Marcus Glass

Texas A&M, Mays Business School

“A strategic visionary leader blending engineering and business to be an agent of change.”

Hometown: Tomball, Texas

Fun fact about yourself: I absolutely love roller coasters. It doesn’t matter how high or how fast, I will ride it!

Undergraduate School and Degree:

Undergraduate Degree: BS in Biomedical Engineering

Graduate Degree: MEng. Biomedical Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I did not work at a company before enrolling in business school, I entered straight out of undergrad into a Co-Op Program that enabled me to receive both an MBA and an MEng degree. I will graduate with the MEng in Biomedical Engineering in May 2026.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Houston Methodist System, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston Texas

Where will you be working after graduation? Currently Undecided

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

President of the Graduate and Professional Student Body

Buck Weirus Spirit Award – An award given by the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students. The Buck Weirus Spirit Award honors 85 students each year who demonstrate high involvement, create positive experiences throughout the Aggie community, impact student life at Texas A&M and enhance the Aggie Spirit. Unlike other awards, the Buck Weirus Spirit Award recognizes those students who make contributions to the university through participation in student organizations, Aggie traditions and university events.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? The extracurricular achievement I am most proud of is serving as the elected President of Texas A&M’s Graduate and Professional Student Government, the university-wide governing body represents over 17,500 students across more than 290 different academic programs. In this role, I’ve led an organization of 100+ members and served as the chief advocate for graduate and professional students to senior university leadership such as the Provost, CFO, COO, VP of Student Affairs, and Dean of the Graduate School.

What I’m most proud of is the tangible impact. Over the course of this academic year, I worked with the University CFO to secure the first-ever graduate student seat on the University Strategic Budget Council, continue to work with university administration to help establish the first graduate student representative on the Academic Freedom Council, and partnered with university administration to secure over $3.7 million in graduate and professional academic support funding. These wins have helped create more opportunities for graduate and professional students.

This role has allowed me to give back to the university that has given so much to me. Being President has pushed me to put every leadership and communication skill I developed in business school into practice, translating student concerns into action. The work isn’t always visible, but the impact is lasting.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? The opportunity to lead the Graduate and Professional Student Body.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose business school because I realized that technical expertise alone wouldn’t allow me to maximize my impact in biotechnology. As a Biomedical Engineer, I could design solutions, but I didn’t fully understand how to evaluate their commercial viability, interpret the financial statements that drive investment decisions, or think strategically about how companies bring innovations from ideas to the market. While entrepreneurship in biotech is a deep passion of mine, I also recognized that the MBA would make me effective in any role across the industry, whether that’s leading teams at a medical device company, evaluating pipeline opportunities, or eventually building something of my own.

Having been at Texas A&M as an undergraduate, I had the opportunity to interact with Mays Business School faculty before applying. It was through these interactions that I was convinced I was joining the right program. The smaller class sizes meant professors didn’t just deliver material. The professors learned who I was, what I was working towards, and tailored their approach to set me up for success. That level of personal investment made the MBA program a tailored experience that was unique to me.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Looking back on my MBA courses, my favorite was Corporate Strategy with Dr. Priyanka Dwivedi. Her course introduced me to the high-level strategic thinking behind the most successful corporations from mission and vision to the analysis tools corporations’ use. When evaluating business ideas, I actively find myself applying frameworks like Porter’s Five Forces and Blue Ocean Strategy. What made the course exceptional was the application of the content. We didn’t just learn the frameworks, we took real successful corporations, broke their strategies down, and then considered future directions to make them even more competitive. The exercise of moving from theory to applied analysis is what made the material truly stick. It also gave me a lens I use constantly, whether I’m evaluating a biotech opportunity or thinking through organizational strategy as the President of the Graduate and Professional Student Government.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently, I would have leaned more heavily into the entrepreneurship resources available to me. As someone with a deep passion for building something of my own in biotech, I focused much of my MBA on core business fundamentals. This is something I don’t regret, but I could have complemented that foundation with more hands-on entrepreneurship experiences. Texas A&M has resources like the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship and courses focused on venture funding, business plan development, and startup operations that I didn’t fully take advantage of. One day, I plan to start my own company, and while the MBA gave me the strategic and financial toolkit to do so, I wish I had used my time here to also practice the mechanics of launching one.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The most impactful case study was the Benihana case. The case analyzed how the restaurant chain optimized every element of its operations. What struck me was how intentional every decision was, from how labor was managed in response to customer volume to how the waiting area and bar were designed to maximize throughput and guest experience. It wasn’t the most complex case I encountered in business school, but it was the most eye-opening.

The biggest lesson I took away was that optimization doesn’t stop when something appears to work, that there is always another layer to uncover. The Benihana case also helped me see how my engineering background gives me a distinct advantage in business. The same systems thinking I used in engineering design applies directly to designing operations, processes, and strategies. Benihana was the moment that connection clicked for me.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I love most about Bryan-College Station is that despite being a college town, it never feels small. With nearly 80,000 students, Bryan-College Station has so many different things from the food in Downtown Bryan to the energy that takes over the entire town on a fall football Saturday. But what makes it special for graduate students specifically is that there’s a real community within the larger one. There are spots, events, and gathering places where graduate and professional students carve out their own space, separate from the undergraduate experience. As someone who has spent both my undergraduate and graduate years at Texas A&M, I’ve watched the town grow alongside the university. What I appreciate most is that no matter how much it changes, the sense of community never does.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is Jeff Bezos. Bezos started with a simple idea, which was selling books online, and built it into a company that has fundamentally changed the world. What I admire most about Bezos isn’t the scale to which he built Amazon, but his mindset as a business leader. Bezos has always been a long-term thinker, where he could see where the market was heading before anyone else could. Bezos was okay taking losses in the short-term if it meant long-term success. He has consistently been committed to innovation and more importantly, innovating customer experience. It was the customer experience he created early on with Amazon, that turned a small online bookstore into one of the most influential companies in history. As someone who wants to build something meaningful in biotechnology, Bezos reminds me that transformative ideas require conviction, patience, and a relentless focus on solving real problems.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? In the MBA program at Mays Business School, AI was actively utilized in every class. As we worked through the course content, the professor would show us how to use AI to be more efficient, or to increase our understanding of the content. I remember one time when I was a relatively newcomer to balance sheets and income statements, where we used AI to do a quick analysis of a company’s 10K to better understand the financial strength of the company. Throughout the MBA program, we were always taught to leverage AI as an assistant, but not as a replacement for our work. The most valuable insight I gained was how to prompt and leverage the different AI models depending on the task.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The MBA classmate I admire most is Allison Sadler. As one of the youngest students in my cohort, I was surrounded by experienced industry professionals. Allison, who came from the oil and gas industry, took me under her wing in a way that went far beyond academics. She was a true mentor, someone who helped me think not just about the coursework but about how to plan ahead in my career and life. What set Allison apart was her ability to take the concepts we learned in class and bring them to life by connecting them to real-world applications from her own experience. She made me a sharper thinker and a better student – not because she had to, but because investing in others is simply who she is. Her mentorship reminded me that the most valuable part of an MBA isn’t always what you learn, but the relationships you build along the journey. Allison is someone who embodies the Aggie Spirit.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The top two items on my professional bucket list are to one day meet Jeff Bezos and then the other one would be to meet Warren Buffett. I believe that having a dinner with them and maybe learning a little bit of their magic would be so amazing.

What made Marcus such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Marcus Glass is an exceptional leader and one of the most thoughtful student advocates I have had the privilege of working with. As Graduate and Professional Student Body President, Marcus combines sharp intellect, strategic thinking, and a genuine ability to connect with people. He engages stakeholders in ways that build trust while remaining steadfast in his commitment to representing graduate and professional students.

Marcus is a natural change agent who understands how to thoughtfully navigate complex institutional spaces. He balances advocacy with partnership, recognizing the importance of working alongside administration to create meaningful progress. His leadership during conversations surrounding academic freedom concerns exemplified this approach. Marcus elevated graduate and professional student voices in spaces where they had not previously been included, ultimately helping secure their place in key university processes and procedures. Strategic, agile, and deeply committed to people, Marcus consistently strives for excellence in all he does. He is a standout leader whose thoughtful advocacy and collaborative approach create lasting impact.”

Dr. Melanie McKoin Owens
Division of Student Affairs Assistant Director

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