Meet Wharton’s MBA Class Of 2018

Tim Hill

The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Father. Husband. Naval Officer. BBQ Fiend. Football nut. Terrible golfer.  In that order.

Hometown: Spokane, Washington

Undergraduate School and Major: Eastern Washington University, Business Administration

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

US Navy – 9 Years strong.

Supply Officer (Head of Logistics) – USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000)

Integrated Logistics Support Intern – Defense Logistics Agency

Hazardous Material Control Officer – USS George Washington (CVN-73)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I spent the last three years preparing the US Navy for the arrival of the USS Zumwalt, the most advanced destroyer in the world. I worked to establish lifetime logistics support for this new class of ship and was able to make a significant impact on how the Navy will support its ships in the future.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? Take the GMAT when you have enough time to dedicate and properly prepare for it. You don’t have to spend months in deep study, but you need to stay on top of it. This is especially true if you graduated and haven’t spent a lot of time in an academic environment in the last few years. Those skills attrite; you have to keep at it. As for the essays, make sure other MBA students and peers read and provide input on them. You don’t have to follow all advice, but an outside look can provide tremendous insight. For me, it helped “de-militarize” a lot of what I wrote. If I kept phrases like “at the DLA JLOC I briefed the J3,” I would have never received an invitation to interview.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Wharton is one of the top business schools in the world. That much is well known but the school also has a tremendous support structure for Veterans and highly values our unique skill-sets. There is not another school that I can say provides the same world class education while genuinely valuing what I bring to the table.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? I love the Navy, but I will not be in the military forever. I crave jobs where I am put in leadership positions with the authority to act on my own. Entrepreneurship or executive management of a global firm are areas I see myself succeeding and being happy.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? I would like if they could say that they learned as much from me as I them. While I may have not been the smartest person in the room, that I always had something of value to add to the conversation or the task at hand. I expect to make lifetime friendships.