Meet Washington Olin’s MBA Class Of 2022

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEAN MARK P. TAYLOR

That title opens doors nationally too – and even more so after the school launches an online MBA with a digital focus next January. On top of that, Washington Olin was named the top business school for faculty by The Financial Times in February. That’s not the only new development happening at Olin. Last year, P&Q posed a series of questions to Dean Mark P. Taylor revolving around the Global Immersion, the impact of COVID, and the value of its St. Louis location. Here are Dean Taylor’s thoughts around the state of the Olin MBA program.

P&Q: What are the most exciting new developments at your program?

MT: “WashU Olin’s global immersion program, which launched with our most recent MBA class, remains the cornerstone innovation and a major selling point for students seeking a WashU MBA. We will preserve the spirit of that global immersion experience, whether or not public health circumstances allow us to take our cohort around the world anytime soon.

We must acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances in which business education must be conducted today. And I am confident that WashU Olin is well-positioned to provide a world-class experience to our current MBA students in part thanks to Olin’s Center for Digital Education, which launched a year before the pandemic swept the nation. Our investment in these cutting-edge tools and world-class digital curriculum specialists positioned us well to pivot quickly in spring and plan deeply for the fall semester.

In addition, we took advantage of our heavily data-driven MBA program to certify a STEM option for our MBA students, which was retroactive to members of the class of 2019 whose coursework fulfilled the requirements. That advancement opens substantial options for both domestic and international students in our program.”

P&Q: What are the two most unique or differentiating features of your full-time program? How do they enrich the MBA experience?

MT: “The MBA global immersion is a 38-day, three-continent immersion in global business, exposing MBA students to the ways finance, marketing, operations and economics on an international scale impact businesses both large and small. The entire MBA class of 2021 spearheaded the global immersion in the first six weeks of their program, visiting Washington DC’s Brookings Institution, Barcelona, Beijing and Shanghai before returning to St. Louis.

This innovation in delivering a global business education led us to being named P&Q‘s “Program of the Year” for 2019. As we continue to cope with challenges associated with the pandemic, we have moved the three-continent tour to the spring semester, with visits planned to DC, Barcelona, Paris and Lima. However, we are prepared to deliver an experience domestically that preserves the spirit of the global immersion if we are unable to travel overseas.

Another key differentiator for the WashU MBA is our values-based, data-driven approach to decision-making and leadership. At WashU Olin, we are committed to preparing leaders who are equipped to change the world, for good. Our program is not only rigorously data-driven, but built to reinforce the important role community, corporate, and individual values play in shaping decisions that do the most good for shareholders, customers, employees, vendors and the community at large. These principles are built into the syllabus of every course we offer at Olin Business School.”

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

MT: “The staff and faculty have worked tirelessly to maintain a world-class teaching environment that engages students in teamwork, individual attention from their instructors and hands-on, experiential learning. In the spring, we pivoted to online-only classes conducted via Zoom and other learning management platforms. In the summer and early fall, our staff and faculty, collaborating with the Center for Digital Education, has developed strategies for course delivery ranging from in-person, socially distant classes to hybrid courses to online-only course.”

P&Q: St. Louis has increasingly emerged as a startup hub, not to mention being home to several Fortune 500 firms. Why has St. Louis become such a draw for startup talent?

MT: “I’m glad you brought this up. It is worth mentioning here that WashU Olin was ranked the No. 1 MBA program globally for entrepreneurship education by Inc. magazine and Poets & Quants. Clearly, St. Louis has some advantages that make it attractive to startup entrepreneurs. These include a robust (and growing) network of incubators and funders and industry leadership in areas such as healthcare, biotech, agri-tech, and finance—all of which help generate startup spinoffs.

But we have aggressively invested in WashU Olin’s entrepreneurship program to build it into one of the best in the world and to integrate it with our entrepreneurial ecosystem in important ways—by developing startup talent, by providing consulting resources for entrepreneurs, and by fostering a culture of innovation.”

P&Q: Olin ranks among the top undergraduate business programs. How does excellence at this level enhance the experience for the MBAs?

MT: “This is an important question. Another way we distinguish ourselves at WashU Olin is by being among the rare programs that start preparing business majors from Day One. Our four-year BSBA includes the same focus on rigorous, data-driven, hands-on, values-based education that our MBAs receive. We are also deeply committed to knowing every student by name and story, providing personal attention in academic work, extracurricular activities and career services. That focus on personal attention, collaboration and teamwork begins with first-year undergraduates and runs through all of our graduate programs.”

7 REASONS TO CONSINDER WASHINGTON OLIN

1) Global Immersion: “The Global Immersion was one of the deciding factors when I chose to attend WashU. We start in St Louis before traveling to Washington, DC before moving onto Barcelona, Spain; Paris, France; and Lima, Peru, all while taking part in experiential opportunities assisting local businesses. This entails six weeks, four cities and three continents, while taking part in real-world business consulting projects, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While this normally would occur in the summer (which is about the most immersive business school orientation you can get) due to safety precautions, our trip is now planned for the spring.”
Ryan Rash (’22)

“I am most excited about Olin’s Global Immersion Program, which is a six-week immersion experience that spans the globe. The entire class will travel to four distinct destinations over the course of 39 days in the spring of 2021. There are three core reasons why this experience deeply appeals to me. First, it will propel relationships across the class. Inevitably, international travel across numerous continents and fast-paced, hands-on group projects will create deep bonds among members of the cohort. Second, this experience will provide first-hand insight into international business and how it is conducted across different cultures, countries and economies. This will be particularly insightful as businesses globally pivot because of COVID-19. Finally, I value the experiential design of the program. Students are expected to answer market-entry questions and solve operational problems for real companies throughout the global immersion program. This will allow us to directly apply concepts learned during the fall semester. For these three reasons and more, I cannot wait for this formative, six-week immersion experience that spans the globe.”
Nataly Garzon (’22)

“To actually be there in the city and to see what’s happening at a granular level for a thriving, vibrant city facing some geopolitical turmoil was exciting. You understand that Barcelona is a microcosm of a much larger global story. So not only was our cohort putting together, many of us had to pull together our first P&Ls while were in the midst of this vibrant European city. During the day, we’re engaged in classes that were demanding to enter into the world of management and strategy. And we’re relying upon each other as teammates to understand and contextualize this information.

My project was with a bio-dynamic vineyard. We had to understand why this is a value proposition worth pursuing and how might we, as consultants, help to advance this mission. From my standpoint, I wanted to use it as not only a business case but also a way of exercising design thinking in the group. So, we used design thinking strategies to help us understand and exercise our strengths, our brand as a team, and then advanced that moving forward. There were a lot of team-building exercises that we did in Barcelona that were fun, engaging, and interactive. And again, how could you not be there and appreciate the culture? There was so much that I got out of that experience. It’s B-school. So yeah, you get up early. You stay out late. You figure out a way to make it all happen.”
Jennifer Lanas (’21)

2) Entrepreneurship: “This summer I completed a social work practicum with the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I really enjoyed connecting with ventures in St. Louis and seeing their potential for impact and change. This solidified my desire to learn more about the private sector and feel confident about my choice to go to business school.”
Ashton Megli (’22)

“Being able to have a connection with thousands of alumni opens so many doors to test drive a business idea or find a sales lead. This was key during the first few months after I started the business, when I was cold-calling and emailing hundreds of people. Once I had a solid idea, the faculty and courses I took at WashU helped me avoid many pitfalls and mistakes. To this day, I keep in touch with several faculty members and bounce ideas off them. One even invested in the business!”
Byron Porter (’20)

3) Small School Experience: “My educational experience up to this point has instilled in me the value of tight-knit cohorts, as they lead to genuine personal relationships. I am thrilled to be going back to an academic institution where I will have a true cohort experience, and where I will get to develop lifelong friendships with those around me. The value of this network will be invaluable throughout our careers.”
Nataly Garzon (’22)

4) St. Louis: “As someone who has lived the majority of my life in Texas, I was not entirely sure what to expect from a school located in the Midwest. I think a misconception would be that a program in St. Louis might feel insulated from the rest of the world. However, this could not further from the truth. Olin really prioritizes global issues, and I have felt immersed in a global perspective through coursework, international travel, and the relationships I have formed with international students in the program.”
Leslie Ann Ramey (’20)

5) Career Services: “We do have a really robust career center, and each student comes in with a dedicated career coach. So as we’re walking through that process, they have the opportunity to sit down and talk with somebody about it. It’s the time, the accessibility that a student, anytime they want,  to come in and talk with us. We ask lots of questions to kind of dig a little bit deeper and understand what their accomplishments were and help some articulate that. You know just listening. I think is actually the key to helping somebody to be successful. We’re there to help students practice. If somebody wants to come in and share their story, we’re going to listen, we’re going to refine, and we’re going to pick out the things that could really matter.”
Jennifer Whitten, Associate Dean

6) Experiential Learning: “I think the Center for Experiential Learning is one of the activities I am looking forward to the most. The chance to work with different companies in the community and help them tackle a variety of problems is great opportunity for an MBA student. It gives you the chance to put your knowledge into practice facing real situations.

There are numerous opportunities—whether through the Center for Experiential Learning, Taylor Community Consulting or student organizations—to gain real-world business experience while impacting the local St. Louis Community and partnering with the region’s innovative new ventures and small businesses.”
Ashton Megli (’22)

7) Favorite Events: “The most collaborative and culturally inclusive event at WashU Olin is its annual One World event, celebrating global diversity through scrumptious foods and drinks. Each cultural club had a room to showcase their culture primarily through food. One World allowed students to ask questions about cultures, find similarities, and discover the creative ways we make dishes with similar ingredients. I loved One World because Olin Africa decorated our room with clothing, art, and accessories while also playing music and showing pictures from different parts of Africa. Events like One World give students the opportunity to share small pieces of our identity with one another.”
Rebecca Matey (’20)

“I love the cultural celebrations like Diwali Night and Spring Festival held by student organizations at WashU Olin. It helps create a feeling of home-away-from-home for the members of our community who are at school during the holidays, and I also think it’s a fun way to learn more about each other and to honor the diverse heritage of our students.”
Leslie Ann Ramey (’20)

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Bryanna Brown	Decatur, GA	Georgia State University	Teach For America
Felipe J. Cuartas	Marion, IL	Washington University in St. Louis	Gallagher
Nataly Garzon	New York City, NY	Williams College	United Way of Greater St. Louis
Luis Granat Palafox	Mexico City, Mexico	Universidad Panamericana	PwC
Christopher Jefferies	Painesville, OH	Youngstown State University	Avery Dennison
Minjy Koo	Busan, South Korea	Dongguk University	T-fal
Ashton Megli	Mansfield, TX	Yale University	Washington University’s Social Policy Institute
Njideka Okeke	Lagos, Nigeria	Imo State University	PwC United Kingdom
Ryan Rash	Tacoma, WA	University of Puget Sound	Nordstrom
Megha Reddy Yeruva	Hyderabad, India	St. Stephen’s College	EBSCO Information Services
Joseph Waters	Quincy, IL	University of Illinois	U.S. Army
Rodrigo Rodriguez Delgado	Barquisimeto, Venezuela	Universidad Central de Venezuela	Linio Group