Academics
Courses
The Master of Professional Studies in Product Management’s 30-credit, 10-course curriculum can be completed in 15-months, with students enrolling in two 3-credit courses per 12-week term.
An Innovative Online Curriculum
This course introduces the core functions of a product manager, including customer discovery, product strategy, and lifecycle management. Students explore how product managers lead at every stage of development, transitioning from project to product thinking while building vision, alignment, and delivery capabilities.
Students examine how organizations manage change, drive innovation, and evaluate emerging technologies. The course introduces innovation frameworks and teaches students how to implement new solutions that align with evolving business needs.
Students design and test business models, segment target customers, and validate value propositions. Emphasis is placed on conducting interviews, iterating with feedback, and translating insights into compelling product narratives.
This course focuses on experimental thinking and the use of Bayesian methods to guide product decisions. Students build skills in designing surveys, interpreting data, and making confident, data-informed choices throughout the discovery and delivery process.
Students apply design thinking and agile principles to build meaningful, scalable products. Through structured experimentation and customer-centric design, they learn how to de-risk innovation and lead through ambiguity.
This course explores lean operations and system optimization. Students study engineering paradigms like Agile, DevOps, and value stream mapping to align teams and processes for faster, more effective product delivery.
Students learn to develop and execute go-to-market strategies, manage customer acquisition, and drive growth. Key topics include product positioning, customer segmentation, and promotion planning.
Product managers must align diverse stakeholders. This course teaches negotiation strategies, conflict resolution, IP and contract basics, and how to advocate for strategic product decisions under pressure.
Students explore leadership strategies for building innovation-ready organizations. Topics include OKRs, product portfolio governance, lean budgeting, and culture-shaping techniques to lead cross-functional teams.
This course prepares students to make sound financial decisions across the product lifecycle. Students learn how to build product budgets, evaluate opportunity costs, and align financial strategy with product growth.
Featured Faculty
James V. Green
Business Modeling and Customer Validation
Dr. Green is the Managing Director of Learning and Development for the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) at the University of Maryland. He leads the Master of Professional Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation, Master of Professional Studies in Product Management, and Minor in Technology Entrepreneurship. He is a national presenter on entrepreneurship education with refereed papers and presentations at conferences for the Academy of Management (AOM), the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).
Prior to the University of Maryland, Dr. Green held founder, executive, and operational roles with multiple startups to include WaveCrest Laboratories, an innovator in next-generation electric and hybrid-electric propulsion and drive systems (acquired by Magna International, NYSE: MGA); Cyveillance, a software startup and world leader in cyber intelligence and intelligence-led security (acquired by QinetiQ, LSE: QQ.L); and Netmentors, an online mentoring and tutoring platform for K-12 students.
Dr. Green earned a Doctor of Management and an MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus, an MBA from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sharon Flank
Strategies for Managing Innovation
Dr. Flank is an inventor and entrepreneur with experience in innovation leadership that encompasses artificial intelligence, anti-counterfeiting, drug delivery, sensor technology, and 3D printing. As a co-inventor for a defense contractor’s first intellectual property (SRA, now General Dynamics), she created and then managed the patent process and helped create the spinout company (eMotion, funded by Chicago Tribune, Kodak, and GE; now part of OpenText and of Getty Images), which she later joined, eventually as CTO.
For her own venture-backed company, InfraTrac, she secured angel and venture investment, licensed university intellectual property, established a market niche in in-dose pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting, and then pivoted to the more successful 3D printing security market after FDA mandated bar codes on packaging and disrupted the pharma market. InfraTrac has successfully delivered proof-of-concept 3D-printed security taggants as part of a military aerospace program. Dr. Flank continues to innovate, with 3D nanoprinting for precision controlled delivery, jointly developed with University of Maryland faculty.
Dr. Flank holds an A.B. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Gregory Baecher
Data Analysis and Decision Making
Dr. Baecher is a geotechnical engineer by training but has spent much of his career working on risk and reliability of civil infrastructure, and statistical methods for spatial sampling and data visualization. Immediately prior to joining UMCP he was President of ConSolve Inc, an information technology company located in Lexington, MA. Prior to that, he was Professor of Civil Engineering at MIT. He is an active consultant to government and industry on risk and reliability of constructed facilities, especially in water resources development, dam safety, and coastal protection.
Frankie Abralind
Innovative Thinking
Frankie Abralind is the founder of HTA Design Thinking, a business strategy consulting firm that uses the human-centered process to help companies grow. His expertise is in design thinking, service design, and user experience. Frankie is the director of Design Thinking DC, a 2,200 member community of design thinkers in Washington, DC. He brings together people from business, design, technology and beyond to learn and share best practices and creative solutions. Frankie is a champion of radical collaboration on methodologies, practices, and experiences to facilitate and deliver innovation in the world. Previously, Frankie served as creative director for Branson & Byrne, a creative marketing agency, and in executive operational and marketing roles with manufacturing firms. After studying design at Cornell University, Frankie earned his MBA at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business.
Michael O'Connor
Managing Product Development and Operations: Fundamentals of Product Management
As the Senior Research Program Director in Program Management for Medtronic, the work that UMD alumni Michael O’Connor does on a daily basis makes positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of people all over the world. Medtronic is a global healthcare solutions company committed to improving the lives of people through medical technologies, services, and solutions. Michael works in their operational headquarters located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
While O’Connor has worked at Medtronic for over 20 years, his academic background is unique. After first pursuing two years of engineering, O’Connor earned his bachelor’s degree in business, while at the same time also attending a vocational school which allowed him to acquire hands-on engineering experience. He went on to earn a Master of Science (M.S) in technology management from the University of St. Thomas engineering school, a second M.S. in project management from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Doctorate in Project Management from the University of Maryland’s Project Management Center of Excellence.
O'Connor is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Global Executive Council.
Cynthia Gayton
Negotiation and Problem-Solving
Cynthia M. Gayton, Esq. holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University and a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law. Cynthia is a member of both the State Bar of Virginia and the District of Columbia Bar.
She is the owner of Gayton Law, in Arlington, Virginia which concentrates on small business formation, intellectual property, information technology, and business transactions/contracts.
In addition, she has worked for the federal government, in the private sector and for non-profit organizations. Ms. Gayton is the author of “Legal Aspects of Engineering, Design and Innovation” published by Kendall-Hunt in January 2017. She has written several articles on smart contracts, IP and blockchain. She is the co-host of the Art on the Blockchain podcast with Jeff "DJ J Scrilla" Clarkin.
Michael Pratt
Financing the Product Life Cycle
Michael Pratt teaches and mentors students in University of Maryland's Minor in Technology Entrepreneurship Program and the General Education Program of the University. His career spans 35 years in management and finance, in both domestic and international organizations, and almost two decades in startups and venture capital, having raised over $100 million for eleven different startup ventures. Michael is the co-founder and Managing Partner in Select Venture Partners LLC, an early stage, post-seed/pre-Series A investment management firm. Prior to co-founding Select, he was co-founder and CEO of SpydrSafe Mobile Security, Inc., a mobile application security management platform that safeguarded enterprise data by controlling apps on smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android). SpydrSafe was acquired in February 2014. Prior to SpydrSafe, he was COO of CardStar, Inc., a mobile loyalty company sold to Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT). From 2006 to 2010, Michael was the CFO/COO of Trust Digital, Inc., a venture-backed Mobile Device Management company sold to McAfee (NYSE: MFE). Prior to Trust, he was CFO of Galt Associates, Inc., a venture-backed software company sold to Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) in July 2006. His earlier professional experience includes CEO of CrossMedia Networks Corp.; CEO of Point of Care Technologies (sold to Siemens Healthcare in 1999); various senior finance and operating roles with Mobil Corporation, including President and General Manager of three Mobil subsidiaries. Michael began his professional career with Arthur Andersen & Co. He holds a BS in Finance from East Carolina University, an MBA from Massey University in New Zealand, and an MS in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University.
John Johnson
Building and Leading Innovative Organizations
John Johnson serves as the Professional Programs Manager at the University of Maryland, College Park, Project Management Center for Excellence. He leads the initiatives that help grow the Project Management Center for Excellence across its three pillars: Academic Excellence, Outreach and Professional Development, and Research. His primary programs include the MEng in Project Management, the MPS in Product Management, the Massive Open Online Course Program with over 750k enrollees, and the Project Management Symposium with over 800 attendees annually. Mr. Johnson also teaches graduate courses in Product and Project Management, as well as undergraduate courses in Engineering Economics and Project Management. In partnership with the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, Mr. Johnson is co-led creation of the new Masters of Professional Studies in Product Management (MPPM), building on his years as a CTO, Startup Co-Founder, and Senior Agile Project Manager.Mr. Johnson served as the Strategic Advisor and CTO for Softek Enterprises LLC. Established in 2007, Softek specializes in evolving business systems using Agile, DevOps, and Cloud technologies to deliver working solutions faster for the government’s most critical IT challenges. Mr. Johnson worked closely with senior Agency influencers to explore and develop solutions. During his tenure he more than doubled Softek revenue annually, while leading multiple deliveries for clients and partners.
Mr. Johnson previously served as Senior Agile Project Manager with IBM, acting as both program and product manager, where he led multiple development teams building applications for the National Archives Records Administration (NARA). These applications were built on Amazon’s Gov Cloud (AWS) with cutting-edge cloud technologies to process, store, and search the hundreds of petabytes of government records expected at NARA by 2020. This project won “Project of the Year” across all of IBM globally for its success in project management innovation in 2015.
He also worked as a Management Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, where he led projects for the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy from optimizing site investments and posture for Reserve forces, to developing award-winning project analysis and portfolio management software to optimize billions in shore energy investments.
David Bosley
Market Development and Commercialization
David Bosley is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of PBJ Marketing, a full-service digital agency based in Washington, D.C. With an unwavering passion for driving client success, David spearheads the firm's digital strategy, SEO, and paid media efforts for domestic and international clients.
With over 16 years of digital marketing experience, David is a seasoned veteran who has successfully managed multi-million-dollar campaigns for companies worldwide. He is a strategic thinker who leverages the latest digital marketing techniques to help his clients achieve their business goals.
Before founding PBJ, David honed his skills at companies in the publishing and insurance industries, including AIG Insurance. His experience in different sectors has given him a unique perspective on how to create effective digital marketing strategies across a range of industries.
David earned his MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.


