Galina Brukman

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

“I am a Procurement professional with a mission to impact a company’s bottom line through partnership with business stakeholders across the organization and a comprehensive supplier strategy.”

Age: 40

Hometown: Cliffside Park, NJ

Fun fact about yourself: I love to travel and I always bring back recipes from around the world that I try to recreate at home

Undergraduate School and Degree: Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science; BS in Computer Science

Where are you currently working? Refinitiv, recently acquired by the London Stock Exchange Group. Role: Director, Sourcing and Procurement

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of the relationships I’ve formed with the stakeholders across a number of lines of business that Procurement supports

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? I chose UNL because it has such a great reputation for being one of the best online MBA programs and the program lived up to my expectations: the faculty is amazing and class structure provides a lot of opportunity to work as part of the team, which is quite impressive given that all of the classes are remote! Another big reason is the 100% asynchronous course content, which allows students to log in and listen to lectures and participate in discussions at their own time. That makes it easy to take classes regardless of the time zone, and makes it possible to keep with the pace of a full time career at the same time.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? My favorite part was getting to know other people in the program and realizing just how applicable an MBA degree is to everyone, spanning so many different industries and professional career paths.

What was the most surprising thing about an online learning environment? The most surprising thing was how closely online learning environment mirrors in-person learning. Canvas is a great platform for online education and provides great options for learning class content and engaging with other students in the class in group discussion forums.

How did your online experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? In a lot of ways, the online experience at UNL is designed to mirror in-person learning. One great upside of online learning is that there is more opportunity to interact with more people in the class via Canvas (UNL’s online learning platform), because class discussions are not limited to specific class time, and that provides opportunity to enter into conversations with more people and learn more about their points of view.

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? My best piece of advice is to recognize opportunities that an online MBA program presents and to be open to experiencing all the perks of online learning.

What would you change about an online MBA Program? I’ve thought about this question a lot during my time at UNL and I am still convinced that the program is great as-is!

How has your online education helped you in your current job? Being part of a 100% online program at UNL has helped me to focus on my career goals and keep up with demands of leading a team across different time zones while also pursuing my MBA at the same time. This kind of flexibility is the reason that I applied to UNL and I couldn’t be happier!

Number of Hours Per Week Spent On Online MBA: 10-15

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I am really excited about the industry recognition of the Procurement function and seeing Procurement represented in the C-Suite. As a long-term goal, I would like a seat at that table.

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