Xuebing (Ross) Feng

Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

“Inspired to be an inclusive but decisive leader.”

Hometown: Qingdao, China

Fun Fact About Yourself: I lost more than 100 pounds during college.

Undergraduate School and Major: B.S in Mathematics from University of Massachusetts Amherst

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Vice President in Market Risk, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

The MBA program is renowned for its “Team Fuqua” culture, which is predicated on six paired principles: Authentic Engagement, Supportive Ambition, Collective Diversity, Impactful Stewardship, Loyal Community, and Uncompromising Integrity. Which of these resonates most with you – and what does that principle demand of you as a Fuqua MBA? Supportive ambitious and loyal community most resonates with me. Two of my most important goals during my time as an MBA are to build a strong network and find a potential business partner for the future.  I believe “Team Fuqua” was labeled on me the day I stepped into the class. I understand that the brand can only be powerful if everyone believes and enforces the culture. Not only from the engaging and supportive culture passed on from the previous classes, it is also in my best interest to exercise and preserve the Team Fuqua spirit, as well as to influence the people around me to follow the culture as well.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? It is the Team Fuqua spirit. I can speak from my personal experience that, “Team Fuqua” is not just an advertising slogan, but a deep-rooted belief. From the moment I was accepted, I could feel the amount of attention they put on me as an individual and the support from the alumni and the 2nd year students was far greater than what other programs provided.  It was always clear to me that my goal as an MBA candidate is not to get a good job, but to build a career. The programs with higher rankings may get you an extra $5,000 at your first job, but an engaging and loyal community can get you a successful career. With this belief in mind, choosing Duke Fuqua was a no brainer.

What quality best describes your MBA classmates and why? Smart and alpha personalities. The members in my team have various backgrounds and deep understanding and valuable experience in the industries they previously worked in. They are very active and often share out-of-the-box ideas, which I find particularly interesting. In addition, most of my team members demonstrate alpha personalities, and have strong confidence and beliefs in their opinions and visions. It is very fun to work with the people at Fuqua. As a future leader, I think it is important that one can work with individuals who showcase alpha personalities. It is both a challenge and a valuable learning experience for me.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? I am particularly looking forward to joining LEADS (Leadership Engagement and Discussion Series). LEADS organizes weekly meetings to discuss current events regarding leadership around the world. In addition, LEADS frequently invites business and academic leaders to share their leadership experiences. I expect the focused discussions will provide me a new perspective on leadership.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: As one of the business owners, I helped to design and implement the Bank of America Merrill Lynch market risk management platform. With a supportive senior management team, I was able to design a platform that reflects my vision for the future of risk management and technology. Today, more than 80 percent of the risk management process, analytics and annual CCAR preparations are running on the new platform.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After working in the financial industry for many years and leading on a fin-tech project, I have developed a vision of where the financial industry is heading. I want to take this opportunity to get ahead by starting my own venture. In order to do so, I would like to get to a place where ideas can be challenged and developed. I’m eager to meet a potential business partner with similar goals, who is ambitious and can meet their visions.

I’m also interested in a diversified and loyal community that I can rely on during my career and when pursuing my venture. Fuqua offers a very strong and loyal alumni network, as well as an ambitious student body. There is an emphasis on entrepreneurship, and engagement, which makes Fuqua the perfect program for me to grow and explore during the next two years.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Stern, Columbia, Cornell Johnson and Dartmouth

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? The most challenging, yet most fun question during the admission process is the “25 fun things about yourself.” These are the types of questions that make you unique.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? I prepared myself both financially and mentally. Financially, I started to cut off unnecessary spending and tie up the loose ends from my current job and any other obligations. Mentally, I tried to get myself to a place where I can focus and be creative, while getting out of the routine and comfortable lifestyle I had been living. More importantly, I started to list out goals that I want to achieve in the next two years from both a career and personal perspective, as well as the strategy to achieve these goals.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? One day I was having a beer with my old classmate from medical school. I asked her about her day and she responded in tears. She told me that one of her patients had died and she misses her. She expressed the drive to do better and to help people to have a better and happier life. Then she asked about my day, and all I could show for it was a few spreadsheets. That was the moment I decided to make a change and to dedicate my career to creating value for our society and to make other people’s lives easier. I want to build a legacy that I can be proud.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from them? From my interaction with current employees, I think McKinsey & Company has a supportive corporate culture to create a triple win relationship among the company, the employees, and the customers. McKinsey & Company encourages its people to be smart and to challenge business foundations. I think business students can learn from the company by understanding that many areas in life and in one’s career is not a zero-sum game. A person or a company doesn’t have to build its success on the missteps of others. Be creative, smart, kind and open-minded.

DON’T MISS: Meet Duke Fuqua’s MBA Class of 2022