Meet Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Class Of 2022

P&Q: How has COVID-19 impacted your business school?

Matthew Slaughter: “COVID-19 has convinced us even more of the salience to our world of Tuck’s mission – and yet it has challenged us to deliver that mission in our immersive community in unprecedented ways.

Tuck develops wise, decisive leaders who better the world through business. The health, economic, and human problems of COVID will take years to fully overcome, and the complexity of these problems will require the leadership capacities – vision, empathy, teamwork – that Tuck has long focused on. The Tuck MBA experience is unlike that of any other business school, and that fact has been made even more apparent by our response to these historic times.

From the outset, one of the largest impacts of the pandemic has been it forcing us to reconsider Tuck’s distinct immersive learning environment and find ways to deliver a world class business education – and build the tight-knit community setting Tuck is known for – in ways we never had.

In the spring, that meant creating and living in a new, virtual, environment. Our students and faculty fully embraced the shift, leading to some of the most vibrant classroom experiences—virtual or otherwise—I have ever experienced in my time at Tuck, and a dynamic community setting that featured virtual meet-ups and social gatherings nearly every day.

The virtual setting also opened opportunities for more compelling talks and interactions with executive leaders and alumni, both in and out of the classroom, than ever before. Students connected with luminaries such as David Rubenstein, Jaqueline Novogratz, and General Stanley McChrystal – and with distinguished Tuck alumni through a series of chats involving members of our various boards of advisors. Students also deepened their connection with faculty through chats that highlight a diverse array of professors and their research and its intersection with the current business world.

Over the summer months, we made significant investments in new technology and public health supports in an effort to bring students back to the physical classroom. From the installation of wall beaming microphones, to upgraded filters in our ventilation systems and new classroom procedures, we created a hybrid offering that allows students to engage in synchronous learning with participants both in the classroom and remote—an important first step in eventually transitioning back to our distinct in-person learning community as safely as possible.

All this progress has not been flawless. And we also recognize that there is much work still to be done, and that there will be more challenges in the weeks and months ahead. And yet, as evidenced by our success in the remote-only spring term and hybrid fall term, we have the culture and agility to collaborate and adapt. I have derived so much inspiration from the innovations of Tuck faculty, staff, students and alumni; from the salience of our school’s mission and how it meets this moment; and from our community’s collective resolve. Now in my sixth year as dean of Tuck, I have never been more honored to serve in this role than I have been the past nine months. I remain confident that this academic year can be one of the most meaningful and impactful in the 120-year history of the Tuck School.

P&Q: In 2019, Dartmouth Tuck was ranked #2 by Bloomberg Businessweek thanks to high scores in alumni network, academics, and graduate pay. What has Tuck been doing to deepen these strengths?

Matthew Slaughter: “Tuck’s extraordinarily distinguished and loyal network of alumni is a hallmark of our program, and it was on full display this past spring. As first-year and second-year students faced uncertain internship and career prospects amid the pandemic, numerous Tuck alumni graciously leant their time, knowledge, and expertise to help secure opportunities for T’20s and T’21s.  The results speak for themselves: every T’21 had a least one summer internship, and the median base salary for the T’20s rose by over 7 percent to a new record high.

Never willing to take our unrivaled alumni network for granted, we have worked to strengthen the connection between alumni and current students with a range of new opportunities. Chief among them are the aforementioned Tuck Board Chats, and a bevy of offerings through our Tuck Alumni Lifelong Learning program. This summer, students and alumni came together to discuss a host of timely topics through TALL programming, including a powerful and necessary session on race and equity in the workplace led by Tuck Professor Ella Bell Smith.

Tuck students also have more avenues than ever to personally connect with alumni, without the barriers or trepidation that a cold-call email might present. Our business directory enables students to easily discover companies owned and operated by alumni—who are eager to share their entrepreneurial insights. The Tuck Networking Hub, launched in 2019, also continues to facilitate connections and mentorship between students and alumni who share similar career interests and paths.

On the academic front, we continue to deliver a curriculum that is both timely and timeless—an endeavor that is more important than ever during this historic period. Our recently enhanced core curriculum melds cutting-edge ideas and concepts with proven frameworks and skills, and provides coordination and integration between courses that, arguably, no other business school does better.

We have also increased our focus on the forces that will define the business world for years to come. New core courses focused on data analytics, and a STEM-designated Management Science and Quantitative Analysis Option are examples of this refined approach. And as has been the case for generations, within so many of our existing courses, faculty are incorporating new ideas and applications that connect with the most exciting and pressing issues of the day. For example, in my second-year elective in which we convene mock Congressional hearings at which students prepare and defend testimonies, this fall I have added the new topic of whether the U.S. government should pay reparations to Black Americans.

Tuck does not stand still; neither does our curriculum. We continually find ways to not only impart tried and true business practices to our students, but also ideas that speak to the very world they inhabit today and will inhabit – and lead – in the future.”

P&Q: Tuck is known as a “destination school” – the kind of program that MBAs purposely target for its distinctive experience. What would you attribute to Tuck’s lasting appeal to students and alumni alike?

Amy Mitson: “When I travel for work and connect with alumni around the world, it is common for them to quip that Tuck was among the best two years of their life. Our environment fosters a closeness among classmates that is unmatched, and our scale means that community members at Tuck—students, faculty and staff—actually know each other.

The immersive community here provides strength, encouragement and counsel during the challenges of the first-year core curriculum, a sounding board throughout the recruiting process, and partners to support every leadership opportunity or entrepreneurial idea students want to pursue. Tuck is a place where students can stretch themselves, explore their interests, try new things and build a network of accomplished, thoughtful and loyal colleagues.

Students opt in at Tuck. No one ends up in Hanover by accident or because it was nearby. Our students arrive with an intentionality around their MBA experience. They arrive knowing they will create relationships with other community members who made a deliberate choice to be here and to be “in” for all sorts of new experiences together—whether that is creating a strategy for a startup in an emerging market during an Onsite Global Consulting project, putting on skates for the first time and attempting hockey, flinging themselves down a local ski slope, or vulnerably sharing a personal story during Tuck Talks.”

P&Q: What makes Hanover such a great place to live for two years?

Amy Mitson: “Hanover is a quintessential New England college town. On the surface its appeal is the beauty of the Upper Valley – we’re nestled in between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire – while still being convenient enough to reach Boston, Portland, Montreal or New York. The quality of life in the Upper Valley is notably high and the experience of living here, with Tuck as base camp through two years of MBA travels and adventures, is something students and alumni bond over.

The Upper Valley offers easy access for outdoor recreation, proximity to art and music, diversity of international cuisines and legitimate farm-to-table dining, breweries, and cherished Cheers-like pubs where people know one another.

Tuck students often reside in cities or large metropolitan areas before the MBA and return to city centers upon graduation. They come to Tuck to experience a different environment. Their time in the Upper Valley is a two year retreat that encourages self-exploration, thoughtful reflection, and meaningful personal growth alongside a support system that is 285 classmates deep.”

8 BENEFITS OF A TUCK MBA

What else stands about the Dartmouth Tuck MBA? Here are some thoughts from MBAs and alumni alike?

1) Alumni Network: “The emphasis that Tuck places on a structured and rigorous core curriculum was very important to me coming from a background with little formal business training. The alumni network is another highlight, and I have already experienced how willing Tuck alums are to take time out of their busy schedule to support you. 100% of the alumni that I have reached out to have responded with enthusiasm about connecting!”
Ryan McNamara (’22)