Alex Luna

Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management

“A hardworking Tennessee native who tenaciously pursues his dreams.”

Hometown: Nashville, TN

Fun Fact About Yourself:  I love coffee shops! When I travel, I love to try the coffee at any local coffee shops I can find.

Undergraduate School and Major: The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Dual Concentration in Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Market Manager at Norfolk Southern Corporation

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Certainly, I put a huge amount of effort into the expansion projects and contract negotiations I performed while working at the railroad. However, my biggest accomplishment is founding my startup, AlphaRail. It is the first company in the history of the North American freight rail industry to solve a simplified rail operations optimization problem on real quantum computing hardware. It was especially important given all the work I put into just getting the opportunity to have access to a quantum device.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Passion. All of my classmates that I have met so far at Owen are appreciative of the success and good fortune that they have had in their careers to date. They have a genuine desire to pursue excellence with urgency. Not only do they understand that they will be the community and business leaders responsible for solving the hardest problems facing society today, but they are also excited by the opportunity to find the solutions to these challenges.

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? Flexibility and location. Owen wanted to work with me to help my startup succeed. They saw my vision and wanted to help find a way for me to be successful within their walls. Nashville’s thriving and growing local economy made the decision to attend even easier.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I look forward to getting involved with Vanderbilt’s Center for Transportation and Operational Resiliency (VECTOR) to continue to refine my understanding of current best practices in the transportation tech space.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Tell me about yourself! I always found that to be a tricky question because of how vague it is in the context of a business school interview. Balancing the personal and professional details used in the answer seems to be more of an art than a science.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I wanted to continue to refine my ability to solve hard problems in the industries that I am passionate about. I knew that if I was to reach my full potential, I needed to surround myself with a diverse group of passionate and ambitious individuals that were all pushing to better themselves as well.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? HBS & Darden

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I used my network to identify people who were currently in MBA programs and were willing to share their experiences. I knew that I wanted to stay as close to the Southeast as possible, but I also didn’t want to spend thousands trying to apply to lots of different schools. I quickly narrowed down my target schools based on my conversations with current students and the quality of the programs in my target region and focused all of my energy on them.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Loading packages on the morning shift in a UPS distribution facility in Knoxville, TN. Being able to appreciate hard work and the opportunities I have been blessed with not only grounds me to this day but also enables me to appreciate how far I have come.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Continuing to find ways to have an impact!