Aki Kiyomiya 

Kelley School of Business at Indiana University

“A curious, passionate person wants to help and improve people’s life through services and products.”    

Hometown: Nara, Japan

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am both Chinese and Japanese because I was born in China and moved to Japan when I was in elementary school.

Undergraduate School and Major: Okayama University (Undergraduate and graduate school), major in biochemistry and biotechnology

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Scientific Researcher

In the second half of the year, you will be completing an Academy devoted to areas like Marketing, Finance, Operations, Digital Enterprises and more. Which Academy interests you the most and why? Business Marketing Academy — I can improve my marketing skill by getting real world marketing practice and can explore different companies and industries in business marketing academy.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Indiana Kelley’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Kelley’s high-level marketing education and supportive atmosphere attracted me. Working as a researcher in a pharmaceutical company, I found myself passionate about digging into customer’s needs and thinking about products myself and wanted to become a boundary spanner between marketing and R&D divisions. When I decided to pursue an MBA, I was looking for a school that was good at marketing education to help me improve my marketing skills and build up my business base.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Indiana Kelley?  Marketing Club, Life Sciences Club and Consulting Club

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was researching corneal stem cells and found a combination of ingredients that could decrease the damage of cells caused by oxidative stress. Then, I collaborated with members from other departments, and we developed this technology into a new eye drop. We also did new trials in the process of promotion, such as calling out buyers from drugstores to the laboratory and directly explained the technology and our passion to buyers. This product sold out very well and became the top brand in the premium eyedrop market soon after its release and still remains among the top sellers.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)?  I am still thinking. At this point, I want to work as a marketer in healthcare field or become a marketing consultant.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Indiana Kelley’s MBA program?  Even though it is hard to prepare for MBA while working, it is worth it. You can get exposure to experience and knowledge you could not touch before. The Kelley MBA Program has a very supportive system and elaborative curriculum that can help you learn and improve. Believe in yourself, make a plan, and keep on completing the work you need to do each day and you will end up finding yourself being in Kelley’s MBA program.

DON’T MISS: MEET INDIANA KELLEY’S MBA CLASS OF 2025