Jason Waidzulis

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

“I help civil-military teams understand complex problems and orient their efforts towards implementing impactful solutions.”

Hometown: Forest Lake, MN

Fun Fact About Yourself: 2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Team Champion – University of Minnesota

Undergraduate School and Major: Exercise Physiology

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: U.S. Army Special Operations Command / Ranger Company Commander

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Selection to serve as a Ranger Company Commander and direct the actions for the United States premier raid force on missions of strategic importance the United States.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Low faculty to student ratio – There is no other Top 20 MBA program in the country where you can study business and develop a direct relationship with faculty who are also experts in their respective industry. The city of Atlanta is in the Top 10 for most Fortune 500 companies and jumps to 5th when you consider the Fortune 1000 which gives you access some of the best innovators across many industries – all of which have strong connections with Goizueta through the faculty.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Entrepreneurship Club and the Veterans Club

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After ten years in the military, I’m transitioning to become an organizational and strategic leader. The world is growing at an exponential rate becoming more interconnected and complex every day. The solutions to future problems require and understanding of world economies and culture. Strong economies are a contributing factor to stability (security) within a region. Pursuing an MBA will help me understand the characteristics of a strong economy, how to help growing economies, and techniques to mitigate sophisticated security threats to our nation.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? The majority of my mentors who are accomplished senior military leaders earned their MBA and credit that experience as a significant factor towards their success leading many teams and large organizations.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Harvard and Columbia Business Schools

How did you determine your fit at various schools?

Factors to Prioritize Business Schools:

1. Overall Success of Alumni
2. Low Student to Faculty Ratio
3. Access to a large network of Fortune 500 companies
4. Tight-Knit Peer-to-Peer (Student) Relationships – Strong sense of community
5. Overall location as it relates to quality of life – Access to the things I love to do

Tools to Help Evaluate:

Campus tours and MBA program interviews; talking with friends who are alumni and currently attending the business schools I was researching; and reading various articles from sources like Poets & Quants, Forbes, The Economist, U.S. News, and Businessweek.

Research of the Culture:

Best thing I did was tour the campus, meet with students in the program, and talk with friends that are alumni in the MBA programs I was interested in.

How I know Goizueta fit with my career goals: Best access to an innovative network of faculty and business leaders (small student-to-faculty ratio with a big network) as well as a close proximity to maintain connection with U.S. Army Special Operations Command on various projects.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? There has been no defining moment, but rather a collection of opportunities and experiences that have shaped who I am.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Return to U.S. Army Special Operations and do some business consulting to maintain a connection in the business world for when I transition out of the military.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Serving as a U.S. Army Battalion Commander as well as a Business Consultant.

Meet the Class of 2020 Series

London Business School

University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School

University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business

MIT Sloan School of Management

Columbia Business School

Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

Yale School of Mnnagement

University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business

Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

New York University’s Stern School of Business

Emory’s Goizueta School of Business

Washington University’s Olin Business School