Eugene Annan

University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School

Hometown: Houston, TX

Fun Fact About Yourself: I was born and raised in Accra, Ghana before moving to the Houston in 4th grade.

Undergraduate School and Major: Chemical Engineering – Texas A&M University

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Project Manager, General Mills

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Alliance Manchester’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school? Why was it so important to you? My time managing start-up projects at General Mills exposed me to the world of consultancy and I was motivated to broaden my understanding of business on a global scale. Once I decided to get my MBA outside of the USA, Manchester’s “learning by doing” approach stood out to me. I felt that the three live consultancy projects would offer me an invaluable link to the world of consulting by developing my transferrable project management and engineering skills.

What club or extracurricular activity excites you most at this school? I am President of the Consulting Club this year! I have been fortunate to have five talented classmates representing each continent join me as VPs. Our aim is to develop a club that is as valuable to the AMBS experience as the live consultancy projects by building relationships through professional development, networking, and social events.

I am also a big soccer (I know) fan and am excited to be a part of the AMBS MBA team – our first tournament is at LBS in early June!

What makes Manchester such a great place to earn an MBA? How have you taken advantage of Manchester to further your business education? I want to be more involved in the Ghanaian economy. My goal after graduation is to work for a consulting firm and eventually specialize in projects pertaining to global systems of productivity and development. So, Manchester’s location and its famed Global Development Institute (GDI) made it a great place to earn an MBA for my long-term career goals. The faculty from the MBA and the GDI have been a great help putting me in contact with alumni.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far? As a 24-year-old, I led the start-up of a multi-million-dollar project in a high-performance, 24/7 facility during the holiday season. It was great experience to manage a project with stakeholders ranging from plant leadership and engineers to corporate managers, R&D managers, and vendors. I am forever grateful for the management roles early in my career at General Mills.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Over a two-year period in three different roles, I managed a team of 16, a team of 30, and finally one individual. I recognize that the complexity of the teams I am asked to manage will increase as I continue to gain experience. I wanted to further develop my approach to the nuanced situations I will find myself in as I pursue a career in productivity and development.

Any highlight experiences that prepared you for business school? Not an experience, but I have noticed that a desire to learn and engage others alongside a willingness to admit mistakes has helped me continuously improve my decision-making when time and resources are limited.

DON’T MISS: MEET ALLIANCE MANCHESTER’S MBA CLASS OF 2022