorrow.
