Robert Rickard

Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

“An authentic leader and problem-solver who thrives on collaborating with others to drive impactful change.”

Hometown: Austin, TX

Fun fact about yourself: Golf has been a lifelong passion, and I was fortunate to play on scholarship for the Texas Tech golf team during undergrad. However, after years in the workforce and business school, my golf game unfortunately now needs more work than my Excel and PowerPoint skills.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Texas Tech University, Bachelor of Business Administration

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Emerson, Strategic Planning Analyst

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? McKinsey & Company, St. Louis

Where will you be working after graduation? McKinsey & Company, St. Louis

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• VP of Learning and Development for Owen Strategy and Consulting Club
• Peer Coach – Mentored 10+ 1st year MBA students on navigating their recruiting journey
• Case Coach – Tutored 50+ 1st year MBA students for case and behavioral interviews
• Teaching Assistant for Managerial Finance
• Teaching Assistant for Operations Management

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? As a VP of Learning and Development for the Owen Strategy and Consulting Club, I helped prepare first-year MBA students for consulting recruiting. This included leading seven intensive, two-hour training sessions and developing over 200 PowerPoint slides on everything from casing fundamentals to networking strategies. Despite the changing MBA hiring landscape, Owen maintained a strong consulting pipeline, with interns securing positions at each top-tier firm. The new training materials and structure will also now serve as a lasting resource for future MBAs. More importantly, this experience reinforced my belief that true leadership is about elevating others not just yourself, as empowering first-year MBA students to succeed in consulting recruiting was more meaningful than any personal achievement during business school.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? My proudest professional achievement was leading a critical strategic initiative to transform Emerson’s systems and software engineering and manufacturing operations in India. Despite having limited prior operational experience, I quickly immersed myself in the complexities of the project, collaborating closely with local teams to identify opportunities to streamline operations. After recognizing that mistrust and silos were preventing effective collaboration between local sites, I facilitated open discussions to build alignment among previously disconnected leaders. My team’s strategic recommendations to improve burden rates, reduce redundancies, and enhance organizational expertise were enthusiastically approved by senior leadership and delivered $20M of savings. Additionally, this experience deepened my passion for strategic problem-solving and collaborative leadership, motivating my pursuit of a consulting career. My time traveling across India and working with local colleagues also gave me a better appreciation for the immense talent that exists across the world.

Why did you choose this business school? When deciding where to pursue my MBA, I assessed schools across multiple dimensions such as academic prowess, recruiting outcomes, location, affordability, and culture. While many programs excelled in various ways, Owen’s defining advantage was its people. The intimate class size creates what Owen calls “personal scale,” which fosters strong connections among classmates, faculty, and staff. Early on, I experienced this firsthand when a career advisor personally guided me through a challenging professional situation well after normal working hours. Even more meaningful was that her support was not simply a professional responsibility, but a reflection of genuine investment in my growth. This experience exemplifies exactly why I chose Owen. I wanted a school deeply committed not just to the success of the school but also to the success of each student, which Owen’s “personal scale” uniquely delivers.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Josh White was my favorite MBA professor due to his unparalleled command of the research underpinning his courses and his engaging teaching style. He continually inspired students to approach complex financial concepts with critical thinking, encouraging robust debates and challenging questions. What truly set him apart, however, was his humility. Professor White would openly admit when he didn’t know an answer, turning these moments into opportunities for collaborative learning rather than limitations. This authenticity fostered a rich learning environment where intellectual curiosity thrived, making every class an engaging experience.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite MBA course was Healthcare Economics and Policy, taught by John Graves. With Nashville’s strong healthcare presence and the Vanderbilt Medical Center nearby, Owen has no shortage of great healthcare classes, but Healthcare Economics and Policy stood out as the most impactful. Coming into business school, my only exposure to healthcare was as a consumer, but I wanted to better understand the economic forces shaping the U.S. healthcare system, as it affects every business not just those within the healthcare sector.

Professor Graves excelled in breaking down this complex system with clarity and balance, blending rigorous analysis with real-world relevance. He also brought in engaging guest speakers who provided invaluable insights into critical issues such as evolving provider payment models and the incentives behind pharmaceutical pricing. Ultimately, this course gave me a strong foundation in the economic forces driving healthcare decisions, reshaping how I think about challenges like the structure of employer-sponsored insurance.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? While not a tradition in the typical sense, my favorite aspect of Owen is the ingrained expectation that students are not just consumers of but active contributors to their MBA experience. Given the small class size, leadership is not just reserved for a select few, but rather every student has the opportunity (and expectation) to shape the Owen experience for themselves and their peers. This fosters a culture where students take ownership of their academic, professional, and extracurricular communities, ensuring that clubs and initiatives thrive across classes.

I experienced this firsthand as a VP of Learning and Development for the Strategy and Consulting Club, where I was responsible for preparing first-year students for the consulting recruiting process. Rather than simply attending events organized by others, I was empowered to shape programming, develop training materials, and guide my peers through a challenging process. This culture of hands-on leadership is a core part of Owen’s “personal scale,” allowing students to carve out their own unique paths while being fully supported by faculty, staff, and classmates. Ultimately, leadership is both expected and encouraged at Owen, and that tradition has defined my MBA experience in the best possible way.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Nashville’s live music and nightlife scenes are well-known, but I have to admit that is not really my thing. Instead, I love great food, though I would not claim any skill in making it myself. Luckily, Nashville has an outstanding culinary scene. For example, Husk offers an elevated take on Southern cuisine that never disappoints. Additionally, just a short walk from Owen, H&S Bagels serves the best bagels that I have had outside of New York, and Cocorico’s almond croissants became an essential part of my weekly routine.

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? A key lesson from Moneyball, one of my favorite movies, is that disruption is inevitable. While Billy Beane’s approach was initially dismissed by baseball’s old guard, it ultimately became the industry standard. Teams that resisted change were left behind, while those that adapted quickly gained an advantage. The same is true in business. Companies that refuse to evolve risk becoming obsolete. While change for its own sake is misguided, a mindset of continuous improvement is critical to staying competitive. The reality is simple: disruption will happen. Therefore, the only choice is whether you are the disruptor or the disrupted.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? While Owen introduced curriculum specifically focused on AI, the greatest impact came from professors encouraging the use of AI in coursework and assignments. This pushed me to experiment with AI tools, and I now use AI almost daily across a variety of tasks. Beyond improving productivity, AI enabled me to accomplish things that would have previously been out of reach. In my Financial Data Analytics class, for instance, I created a Python-based DCF model, despite having no prior familiarity with coding. This experience reinforced that AI is here to stay and will be a transformational force in business. Furthermore, while the long-term impact of AI remains uncertain, I largely believe that AI alone will not make roles and companies obsolete, but rather the individuals and businesses who embrace AI will replace those who do not.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? This was one of the hardest questions to answer, because I have numerous remarkable classmates. However, Zach Terry stands out as someone that I deeply admire. He is the kind of person who leads with integrity, embraces responsibility, and brings a level of sincerity to every interaction that is rare to find. Whether leading the Owen Healthcare Club or mentoring first-year students as a peer coach, Zach is dedicated to ensuring that every space he enters is better because of his presence. Furthermore, Zach’s ability to listen, reflect, and incorporate different perspectives has challenged me to be more open-minded. Ultimately, Owen is a better place because of Zach, and I feel lucky to call him a friend.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Throughout my career, I have been incredibly fortunate to have mentors who believed in me, challenged me, and gave me opportunities far beyond what my experience should have warranted. These experiences shaped my career, and I would not be where I am today without the guidance of those leaders. Thus, one of my biggest professional goals is to pay that forward by providing the same level of mentorship and sponsorship to those early in their careers.

Beyond mentorship, I have also seen how exposure to different cultures can accelerate professional development. Working with global teams at Emerson broadened my understanding of business beyond a U.S. perspective, and my experiences traveling internationally for projects reinforced how much I enjoy learning from and adapting to new environments. At some point in my career, I aspire to take on a leadership role abroad, further expanding my ability to lead diverse teams and solve complex challenges in a global context.

What made Robert such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Robert Rickard is the kind of leader whose impact isn’t measured in decibels, but in depth. If you only spent a day at Owen, you might miss his quiet influence—but ask faculty, staff, and his classmates, and they’ll tell you he is, without question, one of the most selfless, dedicated, and quietly influential leaders in the Class of 2025. It might seem most natural for me as a faculty member to talk about Robert’s intellectual qualities and performance in the classroom. Sure, I could do that very easily. He is one of our brightest students, and he has a knack for asking questions in class that push his classmates (and instructors!) to think more deeply about the topic of the day. When I asked students in one of my classes this year to rate how much their classmates’ participation contributed to their learning, Robert appeared right at the top of those rankings. Students like Robert are invaluable to creating a richer intellectual environment in our classrooms. But what really sets Robert apart is the impact he has made beyond his role as a classroom student.

Robert’s willingness to help others was apparent from the early stages of the MBA program, as he started and led academic support groups for fellow students to navigate challenges they were facing with first semester classes. In the second semester, he was elected as a Board member for the Owen Strategy & Consulting Club. As the faculty adviser for the club, I have seen first-hand the amount of effort and dedication he has brought to his role as VP Learning & Development for the club. At his own behest, he spent countless hours re-vamping our case prep curriculum. Throughout the fall of his second year, he led the design and delivery of seven casing workshops, which often drew attendance of at least half of the first-year class. He also provided additional support as a Peer Coach through our Career Management Center and engaged first-year students through many mock 1:1 case interviews. As I write this, I feel a small sense of regret because I don’t feel like the words adequately capture the depth and quality of Robert’s contributions. This work is of incredible value to classmates, and his impact on his peers will extend far beyond Owen. Notably, he accomplishes all this while maintaining a quiet, unassuming personality. A staff member may have said it best when she described him as one of the most authentic and genuine individuals she has met. His selfless approach and profound influence are characteristics that represent the very best of our MBA program.”

Brian T. McCann
Professor of Strategic Management

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