2017 MBAs To Watch: Emma He, Dartmouth (Tuck)

Emma He

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

“A curious soul, who always says yes and gives her best to all her endeavors.”

Age: 29

Hometown: Beijing, China

Fun fact about yourself: I started playing accordion at the age of four

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Hong Kong, Bachelor of Science, Actuarial Science

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Valuation Analyst, Deutsche Bank

Where did you intern during the summer of 2016? McKinsey Company, Chicago

Where will you be working after graduation? McKinsey Company, Consultant

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

  • Recruiting: Very involved in my classmates’ recruiting
  • Tuck Admission Ambassador: Acted as Admission Ambassador to be part of the force shaping Tuck’s incoming class
  • CDO Representative on Student Board: Partnered very closely with the Career Develop Office over the past 1.5 years on numerous projects
  • Deanery Fellow: Contributed students voice to help envision the future of Tuck during its infrastructure expansion project
  • Speaker at Tuck Talks
  • Student leader on China Global Insights Expedition

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I have been partnering very closely with Tuck’s Career Development Office to keep improving my classmates recruiting experience, as I deeply believe it is one of the key decision factors for people to come to business school.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I was able to help a railroad freight company re-design employee incentive scheme and drive its growth.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Ella bell. She is a down to earth professor, who is willing to ask soul-searching questions.

What was your favorite MBA Course and what was the biggest insight you gained about business from it? The Onsite Global Consulting Project. It gave me the opportunity to distill and contextualize all leadership lessons learnt in the classroom.

Why did you choose this business school? It was love at first sight. At Tuck’s information session in Hong Kong, I was touched by the palpable passion and energy of Tuck alumni when they spoke about their Tuck experience. To me, Tuck’s connection transcends time and geography.

What did you enjoy most about business school in general? The diversity of my classmates is like a precious diamond with many colors. I continue to see the many shades of reflection in this community. They help me grow in my journey of self-discovery.

What was the most surprising thing about business school for you? The sheer number of quality options available – it took me a while to learn how to make tradeoffs and say no to people you genuinely wanted to help or things you are curious to do. Moreover, it is even harder to make peace with it.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? Reflect often to understand what drives you and your decisions. You will be more self-aware and it will serve you well at Tuck.

What is the biggest myth about your school? Tuck is a very tight community. You will not only know your classmates’ names, but also their partners’ names, their baby’s name, and their dog’s name. Be prepared to spend a lot of time together.

What was your biggest regret in business school? I didn’t go on the Peru fun trek in my first year Winter break.

 Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Kevin Moyer. He was a T’16, an advocate for many of my classmates. He went above and beyond as a second year student to make us feel that he was personally invested in our growth as first year students.

I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I knew I could have a bigger impact.”

If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…running my own yoga studio.”

 If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the MBA experience? I would create opportunities for students to shadow different parts of the administration and service staff as to understand the MBA experience from more lenses.

 What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I recognize my passion for continuous improvement and shaping institution’s culture. I have yet to identify the industry, but I hope to serve as a CEO or CHRO for a multinational firm.

 Who would you most want to thank for your success? My mum. She inspired me to be confident, driven, and resilient.

 In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? Emma embodies a good balance of grit and grace.

 Favorite book: Lord of the Flies

 Favorite movie or television show: Black Mirror

 Favorite musical performer: Stephanie Sun

 Favorite vacation spot: My next destination.

 Hobbies? Yoga, reading, keeping a diary.

 What made Emma such an invaluable addition to the class of 2017?

“Emma is a remarkable individual. From Beijing to Hong Kong to Hanover, NH, Emma has made an impression on everyone she has met along the way. She has a truly global background, studying at the University of Hong Kong, University of Western Australia, Universita Per Stranieri Di Perugia, Tsinghua University, and now, at the Tuck School of Business. She has brought her passion and enthusiasm for all things “new and different” and shared them with the Tuck community.

Tuck has an involved student government where both first and second years together lead the student community. This means first year students must decide to run for office very early in their Tuck career. Emma jumped at this opportunity, was elected by her peers (twice!) and has been the liaison between the Class of 2017 and the Career Development Office. She has helped them re-evaluate the student recruiting experience both on and off campus. She was part of a Deanery Fellows team that helped the CDO take a deep dive into its internal practices, and played an integral role in prepping T’18s for consulting interviews, conducting over 100 case prep sessions!

Emma was selected to be an Admissions Associate at the end of her first year and has interviewed close to 60 prospective students for the Class of 2019. She is a Deanery Fellow this year, leading a team of her peers reporting to our Executive Director of Operations and Infrastructure. We have some major construction projects approaching in the next few years and Emma and her team are helping us to think about how we can be innovative and creative as we do business differently while we are under construction.

Emma has brought all of her vast cultural experiences to Tuck and has generously shared them with the community. She participated in “Tuck Talks” where she opened up her life to the Tuck community, not once but three times. She is a strong advocate for sharing and promoting her home culture of China with all of us at Tuck and, among other activities, put together a multi-faceted celebration for the Chinese New Year and was the student leader on a faculty led trip of 30 Tuckies to China for one of our many global insight expeditions.

Emma chose to attend Tuck because she believed “Tuck is a school with humanity” which is a wonderful way to describe Emma – truly multi-national and multi-cultural, the very best of humanity. She is a valued leader and appreciated community member and we will miss Emma and her incredible energy when she graduates and begins her newest adventure with McKinsey.”

Sally Jaeger

Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: THE STORIES OF 100 EXTRAORDINARY GRADUATES FROM THE CLASS OF 2017

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.