MBA Double-Degrees On The Upswing

A NATO soldier aims a rifle with grenade launcher in Afghanistan, where University of Michigan Ross School of Business dual degree MBA student Benjamin Ranta led more than 80 combat missions. – Ethan Baron photo

Former U.S. Army captain Benjamin Ranta started the Ross MBA program before learning of the dual degree possibilities. A veteran of more than 80 combat operations in Afghanistan as a platoon leader and detachment commander, Ranta had gone on to work as a senior logistics analyst for Honeywell Technology Solutions at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, following that with internships at Cisco Systems in Malaysia and PwC in Chicago. When Ranta first started at Ross, with interests in global operations, product development, supply chain management, and procurement, people would note his demonstrated leadership history, then ask, “How are you with analytics? Can you take raw data and shape it into something that’s useful?”

After hearing about the joint degree programs at Ross, he applied to study for an MS in Industrial & Operations Engineering along with his MBA, in a three-year joint program. “It’s tough,” Ranta says of the workload. “It’s challenging.”

Ranta expects the dual degree will provide an added value beyond expertise in two fields – sending a message to prospective employers that he can handle rigorous challenges, and not just on the battlefield.

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