Lifetime Achievement Award For Leadership: UC Davis’ H. Rao Unnava

PUTTING REAL ROI INTO EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

That initiative is just one thread of a broader overhaul of executive education and business-school engagement. After speaking with 25 senior executives and CEOs, Unnava is designing a model for executive education that ties learning directly to measurable ROI. Executives sponsor five or six employees to take classes/exams. The top performers then take on a real-world project — supervised by the school’s faculty — with immediate application to a corporate challenge (e.g., supply-chain redesign, semiconductor firm strategy).
The payoff is clear: not just the learning experience of exec ed, but measurable business impact, more often than not the missing link in executive education.

He describes the challenge succinctly, “The problem is employees are going for training and nothing happens when they return to work. The industry is now saying there is no option that comes with an ROI.” By pairing project-based work, company teams and MBA students, and faculty oversight, Unnava is charting a path forward — what he acknowledges is “probably the last big thing I will do here.”

The rise of online business education has opened doors — but also flooded the market, with well over 350 online MBAs in the U.S. alone. “When we did online we were among the first 25 or 30 schools,” he says. “Now the market is saturated. Georgia Tech has a master’s in computer science with 35,000 people. If you flood the market with that number, we have flooded the market with MBAs so we have to become more careful. The online MBA is probably losing its luster now because in too many cases it’s easy for someone to get a business degree.”

WORKING WITH FACULTY TO CONTROL COSTS

At UC Davis, the school responded with a creative path: the Master of Management (MiM) program. “The MiM is working well. We added about 80 plus people. We hope it becomes a pathway to an MBA. We can admit someone who may have a lower GPA than we would normally admit.”

In an era of budget stress — especially for self-supported segments — Unnava has also had to deal with difficult decisions. “We are mostly self-supporting so I have to work with the faculty on where we can make cuts. Some faculty and staff have retired and we have not replaced them or we have reorganized the work. That creates a lot of anxiety in people… This is due to the decline in enrollment from international students not coming in. It is all based on change in the marketplace.”

Through it all, the ethos has been steady: stay strong in mission, adapt in model, keep faith in people.

ON STEPPING DOWN: ‘IT’S LIKE FINISHING A MARATHON’

Asked how he feels about nearing the end of his deanship, Unnava offers a candid, reflective metaphor: “It’s kind of like you feel when you finish a marathon. I’m glad I did it. There is the care for other people that you constantly think about. I have learned from it. It is a great opportunity to serve a large number of constituencies. It is such a great opportunity. I feel gratitude that this opportunity was afforded to me.”

He shares a bit of personal philosophy. “There are so many people around you that prop you up. It’s not a smooth road by any means. It is amazing that there are so many people out there to make sure you don’t fall. If you fall in love you are looking at each other. But when you get married you both look in the same direction.”

What will he miss most? “It’s the people. There’s a joy in doing something for others. You don’t get many opportunities to help. But here you are giving me that job. And I want to say thanks for giving me that job. This job is an opportunity to help someone else. For that I am very thankful.”

PLANS TO MENTOR STARTUPS

Even after his deanship, Unnava won’t slow down. He plans to spend his sabbatical helping to build out UC Davis’s innovation ecosystem — particularly around food and health entrepreneurship. Two companies already bear his imprint: Rivalz: A high-protein, low-carb savory snack now available in more than 3,000 stores. A novel decaffeination technology for coffee — a powder that neutralizes caffeine while preserving taste and acidity. He has been working with Starbucks and Peet’s on this for more than two years.“There’s tremendous interest,” he says. “We’ve been testing it for two years. The results are very promising.”

After a sabbatical, he’ll continue mentoring startups and leading UC Davis’s “Innovation for Health” initiative, a cross-disciplinary platform for food and wellness ventures.

Rao Unnava’s tenure at UC Davis has been defined by courage, curiosity, and care — qualities that have inspired not only his faculty and students but peers across academia. His leadership has helped UC Davis weather disruption, adapt with creativity, and grow with purpose.

THE DEANSHIP: ‘AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP OTHERS’

If the Dean of the Year award celebrated his rise as an educational innovator, this Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership honours something even greater: his enduring humanity.

“I’ve always seen this job,” he says, “as an opportunity to help someone else. For that, I am deeply thankful.”

POETS&QUANTS 2025 HONORS

DEAN OF THE YEAR: RICE BUSINESS’ PETER RODRIGUEZ

BUSINESS SCHOOL OF THE YEAR: ESCP BUSINESS SCHOOL

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS EDUCATION: UC DAVIS’ H. RAO UNNAVA

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR MBA ADMISSIONS: DUKE FUQUA’S SHARI HUBERT

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN BUSINESS SCHOOL BRANDING: ILLINOIS GIES’ JAN SLATER

MBA PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR: MICHIGAN ROSS’ ANDY HOFFMAN

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