Meet Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Class Of 2025

Rural. Cold. Nothing to do.

That’s how some people picture New Hampshire. It’s not for everyone. That’s one reason why the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College attracts a certain type of student. When they hear rural, they picture a slower pace and a quieter setting. When they’re warned about winter, they imagine a world coming alive in the spring and breezy walks during autumn. For fun, they envision intimate dinners, ski weekends, wine tastings, and hay rides. For Tuckies – as they’re called – business school isn’t a solitary exercise. It is a place to connect, grow, and find joy as a community.

Just ask the Tuck alumni. Carly Wolberg, a 2023 grad, describes her classmates as “close-knit, connected, [and] highly-engaged.” And she reveals a fundamental truth about the student body. No one ends up at Tuck on a lark. It isn’t a safety school, either. Instead, as the saying goes at Tuck, MBAs ‘opt-in’ because they buy into the culture and expectations of Tuck.

“This means that students who choose Tuck are “all-in” on this experience and truly want to make the most of co-creating our MBA experience together,” Wolberg tells P&Q.

100% RESPONSE RATE FROM ALUMNI

What does it mean to be a member of the Tuck family? There are a few unwritten rules. The first one involves being “Tuck Nice.” By that, Tuck students are considered pleasant and upbeat. That doesn’t make them pushovers. Instead, they are – to borrow another Tuck term – “emphatically assertive.” They aren’t afraid to push back, but stay focused on carving out a win-win for all parties. Another rule: Tuckies follow a ‘Pay It Forward’ mission. That starts with the alumni. Two years ago, for example, 81% of alumni contributed to the Tuck Difference campaign. That’s a major achievement considering many business schools struggle to achieve half of that participation rate among alumni. Not surprising, alumni who invest their money also devote their time. Despite being two hours from Boston, more than 550 alumni find their way to Hanover annually to speak in classes or assist with interviews and events.

“People who love community choose Tuck,” observes Fred Kamuzinzi, a West Point grad and first-year MBA. “I reached out to Tuck alumni before coming to Tuck and had a 100 percent response rate—as someone not even accepted to the program yet. This became more evident when I showed interest in Bain’s Boston office—when word reached an alum there, both my wife and I were invited for lunch and a tour of the office. Another partner, also a Tuck alum, has set up several bi-weekly calls to ensure I am setting myself up for success. The Tuck name comes with it an unparalleled community.”

While the alumni may grab the headlines, it is the second-years who model Tuck’s ‘Pay It Forward’ mission for the incoming class to someday follow. “Second-years give so much of their time at no charge to supporting first-year students on their recruiting journey, simply because they want them to experience the same success they were able to find,” adds ’23 grad Sam Haws.

EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES

If you’re a hermit or a coaster, Tuck is definitely not the place for you. As a rule, Tuckies are expected to be involved, both in and out of the classroom. In Murdough Hall, this dynamic is called “co-investment.” In the end, it boils down to ownership, says ’23 grad Andrew Key – student ownership. Key cites the SafeRides Club as an example. Here, student volunteers take nightly turns covering as designated drivers to ensure their classmates get home safely.

“The number of jobs to be done lines up pretty well with the number of students, and it creates a motivating sense of shared communal purpose,” Key adds. “Moreover, I think it means that there are enough leadership and other developmental opportunities to go around: Getting involved in campus life does not come with the corresponding hoopla of getting involved in a competition. In addition, I think it also keeps the programming fresh and relevant. Events happen because a group of students care enough about the event to put their own sweat equity into it. That’s very different from a model where the school’s administrators take the lead on coordinating student life.”

That’s one reason why Key calls Tuck a “24/7 MBA” – a conscious choice to commit, commune, and contribute. “Looking back, I have always enjoyed communities with collectivist culture,” writes Nuraly Mammedov, a first year from Turkmenistan. “I performed at my best, felt happier, and experienced a sense of belonging. Given the unique location of Tuck, this MBA program is designed to be a fully immersive, 24/7 experience. This means that Tuckies live together, study together, recruit together, and have fun together. Such an environment set Tuck apart from any other MBA programs.”

Maybe the most important unwritten rule of all at Tuck: Be open to new things and enjoy yourself while you’re at it. Looking back, Carly Wolberg is stunned by just how much she has growth over her two years in Hanover.

“I have been able to immerse myself in experiences that have allowed me to get outside of my comfort zone, to discover different strengths and interests, and to understand what my values are and how to be a more empathetic leader, teammate, and friend. I would never have guessed I would be challenging myself hiking at 17,000 ft elevation in Peru (the famous Rainbow Mountain) with my classmates, which I wouldn’t have done without their encouragement. While I am a very independent, self-driven person, I have discovered how much I can trust my classmates, lean on them for support, and achieve success both individually and as a team—all lessons I’ll carry forward.”

BUILDING COMMUNITY, ONE DINNER AT A TIME

True to Tuck, some of this growth is spurred by getting out the classroom and experiencing the great outdoors. “I love how athletic and outdoorsy everyone is,” adds first-year Eric Fein. “It makes it easy to focus and be productive in between trail runs, dips in the Connecticut River, tennis, and hockey.”

This interplay started early for the MBA Class of 2025. At orientation, Tout Tun Lin teamed up with a partner to complete a “River of Life” “introspection” exercise. Here, they shared the events and decisions that shaped their journey to the person they had become. Despite being strangers, Tun Lin says, their dialogue lasted for hours over coffee. This sense of camaraderie hasn’t just been built over coffees, Tun Lin adds.

“One thing that has stood out are the friendships I have forged in our community kitchen. Like my fellow international students living in the dorm, I craved a home-cooked meal during my first week here. Thanks to a fellow dorm mate who decided to prepare ramyeon for our whole cluster, our cravings were satisfied. This seemingly simple act has transformed into a tradition that has become integral to my Tuck experience. Whenever one of us is hungry, a quick message summons us for an impromptu communal meal in just about an hour. As a result, I’ve rarely eaten dinner at our school dining hall!”

“THE BEST TWO YEARS OF MY LIFE”

Leen Ajlouni, an engineer-turned-investor, says the class jelled quickly. In the first month alone, she says, classmates have been investing in each other’s businesses and discussing holiday treks to each other’s hometowns. In some cases, these bonds were forged before classes even started, says Katie Berdy, a Maryland native who’d previously studied Economics at Columbia University.

“During a pre-term backpacking trip, it only took a mile or two of trekking up the Appalachian Trail for our group of seven strangers to fall into a rhythm. From the start and throughout the trip, getting to know each other felt so easy and natural. We laughed, shared advice on blister care and camping materials, and confided about our hopes and worries as we embarked on this two-year Tuck adventure together. This experience is a great representation of how genuine and caring the Tuck community is.”

Before joining the Class of 2025, Isabel Steffens kept hearing from alumni that “Tuck was the best two years of my life.” Like second-years, alumni have been happy to pay it forward to first-years. Joanna Mulvey cites the Tuck Compass program. Think of it as a personalized board of directors that includes a leadership coach and alumni adviser for each student, Tuck Compass provides support to students as they navigate through career and life choices. Of course, Tuck second-years go out of their way to ensure their successors have the right resources, be it as awe-struck recruits or fidgety first-years. That was certainly the case for Cameron Causey last year.

“I asked [a] student’s advice as I was torn between Tuck and one other school. To paraphrase, she told me to pick the community that I wanted to be a part of when I was at my lowest. She acknowledged that the MBA experience can be a challenging journey in personal and professional growth, but moreover that we all go through unexpected hard times with family crises, and personal challenges. She told me to pick whichever school’s community represented that for me, even if it wasn’t Tuck. Her advice sticks with me to this day.”

FROM UBER TO PFIZER TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT

This year’s class brings some high-profile experience to the classroom. Before moving to Hanover, Causey worked as a senior product marketing manager and product manager at Twitter (i.e. X). At Uber, Isabel Steffens rose to be a senior strategic operations manager, where she helped to enhance driver onboarding. As a Prizer scientist, Ebun Ojekunle was part of a tea that developed Paxlovid, an oral agent designed to fight COVID-19. At Carvana, Nuraly Mammedov spearheaded marketing strategy for the launch of a new auction product.

“I collaborated with legal, product, sales, and brand teams to build a customer engagement plan, launch email campaigns, prepare the website for customers, set up sales analytics capabilities, and more. I consider this to be my biggest career accomplishment because I leveraged my analytics skills to convince key stakeholders and senior leaders of the company on the right approach in each of these workloads.”

The class is also well-represented in public service. When Rebecca Conchos worked in the Houston Independent School District, she installed a district-wide mentoring program for new teachers in the district – a program that has supported nearly a thousand teachers to date. Katie Berdy left Accenture to work in the Office of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont to focus on improving state healthcare. After studying at Yale University, Eric Fein found his way to the Peace Corps, where he was involved in Ukrainian economic development. From there, he moved to the U.S. Department of State to work as an economist.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work I did at the Department of State supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russia. I was part of a team that combed through millions of import and export records to identify foreign actors that were helping Russia acquire sanctioned goods critical to forwarding military operations. It was rewarding to see analytical data work translate into making my friends and former host family in Ukraine a little bit safer.”

THE ART OF STORYTELLING

Tout Tun Lin, a Harvard-trained social anthropologist, also headed overseas to serve the greater good. “When I was back in Myanmar after college, I worked on the first comprehensive research project commissioned by a UN organization for LGBTQIA+ mental health needs in my country. Through this project, I had the opportunity to interview multiple focus groups in places where I had never imagined a supportive community would exist. I was inspired by their stories, the struggles they overcame, and the safe spaces they created through sheer determination. I am honored to have been part of the team that highlighted their stories out to the world.”

Narratives are also important to Leen Ajlouni. That comes from working as a senior investment associate before business school. In this role, Ajlouni says, she sat through hundreds of elevator pitches – an experience that reinforced the value of storytelling.

“Being on the receiving end has taught me much about what it takes to tell clear, concise, and compelling stories that resonate to and influence others. Over the past couple of years, I’ve become enthusiastic about coaching entrepreneurs on how they can become better storytellers…I can’t describe the amount of joy it brings me when one of these entrepreneurs tells me how working on their storytelling skills helped them raise more funds, sell to more clients, or attract greater talent.”

Speaking of stories, Leen Ajlouni has a good one. When she was eight-years-old, she took the piano exam from a top London music conservatory and earned its highest score. Perhaps she could jam with Ebun Ojekunle, who sings soprano. Katie Berdy played lacrosse in college, while Joanna Mulvey has rowed in five countries…and 25 different bodies of water. And don’t worry about Isabel Steffens missing family at Dartmouth. Her twin sister is already studying at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

The twins will find plenty to do in Hanover (time permitting, of course). There are trails and slopes – with the region lending itself to Nordic, Alpine, and Touring skiing, says Eric Fein. For Cameron Causey, the marquee attraction is fly-fishing, with the Upper Valley’s waterways flush with trout and even salmon. Of course, there are the legendary “48” – 48 mountains in New Hampshire that rise to 4,000 feet or higher – that have the class climbers raring to go. That doesn’t count the traditional tripod hockey teams, which is often the first time that Tuckies have grabbed a stick, donned the skates, and hit the ice for bragging rights (and laughs).

“The truth is that while the Upper Valley does attract many students that love the outdoors, many students were just like me—learning to ski for the first time or never having hiked or ice skated,” says ’23 alum Destinée Mentor-Richards. “The beauty of Tuck is that the people that do love these activities are often the first to bring along others to experience them for the first time. And, even if you choose not to participate, there are tons of other programming and activities on and off campus that you can engage in.”

In fact, some first-years, such as Isabel Steffens, quickly adopted outdoor routines. “Around six of my classmates and I run every Wednesday morning and then jump in the river before getting ready for our morning classes. I really don’t think there’s any other business school where it’s that easy to have high-quality outdoors time before class.”

Next Page: An interview with Joe Hall, the school’s senior associate dean for teaching and learning.

Page 3: In-depth profiles of 11 MBA students.