The Smith School of Business has moved to the front of the class.
Part of the University of Maryland, the Robert H. Smith School of Business has earned a No. 17 ranking among public U.S. business schools and 30th worldwide, as placed in the Financial Times MBA 2007 rankings.
“We?re really thrilled,” said Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “It represents what we believe is the true position of the school among the best programs.”
The Financial Times annual rankings list 100 global business schools, compiled from a survey of alumni, school data and an assessment of research, in an article published Jan. 29. The rating examines alumni career progress, the program?s global focus and the “generation of intellectual capital,” the article reported.
Smith is also ranked fifth in the world for research, calculated by the number of faculty research articles published in 40 of the world?s top academic journals.
“What?s close to remarkable is [that] in 1993-1996, we were something like 50th,” Frank said. “Now we?re fifth.”
The school has been working very hard at recruiting faculty, he said. Since then, the number of faculty has gone from 70 to more than 120.
Notable publications by Smith?s booming faculty include a report by professors Gregory Willard and Mark Loewenstein that was featured in the Journal of Finance in February 2006. Both received national recognition for their work “The Limits of Investor Behavior” when they were awarded the Smith Breeden Distinguished Paper Prize. The award is presented annually for the top three papers covering an area other than corporate finance.
Smith?s best standing was No. 2 among the top 20 U.S. schools in “value for money,” calculated by using the salary earned by alumni three years after graduation and course costs.
Financial Times? survey reported that 95 percent of Smith School graduates had accepted jobs within three months of earning their degrees, the second-best 2006 MBA placement rate among the top 20 schools.
“What that means is we?re bringing in and putting out good students at a high value and a high percentage,” Frank said.
