Andrew Elgin

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

“An average guy just trying to work hard and do some good in the world.”

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, PA

Fun fact about yourself: I am a partial owner and shareholder of the greatest football team in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers. They pay the best dividends money can buy in championships.

Undergraduate School and Degree: BSBA Accounting, Christopher Newport University

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Company Commander, US Army

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023?  Due to being an Active Duty Army Officer, and some associated military obligations, I did not complete a traditional summer MBA internship. However, I did have the opportunity to shadow a Wharton alumnus, Mr. Don DeMuth, at his investment management and advisory firm and learned a great deal. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to observe client engagements and assist them in achieving their financial goals.

Where will you be working after graduation? Instructor, Economics and Finance, United States Military Academy

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: MBA Academic Excellence Fellowship, MBA Academic Fellow and tutor, Director’s List, First-Year Academic Honors, Common Cents Club Vice-President of Member Education, Wharton Global Youth Personal Finance Teaching Fellow, Wharton Veteran’s Club, Catholic Club, Running and Tri Club, Entrepreneurship through Acquisition Club, Sports Management Club.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Serving as an MBA Academic Fellow. It is extremely rewarding to be able to tutor and assist fellow students in their academic pursuits and see them achieve success in a rigorous academic environment here at Wharton.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Simply being afforded the incredible opportunity to serve, train, and deploy alongside brilliant, humble, and selfless Americans.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Wharton because of its academic and quantitative rigor. I knew that it was the best program to prepare me to teach economics and finance to the future leaders of our Army at West Point.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is an unfair question as I have thoroughly enjoyed several professors and their courses during my time at Wharton. However, I must recognize Professor Stephan Dieckmann for his instruction in Fixed Income Securities. I don’t think anyone can match Professor Dieckmann’s enthusiasm and authentic joy he brings to the classroom at 8:30 a.m. as he imbues MBAs with the intricacies of term structure modeling, delta, gamma, interest rate derivatives and options, securitization, and modeling credit risk. Professor Dieckmann made every class stimulating and engaging and was better to start the day with than my large cup of black coffee.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Central Banks, Macroeconomics, and Markets. I have always been a student of personal finance and investment management, but this course really broadened my understanding of how monetary policy influences the macroeconomic environment and financial markets. It challenged me daily from an intellectual standpoint and made me question numerous previously-held assumptions regarding investing theses. The course is co-taught by Professor Zvi Eckstein and Professor Joao Gomes and enables students to understand and predict Central Banking decision making and monetary policy conducted by the FED, ECB, and Bank of Israel (BOI), and how financial markets process macroeconomic events and policy announcements. It discusses the key macroeconomic drivers of bond and stock market valuations and how they respond to economic news and policy actions by central banks, governments, and shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The course also features an exceptional lineup of guest speakers from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and practitioners from various global hedge funds.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? The Office of Student Life’s 60-Second Lectures Series.

What is the biggest myth about your school? The biggest myth about Wharton is certainly its reputation as a “Finance” school. While it is unquestionably a fantastic place to study finance, there are so many other exceptional professors and courses in areas such as operations, technology, strategy, marketing, and especially entrepreneurship. It is truly a diverse community from a demographic and intellectual curiosity standpoint.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Moving to Philadelphia was my first opportunity to truly live in a “big” city. It has far exceeded my expectations. Philadelphia has a fantastic food scene with great restaurants and bars. In addition, being afforded the opportunity to regularly and conveniently experience the pro-sports scene by attending Flyers, Sixers, Wings, Eagles, and Phillies games was a dream come true. Philadelphia sports fans take passion to a whole new level.

What surprised you the most about business school? The incredible people and intellectually rich academic environment. Students, staff, alumni, and professors are exceedingly kind, intelligent, giving, and caring. My peers are accomplished and talented far beyond what I could have imagined. Esteemed alumni, who have extremely limited time, are always willing to adjust their schedules to provide their insights and guidance and serve as guest speakers. Then, there are the incredible faculty members and support staff. These individuals go to extreme lengths to ensure our success and development as students. I leave every class wishing it didn’t have to end and feeling grateful for the opportunity to learn from the brightest minds in their fields. If the Army didn’t have plans for my future, I very well might try to stay here indefinitely. Graduation will certainly be bittersweet.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? This is a very tough question as so many of my peers are worthy of admiration. However, I will provide a few names that represent a larger group within the Wharton Community. Zack Ciampa, Aaron Makuda, and Ethan Wang are all friends and fellow students who are not only excelling in the classroom but are also doing some of the most challenging, time-consuming, and vital work of raising children while in graduate school. I am truly amazed at how parents balance their family, academic, and professional pursuits. I’m not sure how they do it, but they are definitely worthy of our admiration. Our country’s future is bright with great parents such as themselves raising the next generation.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Meet and exceed the expectations of those I am afforded the opportunity to work for, with, and lead, and have a positive impact on their lives.

2. Work and serve others on each continent. Antarctica might be a stretch, but I am currently complete with North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe thanks to my military service.

What made Andrew such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“First, Andrew is an excellent student, which is not just proven by his grades, but by the intellectual curiosity he has displayed in his time at Wharton. Due to his strong performance in the fixed core, he was selected to be an Academic Fellow – 2Y students who were tapped to assist in tutoring 1Y students in their core courses, namely, Statistics and Microeconomics. Outside of the academic realm, Andrew is the vice-president of Member Education with Common Cents (Personal finance, literacy, and wellness club). In that role, he has overseen the execution/provision of numerous events, resources, and educational opportunities to the MBA community.

Upon graduation from Wharton, Andrew will go to West Point to teach, and this is reflective of how he has spent much of his time outside the classroom. For example, Andrew taught in the Wharton Global Youth Program, last year, taught personal finance to a high school class in Miami and Philadelphia, and offers free financial coaching to other members of the Vets Club. He has particularly enjoyed sharing his experiences from the military and related leadership development opportunities with his classmates. Finally, Andrew is a member of Vets Club, Running and Tri Club, Catholic Club, Sports Business Club, and Entrepreneurship through Acquisitions Club.”

Christine Sweeney
Associate Director
Wharton MBA Academic Affairs

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2024