Meet Emory Goizueta’s MBA Class Of 2026

Less valuable and more vulnerable.

That’s how people are trained to see small: common-place and easily overlooked. In business school, small is treated as an advantage, however. Small companies are more focused and less rigid. Small products are more convenient and less costly. Think less bureaucracy and more opportunity: can-do, nimble, and customer-centered.

You could say the same about the size of a business school. Just look at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, which attracted 129 students to its full-time MBA Class of 2026. The school follows a “small-by-design” model to accentuate its strengths and differentiate itself from peer schools. That includes a philosophy grounded in personalized attention. Boasting a 5-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, Goizueta creates an atmosphere where faculty and staff know your name, background, and ambitions – and work tirelessly to help you achieve your goals. That spirit carries over the student body, where small translates to more opportunities to pursue leadership and connect more deeply with classmates.

“A LIBERAL ARTS MBA PROGRAM”

More access and less distance – all with the resources and versatility of a big school…with a heavy dose of Atlanta’s Southern Hospitality to match. Andres Ruiz Bruzual, a member of the full-time Class of 2026, boils the benefits down to “collaboration, mentorship, and a strong support system.” His classmate, Andrew Going, lauds the “tailored approach” taken by Goizueta’s Career Management Center – one that produces nearly perfect internship placement year-after-year. By the same token, Aurora Straus points to Goizueta’s academic environment as one of its marquee attractions.

“When I was choosing between business schools, I asked students from each MBA program about their program highlights. Unlike students at other schools, Goizueta students almost always mentioned a class or professor that has changed their life. Goizueta’s small class size and insane student-to-faculty ratio makes it possible for each student to truly pave their own path, and for professors to become extremely close with each individual. As a history major from Harvard, I’ve joked that Goizueta is the closest I could’ve gotten to a liberal arts MBA program.”

An unexpected benefit of Goizueta’s size, says Justin Helm, is that it makes easier for partners and spouse to meet and become friends, no different than the students. One way this happens, say alumni, is through KEGS – which stands for Keeping Everyone at Goizueta Social. Every Thursday, the Goizueta community – MBA students, faculty, staff, and partners (and even students from other Goizueta programs) gather together to bond over food and drink.

“[It is] a signature community building event that is the culminating activity after a strenuous week of business school classes, projects and meetings,” says ’24 MBA alum Amanda Sun. “We gather at Patterson Green & Jenkins Courtyard to reflect on the week, share a laugh, indulge in delicious food, groove to some amazing music, and make long-lasting connections.”

As a student, Sun notes, she would get a “100% response rate” whenever she would reach out to alumni. In other words, while the alumni pool may be smaller, they remain deeply engaged with the school. Even more, they are deeply connected with each other, adds Sai Konkala, a ’24 alum and P&Q Best & Brightest MBA. Entering Goizueta, Konkala expected the small class size to stir a “cutthroat environment” where students would be pushing-and-shoving to stand out. Instead, he says, there was a sense that they were all in this together – and would do anything to elevate each other.

“I discovered a remarkably collaborative community where competition took a back seat to camaraderie,” adds Konkala. “Throughout the recruiting process, I never felt pitted against my peers; rather, there was an overwhelming sense of support and mutual assistance. Students readily offered guidance, shared resources, and provided invaluable feedback, fostering an environment conducive to collective growth. In the classroom, this spirit of collaboration extended to the exchange of notes, collaborative problem-solving, and post-class discussions, enhancing our learning experience. Beyond academic pursuits, the Goizueta community thrived on social interaction, with students frequently gathering in shared spaces like Coca-Cola Commons, bonding over shared interests, and collaborating on various club activities. There is very much an attitude of “lift as you climb” here at Goizueta.”

A RACE CAR DRIVER AND BAIN CONSULTANT

The stage may be smaller at Goizueta, but the Class of 2026 is rife with big personalities with unique backgrounds and lengthy accomplishments. You might even call Aurora Straus a celebrity – if not a unicorn. How else could you describe a Harvard-trained professional race car driver who concurrently shouldered the demands of being an associate at Bain & Company? Taking a break from Harvard, she won her first professional race in 2018. Four years later, Straus became the first woman to win a race with Radical Cup North America. As a Goizueta MBA, she’ll spend her weekends flying to southern Florida, where, she is busy launching a P1 Motor Club Racetrack that opens in 2026.

“My main academic and professional goal is to get a foundation in business frameworks that I missed out on by learning on the job across racing, startups, and Bain,” she tells P&Q. I’m hoping to apply these learnings in real-time to a new racetrack in Florida…Long-term, I have no idea what’s in the cards for me, but I’ll continue racing and I’d love to run my own motorsports team like the Toto Wolff at Mercedes.”

Hopefully, this endeavor will be less pressure-packed than the previous one that Straus started. “I founded the world’s only sleepaway teen racing camps. As a 13-year-old girl who learned to race around 25-year-old guys, I felt like there was quite a gap in the market there! I promise you have never known true stress until you are personally responsible for 15 teenagers simultaneously driving $250,000 race cars.”

A SPIRIT OF SERVICE

Speaking of speed, before business school, Andrew Going flew T-38 jets in the U.S. Air Force. After earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, he went to work at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. Ben Snyder, who is currently on his fourth draft of a 300-word novel, graduated from The Citadel and became an Infantry Platoon Leder in the U.S. Army. Similarly, Mackenzie Heriford adopted a spirit of service starting out at Teach For America as a high school teacher before becoming a recruiting director. Her best moment, she says, happened when she co-founded her school’s first track and field team.

“With no students on the team and limited funds, we successfully raised the necessary funds and recruited 20 students the first year to compete for New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School. Not only did students enjoy the community-building, but it also created an outlet for healthy competition and expression. Now, six years later, the school continues to have Track & Field as an opportunity for students, alongside five other sports teams, impacting hundreds of students each year.”

Maheep Gurnani has always been a risk-taker. At 15, he took a 233-meter bungee jump from the Macau Tower. To what lengths would Gurnani about getting close to the customer and being part of the action? After graduating from the University of Toronto, Gurnani by-passed a safe office job to join Chick-fil-A’s Leadership Development program. Andres Ruiz Bruzual started a research and business intelligence department from scratch at a venture capital firm. At the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Justin Helm worked on an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that aligned standard practices with crypto assets.

“Prior to this ASU, there was no definitive or authoritative accounting guidance for crypto assets, such as Bitcoin. Companies that invested in or accepted crypto assets as a form of payment from their customers typically followed existing accounting guidance for intangible assets, which led to unintuitive accounting and financial performance results due to the volatility of crypto assets. As a result of the ASU, companies now record certain crypto assets at fair value rather than at historical cost, leading to more decision-useful information for investors and less burdensome accounting processes for preparers.”

UNIQUE TALENTS

In one Chinese province, Lillian Liu cut child mortality rates in half by establishing a flu prevention framework that enabled the government to better redistribute resources. As a product manager, Malcolm Jermaine Henry oversaw a 30-system data migration project between Goldman Sachs and GreenSky. While Liu and Henry represent the quant side of the Goizueta program, they are counterbalanced by Patrycja Kepa, who moved into filmmaking after earning her undergraduate degree at Emory.

“One of my biggest accomplishments has been co-writing, co-directing, producing, and distributing my first feature film, Trinket Box. It has been picked up as an original film by Fox’s Tubi, secured international distribution, and has (to date) made nearly $400K worldwide on a $150K budget. Despite the many obstacles our company faced to finance complete and distribute the project, we were able to overcome them, and we’ve gained valuable lessons from the process. To be able to say that something I wrote and directed can be seen all over the world is incredibly fulfilling!”

However, Kepa believes her biggest contribution to the Class of 2026 will come from the “fresh perspective” she’ll bring from being an entrepreneur. “Over the last few years, I’ve helped build a small independent production company and started a film festival. I had to learn everything from terminology to legal structures to pitching film projects by myself through extensive research, networking, and simple grit. The process has also taught me to have a thick skin and to appreciate the hard lessons that come with the never-ending “no’s.” I aim to bring in enthusiasm, an unflinching work ethic, and lessons from my experience as a founding member of two companies.”

Shalom Alugwe comes to Goizueta from Nigeria – a country she says is “bustling with energy.” Her biggest contribution, she believes, will stem from a varied work experience and a non-Western perspective. “In my lifetime, I have been a lawyer, project manager, event planner, fashion designer, baker, teacher, writer, public speaker, and lots more. This is because I have always been committed to optimizing all the streams of my potential. I am encouraged to highlight my African perspective during case studies, experiential modules, and topical issues. On this, I look forward to exchanging diverse and well-rounded ideas with my classmates during Impact projects.”

Not surprisingly, Aurora Straus ties her MBA superpower to her racing prowess. “I’m a perpetual under-reactor. Racing cars is like taking drugs – it’s a completely altered state fueled by adrenaline and concentration, and once you crash at 200 miles per hour, normal life slows down. Because “life or death” is my baseline, I have discovered I am very calm during otherwise stressful situations! Over time, I have found that being a “stress absorber” is infectious, especially in a tough academic setting – friends who are frustrated with coursework or relationships come to me looking for calm reactions. My ability to help my classmates put crises into perspective and see the silver linings of stressful situations is the most unique quality I’ll bring to the table as a Goizueta student.”

A CLASS PROFILE

During the 2023-2024 cycle, Goizueta experienced a surge in applications from 1,257 to 1,571, ultimately issuing acceptance letters to 32% of applicants. This year’s class averaged a 705 GMAT, with scores ranging from 610-770. 25% of the class also submitted GRE scores, where the verbal and quant both came in at 158 on average. As undergrads, the class hit 3.5 for their average GPA, with the lowest average being 2.77.

The class is represented by 18 countries, though 45% of the class hails from outside the United States. Women account for another 32% of the class. On average, the class is 29 years of age. Military veterans make up nearly 15% of the class.

As undergraduates, 32% of the class majored in Business-related fields (not counting the 13% who hold Economics degrees). Engineering majors represent a 19% share of the Class of 2026, followed by Sciences (9%), Social Sciences (9%), Humanities (9%), and Computer Sciences (7%). Professionally, Consulting and Financial Services ran neck-and-neck at 16% and 15% respectively, followed closely by Consumer Products (12%), and Tech (9%).

Next Page: An Interview with the Associate Dean and 13 Profiles of Members of the Class of 2026