Prathiba Pandiarajan

University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith Business School

“Passionate, thoughtful, dependable, fostering growth in both personal and professional realms, and an enthusiastic foodie.”

Hometown: Chennai, India

Fun fact about yourself: I have a knack for cooking dishes without following any recipes, relying solely on my intuition and taste — but I can never replicate the same dish!

Undergraduate School and Degree: Bachelor of Design (specialized in Textile Design) from National Institute of Fashion Technology, India

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Merchandise manager at Kanakavalli Retail where I led merchandising and operations for a retail brand.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? Coherent Corp., Santa Clara, CA, as a marketing analyst

Where will you be working after graduation? Undecided

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Executive Vice President of MBA Association 2023-2024,
• Smith Relations Chair for Orientation 2023,
• 1st year Board member of International MBA Association,
• Smith Fellowship recipient,
• Graduate Assistantship – Logistics, Business, and Public Policy,
• Teaching Assistant for Data Driven Decision Making, Marketing Management and Marketing Policies and Strategies

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? During my business school experience, I am most proud of leading as the Executive Vice President of the MBA Association. This role provided an opportunity to hone my leadership skills. Prior to business school, I focused on influencing team members within my circle. However, within the MBA community, I discovered the diversity of my peers’ backgrounds, challenges, and aspirations to be a valuable element in making thoughtful decisions. As Executive Vice President, I spearheaded various initiatives to enrich the student-led events and foster a sense of belonging within our cohort. It was more than just planning gatherings; it was about creating experiences that resonated with every member of our diverse community, such as organizing a pre-orientation virtual meet with the MBA Association for the incoming cohort, so they get to meet and know us before beginning their business school journey. These efforts fostered friendships and professional connections within the cohort and established a strong foundation for future cohorts to build upon. This experience reinforced the effect of collaboration and teamwork, as the support I received from the MBAA board was instrumental to our collective success. It instilled in me the importance of understanding diverse perspectives and harnessing them to drive positive change within an organization.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m most proud of my involvement in increasing the revenue of local artisanal businesses in the state of Tamil Nadu for a consulting project funded by the state government in India. The aim of this project was to study and document the craft, processes, and infrastructure available to artisanal businesses, and diagnose the weaknesses that hinder their growth. During my interactions with the artisans, I noted a gap in their ecommerce and social media presence. Because most artisanal businesses are set in rural areas with very limited access to training in digital technologies, they were unable to use the digital tools to sell directly to their customers.

I spearheaded the development of an ecommerce training program to empower the artisans with digital business tools so that they can be self-sufficient in reaching their customers. This program concentrated on enabling artisans to identify their target market and execute transactions entirely through online channels. The participants of this program saw an increase in their revenue through new avenues on social media and ecommerce platforms. Following the success of this program, I co-authored a proposal urging the government to expand this training initiative across the state.

Why did you choose this business school? Smith offered a dual degree program in my desired fields (MBA & Marketing Analytics), but it was the close-knit community that truly drew me in. Small class sizes with a diverse group of peers promised an environment where I could connect with diverse individuals. This was echoed in every interaction I had with the Smith community. A specific example that resonated was my interaction with a Smith alumna. Her extensive and candid response to my queries cemented my belief in the collaborative environment at Smith. Smith’s accomplished faculty, with their research and practical experience across business disciplines, offered invaluable guidance and mentorship. From professors to supportive staff and alumni, everyone I encountered embodied this spirit of mutual support and shared success.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is a tough one as Smith has so many great professors! Each professor brought unique insights to the classroom, contributing to my learning experience. To name a few – Prof. Tunay Tunca’s teaching style ensures every student has mastered the concepts regardless of their prior knowledge. His teaching laid a strong foundation for understanding data analysis using statistical models and hypothesis tests, emphasizing its crucial role in business decision-making. This laid the groundwork for subsequent analytical courses. Prof. Judy Frels and Prof. Mary Beth Furst provided guidance and pushed the boundaries of my critical thinking. It shaped my problem-solving and strategic thinking skills that are essential in marketing. Prof. Judy incorporates a discussion on current events and relates it to the marketing strategies for each class, which made the learning experience immersive and holistic.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? While Thursday Social is a very popular MBA tradition, I look forward to the annual Monte Carlo Night – now hitting its 22nd year. The MBA Association goes all out to put this together, bringing faculty, students from all graduate programs, and alumni under one roof. It’s more than just a party; it’s where you see the true spirit of our school. Everyone’s out, just mingling and enjoying the moment. It’s a blast and shows what our community is all about—learning, connecting, and, most importantly, having a good time together.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have taken more financial modeling classes and aimed to join the Mayer Fund. It’s a $7.5 million investment fund run entirely by second-year Smith MBAs. They’re predicting global trends, analyzing companies, and pitching investment ideas. As a marketing-focused student, jumping into the finance deep end with the Mayer Fund crew would have given me a whole new perspective in getting firsthand insight into the market’s pulse. It would have rounded my skills to view business through a finance lens.

What is the biggest myth about your school? The assumption that my school’s small class size means limited resources and a less vibrant student experience is far from the truth! Our alumni network and faculty are impressive, offering tons of opportunities for growth. Plus, it’s all about our Terp community here. Through programs like Terps Helping Terps or the Terp Networking Team, alumni actively engage with and support our student community. This collaborative spirit extends into every project and class, where we learn as much from each other as we do from the textbooks.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I absolutely loved most was its proximity to DC. It’s like you get a front-row seat to the urban energy and vibrancy of the capital. Yet, it was the weather’s unpredictability that spiced up our daily lives. One day, you’re basking in sunshine, and then suddenly, it’s raining, or you’re feeling the chill of cold, frosty air – all in 24 hours. It’s this wild, unpredictable weather mix that somehow adds to the charm, making every day an adventure.

What surprised you the most about business school? Before starting business school, I heard it was all about parties and golf—sounded fun, right? That’s not true. Reality hit hard with intense classes and workloads heavier than anything I’d faced before. It was tough but extremely rewarding. Diving into challenging subjects really pushed me out of my comfort zone. So much for the party myth, but I wouldn’t trade the growth and learning for anything.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Aravind Srinivasan stands out for his honest feedback and is always ready to lend a hand, especially in his role with the Office of Career Services. He’s been a massive help to the first-year MBAs, giving extra support to the international students with their internship search strategies. He is a go-getter and very hard-working. Despite a busy schedule, he is pursuing his passion for analytics through a dual degree in MBA and MS in Business Analytics and serving as the President of the International MBA Association. Can’t wait to see him kill it in his full-time role at S&P Global. Best of luck to him!

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1) Launch a startup: Build a company from the ground up with a team bringing a vision to life sounds super rewarding. I’ve even tossed this around with colleagues from my cohort as we click amazingly well on projects and would make a stellar team.

2) Start a mentorship program for Artisans: I plan to start a mentorship program specifically designed for artisans, that will bridge the gap between traditional craftsmanship and modern business practices to thrive in a global marketplace.

What made Prathiba such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“Prathiba has been an absolutely outstanding student and classmate in our MBA program,

and one of the most impressive students I have met in my career (including Maryland Smith

as well as Stanford GSB). She first caught my attention when I was teaching the first-year MBA core course Data Driven Decision Making to her cohort. During class, she was very active and extremely sharp, making very insightful comments that always benefited class discussions. She did so well in the class that I was very surprised to learn that she did not have the traditional quantitative undergraduate degree that the students do best in my class usually have: her undergraduate degree was in Design! I was so impressed with her performance and brightness that I offered her the Teaching Assistant position for my course next year (which is a very competitive job as many top MBA students apply to TA the course). In Fall 2023 she was a TA for my class, and she was one of the best TAs I ever had in my 20-plus years as a faculty. What is more, she did such a great job while she was the TA for two other courses during the same semester!

Further, she is an MBA/Marketing Analytics dual degree candidate, taking a challenging, data analytics-heavy courseload and still maintaining a 3.9 GPA, which is extremely impressive. But Prathiba’s qualities are not limited to academics. She has had great academic success while being one of the most prominent community builders at Smith. As MBA Association VP, a role central to the social and community life for MBA students, she has been the voice between the school administration and the MBA students. She has served in other leadership roles as well, such as Smith Relations Chair for Orientation, and as an International MBA Association board member. Her energy, leadership and positive attitude has been crucial to the MBA life at Smith these past two years. She is universally beloved by her professors, her classmates, school administration, and staff. When I chat with first-year students, they frequently mention her name as a second-year MBA they admire in many ways. I have no doubt she will be a star professional as much as she has been a star student and classmate at Smith.”

Tunay I. Tunca
Dean’s Professor of Management Science and Operations Management

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2024