Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business (Smith School) is the business school at the University of Maryland, College Park, a public research university in College Park, Maryland. The school was named after alumnus Robert H. Smith (Accounting '50). One of 12 colleges and schools at the university's main campus, the Smith School offers programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) to award bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in business. History 20th century By the end of World War I in 1918, the United States had become the leading economic power in the world, and both U.S. domestic business and U.S investment in overseas operations surged. The stage was set for U.S. universities to heighten focus on formal Business education. In 1921, University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) introduced an undergraduate business program within the existing Department of Economics/Business Administration that included courses in Diplomacy, Constitutional law, and Public speaking. Less than 400 students enrolled. 17 years later in 1938, UMD restructured the burgeoning business program into a separate college within the University, renamed the department to the College of Commerce, and appointed internationally recognized economist Dr. W. Mackenzie Stevens to be its first dean. By 1940 the College of Commerce undergraduate business program had earned accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) (now internationalized under the name Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). In 1942, new Dean J. Freeman Pyle expanded the curriculum to deliver classes on Public administration, and reflected this widened scope by renaming to the College of Business and Public Administration (BPA).