Ross Fly

Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

“Outdoors enthusiast striving to protect and restore our natural environment through industrial and nature-based innovation.”

Hometown: Jersey Village, TX

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am an avid rock and ice climber. I’ve climbed in 13 states and, this summer, my wife and I completed our first international climbing trip to Kalymnos, Greece.

Undergraduate School and Major: Texas A&M University, B.S. in Petroleum Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Development Dimensions International, Project Manager

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? “Impactful Stewardship” resonates most with me. I am eager to get as much out of my time at Fuqua as I can, but it is also my responsibility to give back as much as I can to current and future students. While I’m at Fuqua, this means consistently considering how Fuqua can be improved and then acting. I’m particularly interested in two key areas: academic experience and industry connections. During my time here, I’ll seek roles and opportunities that allow me to grow the academic experience and build new relationships between Fuqua and the professional community.

Aside from your classmates and school culture, what was the key part of Duke Fuqua’s MBA curriculum programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The resources and programming supporting entrepreneurship are outstanding. They were a large part of my reason to come to Fuqua and, the more I learn, the happier I am with my decision. Students here are supported at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey. This includes taking courses where you start a real business, completing mentored study of under-experienced entrepreneurs, developing prototypes in one of Duke’s many innovation labs, and pursuing opportunities for post-graduation funding, Even more, Fuqua’s location in the Research Triangle gives students access to startups, VCs, maker spaces, and just about anything else you could want. My personal philosophy is that one of the best approaches to learn to lead a business is to form one yourself, and business school offers a low-stakes environment for this type of learning. I chose Fuqua for its entrepreneurial ecosystem and the ample opportunities it provides.

What has been your first impression of the Fuqua MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best Fuqua story so far. As a dual degree student, I began my grad school experience at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment in 2022. I am pursuing a Master of Environmental Management with a focus on energy concurrently with the MBA that starts this fall. This has given me the opportunity to get to know many students at Fuqua, even though I’m not yet in classes with them. What continues to impress me is the impact-orientation of Fuqua students. I am blown away by how many people I have met who are actively pursuing non-traditional post-MBA careers because they know these paths will enable them to have the greatest impact on the issues they care about—whether those issues focus on education, the natural environment, social justice, poverty, or some other passion. Being surrounded by people with not just diverse incoming careers but diverse outgoing aspirations both excites and inspires me. For prospective applicants, I’d recommend checking out The Fuqua Show podcast on Spotify for fascinating conversations with some of these students.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Duke Fuqua? I’m very excited about the Duke University Energy Conference. This Fuqua-hosted conference attracts hundreds of attendees (students and professionals) and many prominent leaders and companies in the energy space. It’s an incredible opportunity for students to gain exposure to the energy industry and build relationships with industry professionals. As a dual degree student who has already been at Duke for a year, I’m entering Fuqua as the co-chair of this year’s conference. My other co-chair, Breanne Leakey, and I have a tremendous team of rising second-year and incoming first-year MBA students who have been working hard this summer to put together an exciting conference. It’s a lot of work but I’m loving my team and seeing the creativity and passion my classmates are bringing to the conference.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: With less than one year on the job, my previous company, Development Dimensions International (DDI), trusted me with developing and executing one of the company’s largest leadership training programs. Stakes were high. As the lead project manager, I had just a few months to build a global team and design an execution plan to deliver an expansive leadership training curriculum to thousands of frontline leaders across five continents in over a dozen languages.

Recognizing the importance of quality and consistency across regions, I set my focus on two key objectives: automation and empowerment. On the automation front, I led our technical team to build new automation tools to manage learners and courses in ways that DDI had not previously done. Simultaneously, I drove ownership of the program and its outcome among my team members across the globe, supporting them with group and one-on-one guidance. In the end, we successfully delivered one of DDI’s largest international training programs under an incredibly tight deadline, bringing in millions of dollars in revenue. Yet, what I found most rewarding from this experience was seeing personal and professional growth in many of my team members as they stretched beyond their typical roles to deliver an outstanding program.

Looking ahead two years, what would make your MBA experience successful?  The success of my MBA experience in two years depends on the day-to-day decisions I make. Am I building close relationships with classmates and faculty? Am I taking risks that will push me to grow and learn? Am I challenging my ideas and thoughts with new ways of thinking? If I look back at the end of my time at Fuqua and can say I consistently answered these questions affirmatively, then I will consider my experience a success.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Duke Fuqua’s MBA program? Really get to know what makes Fuqua unique—its culture, resources, curriculum, students, and faculty—and whether these qualities resonate with you and your aspirations. If you truly understand this, you’ll have no problem putting together an application that shows Fuqua why you belong here.