Meet UNC Kenan-Flagler’s MBA Class Of 2026

THE BATTLE OF THE BLUES

Energy and Healthcare are other areas where Kenan-Flagler is cited by students and educators alike for being among the elite. However, the marquee attraction is STAR – an acronym for Student Teams Achieving Results. A semester-long consulting, project, the program differentiates itself by pairing 4-5 member MBA teams with 2 select undergraduate members. For the past 30 years, these STAR teams have partnered with organizations ranging from NASCAR to the Harbor Town Adventure Cruises to conduct research and supply data-driven recommendations. The program is so well-respected that Nike founder Phil Knight once sat in on a STAR team’s presentation to his leadership group. For MBAs, STAR is a chance to gain experience in everything from breaking down complex questions to persuading leaders to take action before starting their summer internships.

“This experiential learning opportunity allows students to apply their skills to solve real business issues for corporate partners,” explains Kento Fuchino. “I am particularly excited about the chance to work on diverse teams including undergraduates, to tackle complex business challenges. As I value teamwork and seek to expand my professional network, the STAR program aligns perfectly with my career aspirations and personal development goals.”

STAR isn’t the only course that has stirred the class’s interest. Emily Dixon and Emma Tillitski both point to study abroad options like the Global Immersion and Doing Business In electives. In contrast, alums like Alejandra Del Campo might suggest Business and Improv for Business to help students better think on their feet and communicate more confidently. Outside the classroom, Del Campo would also encourage students to attend Carolina Casuals, where clubs put on events replete with food and music so classmates can hang out together. Let’s not forget the Blue Cup, a friendly competition with Duke University’s Fuqua School for bragging rights.

“Each spring, UNC and Duke compete in over 20 events ranging from individual events like a spelling bee or pickleball to team football and basketball,” explains ’24 alum Dan Hawkins. “It’s the most fun two weeks of the year! I’ve been lucky enough to be the captain of the softball, dodgeball, and trivia teams, and I got to engage with my MBA classmates in a truly unique way. Even if you’re not participating in an event, most people will go to cheer on their classmates, and it brings out the school spirit in everyone!”

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSOCIATE DEAN

Earlier this fall, P&Q reached out to Jesse Davis, Associate Dean of the Full-Time MBA Program and Associate Professor of Finance. Along with sharing updates on the program, Davis covers areas like how Kenan-Flagler trains soft skills and leverages career services. Here are his thoughts on what you can expect from the MBA program.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Davis: “We develop principled leaders with the managerial skills to build and lead high-performing teams, armed with the technical acumen and market-ready skills that add immediate value to the organizations where they work. To that end, we launched two new concentrations to meet heightened expectations for MBA graduates today: Managing People and Organizations and Technology Innovation and Product Management.

Managing People and Organizations:

At UNC Kenan-Flagler we teach future business leaders that organizational impact starts with them. Our rigorous Managing People and Organizations (MPO) Concentration – interdisciplinary by design and execution – prepares them to drive results and achieve meaningful impact. Our students learn to get things done through collaboration, effective team-building, and leadership. In particular, we equip them with crucial skills in negotiating and influencing others, inspiring people, building high-performing teams, and with learned empowerment to effectively drive their organizations towards success.

Our leadership model begins with UNC Kenan-Flagler’s four core values – integrity, inclusion, innovation, and impact – which inform the leadership competencies we instill in our students:

* Integrity: Lead as role models who inspire others by aligning actions with principles.

* Inclusion: Develop others’ potential, encouraging a climate of collaboration and respect to create the ideal environment for leveraging different sources of knowledge and expertise in team decisions and projects.

* Innovation: Generate novel solutions to complex problems with adaptability, curiosity, learning and growth.

* Impact: Envision goals to get results that are sustainable, strategic and transparent.

Students develop actionable skills that they can apply broadly across many contexts, industries, and organizational levels – and connect the dots between the leadership competencies and core technical skills they learn here. This holistic approach ensures they are ready to apply these skills effectively and maximizes their impact on their organizations from day one and during their careers.

Our learning model – based on principles, practice, feedback and reflection – underpins the experiential learning environment, which includes experiential simulations, real-world projects, role-plays and games. These provide students with safe settings to learn, apply, and experiment with failure before they re-enter the workforce.

In addition to the core courses – Leading and Managing and Ethical Leadership – students can enroll in a diverse set of electives spanning strategy, organizational behavior and management communication. They include Communication for Developing Leaders, Managing Innovation, Storytelling to Influence and Inspire, Corporate Communication: Social Advocacy and Activism, Gender and the Workplace, Leading in the Middle, Managerial Decision Making, Leading Groups and Teams, Global Leadership, and Leading Diverse and Inclusive Organizations.

Technology Innovation and Product Management:

This concentration provides a strong foundation of theory, tools and techniques for understanding how technology and product innovations are reshaping marketplaces around the world. It considers innovations in healthcare, life sciences, material sciences, robotics, and digital technology.

In addition, because the reach of product management is broadening and holding a more eminent position in technology-focused firms, this concentration specifically aligns our curriculum with skills and acumen demanded by our employers and the marketplace.

It explores innovations in products and services, new frontiers of pricing and product design, and leveraging them through effective product-management practices. These highly marketable skills prepare students for broad functional roles in fast-paced companies typically found in the digital technology, AI, life sciences, fintech and biotechnology sectors as well as traditional companies that are transforming in sectors such as real estate, manufacturing and retail.

The Technology Innovation and Product Management concentration develops students’ ability to identify complex market trends, think critically, clearly communicate a strategic product vision and effectively work with people to achieve goals through collaboration, communication and creativity to transform ideas into new products and services.

P&Q: Every January, P&Q publishes a “10 Business Schools to Watch” feature that highlights how schools are raising the bar and enhancing the student experience through innovation or expansion in programming or resources. What is one innovation that sets your school apart from your peer programs and makes you a business school to watch? Why is it so groundbreaking?

Davis: “We are keenly focused on how technology and data are shifting the business landscape and the pace of innovation to develop both leaders and specialists – experts in collecting large amounts of data and transforming it into actionable insights – to drive positive business results.

Our students gain a strong understanding of business-relevant math and science concepts, learn to navigate large volumes of data, and determine how to apply this knowledge in a diverse set of business functions.

As a STEM-designated MBA degree program, we have changed both how and what we teach. We have developed a large and increasingly diverse set of courses, integrating analytics, digitalization and AI into traditional academic disciplines such as accounting, finance, marketing, operations, organizational behavior, and strategy. Developing courses that reflect changing technology trends in business is central to what we do at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

We offer a variety of new courses:

• Building a Generative Artificial Intelligence Business Unit
• Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Marketing
• ChatGPT
• Marketing Research: Machine Learning for Consumer Insights
• Business Modeling: Prescriptive Analytics
• Value Chain Innovation
• Digital Operations
• Data Analytics: Tools and Opportunities
• Thinking and Communicating with Data
• Marketing Analytics
• Service Operations and Revenue Analytics
• People Analytics
• Healthcare Analytics
• Python for Business Analytics
• Marketing Strategy in Tech-Intensive Environments
• Digital Marketing and Analytics
• Quantitative Methods in Finance
• Current Topics in Finance: FinTech

P&Q: What types of programs do you offer to sharpen your students’ soft skills? What areas do you emphasize and how do you instill these skills in your students?

Davis: “We emphasize communication, teamwork, self-awareness, and critical thinking for all students in a number of different ways.

From the very start of their very first year, at orientation, we organize students into study teams. They are coached on setting a team charter, establishing goals for their study group, and managing conflict under stress. They stay with their study teams throughout the fall semester of their first year to continue to practice and hone their soft-skills development.

During orientation, students also complete an academic course called Professional Presence. They practice communicating insights and recommendations, along with the teamwork concepts taught in orientation in our fast-paced environment to build overall teamwork capabilities.

Moving in to the second semester of their first year, students complete an additional requirement in our Management and Corporate Communication area that provides continued opportunities for advanced skills development in communication, teamwork, self-awareness, and critical thinking.

In addition to courses, our students engage in many leadership opportunities that include everything from competitions to club leadership to networking opportunities on campus and with partner employers. We encourage students to meet regularly with their career coaches to continue skills development in these areas, and to be able to showcase them as they transition into their required internships.

As students return to campus for their second year, modeling these skills through career labs, career treks, and club leadership positions, they begin to train first-year students in these areas as well.

Our Management and Corporate Communication curricular offerings are complemented by the work of their Business Communication Center (BCC), which provides full-time MBA students with personalized coaching to refine their soft skills, with a focus on professional and job-search-related communication skills.

The BCC is staffed by a select group of second-year MBA student consultants who bring a wide range of personal and professional experiences to the role. The students undergo extensive training to deliver in-depth, peer-to-peer coaching.

Students sign up for in-person or virtual appointments to receive tailored feedback on resume reviews, networking emails, mock networking conversations, behavioral interviews, case interview practice, and presentation preparation and delivery.

What’s truly special about the BCC is the peer model, meaning students can be vulnerable and ask any questions, knowing they’ll receive empathetic guidance from student consultants who understand the unique challenges of being an MBA student.

The BCC is an especially important resource for international students, offering guidance on cultural communication differences in professional settings. Many of the BCC Consultants are international students themselves and share firsthand advice.

Through personalized sessions, students leave the BCC with a clear understanding of their developmental areas, knowledge of valuable school resources to leverage, and the confidence to successfully navigate the complexities of the MBA academic and recruiting processes. These skills serve students during their time at UNC Kenan-Flagler and throughout their careers.”

Next Page: Profiles of  11 members of the MBA Class of 2026