Ben Inglese

Rutgers Business School

“I like to solve difficult problems, cook, and make people laugh.”

Hometown: Short Hills, NJ

Fun fact about yourself: I spent 6 weeks camping alone across the outback while living in Australia!

Undergraduate School and Degree: Bucknell University, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Seasoned Traveler LLC, Founder (Gourmet food product startup)

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? GreensLedge Capital Markets, New York City

Where will you be working after graduation? Currently working full-time as an Analyst at GreensLedge Capital Markets, New York City.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Management Consulting Club Treasurer

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Tepper Tech ICC Case Competition, Cornell Investment Portfolio Case Competition, Humana Mays Healthcare Case Competition, RBS Case Competition

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Helped structure and close over $750m of private credit fundraising transactions since joining GLCM full time in August 2024.

Why did you choose this business school? It was very affordable for in-state students, and the proximity to New York City was paramount for getting into investment banking. I hoped to be able to find an internship where I could work part-time in my second year and have been lucky to have an opportunity to begin my career a year ahead of graduation.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Ken Freeman. His enthusiasm for “blending the art and science of financial modeling” brought all of the core concepts from my other MBA courses together in a way that made sense through the process of detailed financial statement valuations and LBO models in Excel. He was entertaining, pushed me more than any other professor, and was not afraid to move at the speed required to make an impact on students’ understanding of financial modeling.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Advanced Corporate Financial Modeling. This course, in the spring semester of my first year, exposed me to the world of financial modeling and financial services, and it was a big part of why I was able to make an impact as a summer intern at a small investment bank. It was engaging, covered a huge range of topics in a way that helped clarify hard-to-understand concepts from other courses, and taught me how professionals use the ideas we read in textbooks to efficiently make decisions in financial services.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite experiences were each of the case competitions I was involved in. I got to know my classmates better while having fun. We pushed each other to learn and put together solutions we were proud of. Great road trips, late night meetings, and brainstorming sessions with creative classmates were just some of the highlights of the competitions I participated in. RBS does a great job of getting students involved in case competitions, and each was one of the most impactful learning experiences of my student career.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I wish I had been able to participate in more student social events, not just during my second year but during my first year as well. My girlfriend and I were living on such a thin budget during my first year of school that left almost no room for anything beyond the necessities. I was so excited about learning the types of things that I would need in a career in banking that I dove head-first into working, all the time, so that I would never have to scrape by like that again. But this meant that I missed out on fun events and opportunities with my class that is so close and supportive of each other.

What is the biggest myth about your school? Rutgers Business School isn’t good for pivoting careers into banking/financial services. I think the school gives students all the tools they need but doesn’t make it clear that students need to do more work outside of class to become proficient enough to be a competitive candidate. This is true for students at all business schools, but I think that Rutgers does not get the recognition it deserves in preparing students to work in financial services. There is limited exposure to the high-level quantitative analysis required in top-level interviews within the curriculum, but students can find it if they connect with the right people.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? It is so close to New York City that I can work full-time in Manhattan and study full-time in-person at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey.

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? The Big Short rings very true, as I now work in the same industry covered in the film (structured finance). There are a lot of lessons in that film, but outside of the industry-specific ones is the importance of due diligence. There were so many levels of the housing and mortgage finance industry which were shown to just be looking for the easiest dollar instead of doing the work to evaluate the situation.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? I’ve spent a lot of time during my MBA program learning how to code with AI tools and to develop AI agents for use in case competitions. These skills have really helped me to use AI to automate a lot of my workflow and to develop tools I use throughout my work every day.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Maitri Taneja; She is extremely driven and personable, willing to take on the jobs that get no recognition/glory in order to make things better for those who come after her. She Has shown herself to be a leader in many ways, and is always the fiercest debater in the class.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Close a deal in which I am the lead. Become partner.

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

“Ben’s unique career journey is a testament to his determination and resourcefulness, and his drive to make the most of his student experience. Moreover, he has consistently sought opportunities to mentor fellow graduate students, frequently helping them develop Excel and financial modeling skills. He has been a consistent member of case competition teams that have helped increase Rutgers Business School’s reputation as a leading case competition program.”

Dean Vera
Director, MBA Office of Career Management

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2025

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.