Mitch Cucinotta              

Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame

“Husband, Girl Dad of two, and Army veteran continuing to learn new things.”

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio

Fun Fact About Yourself: I received a perfect score from three musical judges for singing an acapella song.

Undergraduate School and Major: United States Military Academy at West Point, B.S. in Systems Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Shaw Industries, Regional Operations Manager

When you think of Notre Dame, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Mendoza program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? “God, Country, Notre Dame” is the phrase over the East Door of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. This stood out to me based on the phrase “Duty, Honor, Country,” which was drilled into me at West Point. The similar phrases help round out my education from Catholic school in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Notre Dame. Both schools instill a sense of service to the community, country at large, and shape your identity. Both schools provide a great framework not only for the business world but also a spiritual and ethical foundation for life.

Since being at Notre Dame, the Mendoza program has reinforced this impression through everything from opening orientation to interacting with alumni living out this ethos every day. Everywhere on campus, there are reminders and symbols of the great people who have come before, and the professors and staff all have stories about their favorite spot on campus. Mendoza does a great job making you feel part of the family and helping you grow during your journey on campus.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the Mendoza MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? One interesting program Mendoza has is a program we call Grow Irish. This program happens in mid-October and mid-March and gives us the opportunity to participate in classes that can grow our interests. We also can take part in consulting projects both internationally and domestically. These projects give us real-world problems that we can bring into our summer internships and help make connections with Notre Dame alumni around the world.

There are also other opportunities during the two years, such as Business on the Frontlines and Mod Away. Both opportunities are similar to the Grow Irish program in that you have the opportunity to work on consulting projects and get to travel the world. Mod Away is seven weeks in Silicon Valley or Santiago, Chile. Business on the Frontlines is a course that you can take advantage of in the first or second year. These are important because they offer real world experience that will stand out once you graduate.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Mendoza? Finance with Professor Robert Battalio has been a great course so far at Mendoza. There are many professors who are great, and it was hard to choose, but Robert’s style of teaching and dedication to his students really stood out.

Running the stairs of the stadium on 9/11 has been my favorite activity. It was awesome to see the student body running the stairs because the stadium is usually locked up and seeing the number of people taking part in the tradition. They had the lacrosse team lead and had ROTC and firefighters in full uniform running as well.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: In 2018, during my second deployment to Afghanistan, my unit was tasked with opening up a new base inside of an Afghan National Army base. The only way to supply the base was through the air, as the Taliban shut down all the roads into the base. I was assigned as the lead logistician, and during our nine-month deployment, my team handled everything from fuel, maintenance, and food to buying equipment from local Afghans. The base started off with two units totaling 90 soldiers and grew to over eight units totaling 350 by the time we left. I was also able to hand over my job to my successor with a food and water supply for four months, the estimated time the airfield would be grounded due to winter weather.

This experience taught me important lessons in planning forecasts, working with other people to acquire supplies, and cross-communication with multiple units and countries. Since the base could only be supplied by air, we had limited weight that we could bring in any one time, and each aircraft that came to us was controlled by the Middle Eastern command. I had to learn how to make my case for more aircraft so we could bring in supplies from water to mail.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? My biggest accomplishment so far has been surviving as a new dad for a second time. My daughter, Gia, was born two weeks before school started. Luckily, my wife and I had a lot of help from our parents, and I had to travel back on weekends until both of them were medically cleared to move to Notre Dame. The first month of school was hard without them, but now everyone is together and doing well.

Mendoza is known as a purpose-driven MBA program that asks students to “Grow the good in business.” What is your mission and how has Mendoza been helping you realize it? Helping veterans transition out of the military is an opportunity for me to grow the good. My transition out was rough for me and is an experience I can share with others. Talking with other veterans at Mendoza and around campus, we have been working on growing the tools to help veterans know about opportunities at Notre Dame and around the country. Talking with alumni who have utilized Hiring our Heroes, ACP, and Fourblock are all great resources that veterans can use to go directly into business. Right now, we are working with people like Lance Nettrouer, Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, and admissions to ensure that all future veterans can learn about how Mendoza can help them grow the good but also enrich the student population in the future.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? My best memory has been the mixer events that Mendoza holds. These events bring everyone together and allow us to meet with people we have not been able to talk to before and learn about them. I have met so many new people through these events and look forward to them.

DON’T MISS: MEET NOTRE DAME MENDOZA’S MBA CLASS OF 2025