Cornell Names New MBA Admissions Head

Judi Byers is the new executive director of admissions at Johnson

The Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University yesterday (March 18) said it has hired a new executive director of admissions and financial aid. Judi Byers, who had been director of admissions at American University’s Kogod School of Business in Washington, D.C., succeeds Christine Sneva, who became senior director of enrollment and student services at Cornell Tech in New York City last July.

Byers leads a revamped admissions team at Johnson which includes newcomers Admissions Director Gail Wolfmeyer from New York University’s Stern School of Business and Admissions Manager Chris Lind from American University.

Byers, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from American’s business school in 2004, immediately went to work for her alma mater in admissions. Over a ten-year stint with Kogod admissions, she went from a marketing admissions coordinator in 2004 to admissions director in 2013. She actually joined the Johnson School in January, even though the school did not publicly announce her appointment until yesterday.

“As graduate business education continues to evolve to meet the needs of students entering the business world, it’s clear that Johnson is staying abreast of the latest innovative advancements in programs,” said Byers in a statement.

ADMISSIONS CHANGES FOLLOW A NEWLY REDESIGNED MBA PROGRAM

She joins Johnson just as it has unveiled a redesigned MBA curriculum (see Cornell Revamps Its Two-Year MBA Curriculum). The changes put greater emphasis on critical thinking, leadership skills, data analysis and modeling.

“It’s clear the revamp of the Two-Year MBA program includes impressive enhancements and will make these offerings even more attractive to prospective students domestically and internationally,” said Byers.

Byers noted that Johnson’s innovative approach extends to its admissions process in which candidates have the option to populate portions of their applications directly from LinkedIn.

“Over the last six months we’ve received positive feedback from students that can now share their LinkedIn profiles and portfolios through a streamlined and easy-to-use process,” said Byers.

Cornell said that Byers received the 2013 American University Alumni Eagle Award for her significant contributions as director of admissions at The Kogod School. She has also served on the 2014 GMAC Annual Conference Advisory Group. Byers received a master’s degree from American in health promotion management in 2012.

DON’T MISS: THE MBA GATEKEEPER AT CORNELL’S JOHNSON SCHOOL