Ella Starr

Southern Methodist University, Cox School of Business

“Relentless executor driven by purpose beyond myself, pushing forward until the job is done.”

Hometown: Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Fun fact about yourself: I try to be a minimalist. Fewer things, fewer distractions, more focus on achieving goals and driving results.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Florida, BS in Chemical Engineering.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? REB Capital Management, Analyst.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Goldman Sachs in Dallas, TX.

Where will you be working after graduation? REB Capital Management, Managing Director.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Cox Distinguished Scholar (Full tuition merit scholarship)
• VP of Alumni Relations, Graduate Real Estate Club
• Cox Admissions Ambassador
• Teaching Assistant

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school?

I’m most proud of my role as a peer coach. I never had a title or official position, but many of my classmates (and underclassmen) regularly came to me for help with preparing for interviews, thinking through offers, or figuring out their careers. I ran mock interviews, helped refine personal stories, and encouraged classmates to think more clearly about the kind of life they wanted. Three MBA students ultimately secured offers after preparing together, and two others asked me to mentor them more regularly throughout the program.

What made this experience meaningful is that it happened organically. I’ve learned that I don’t need a title to lead. While many MBA achievements are tied to student clubs or large organizations, I’ve always found the most satisfaction in helping someone one-on-one through an important decision or moment of uncertainty. Seeing someone walk away with more clarity and confidence is far more rewarding to me than being a small part of a large initiative, and it’s something I would do regardless of whether anyone gave me credit for it.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? The professional achievement I’m most proud of is successfully pivoting from engineering to finance before business school. I entered the field without a traditional finance background, so I had to build the foundation largely on my own. In my first year, I spent considerable time teaching myself the fundamentals – reading finance and investing books, studying financial statements, and working to understand how investors thought about businesses and markets.

What made this achievement significant was how quickly I got up-to-speed in an entirely new field. Within about a year, I had developed enough technical knowledge and confidence to start contributing meaningfully. The experience reinforced something I value about my approach to work: when I decide to pursue something, I am willing to self-study and put in the sustained effort required to close the gap.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose the Cox School of Business because of its prime location in Dallas and the access that it provides to the business community across North Texas. I was already living in Dallas and knew first-hand how dynamic the region’s economy had become. With companies continuing to relocate to the area and industries expanding across the metroplex, the opportunity to build relationships in a fast-growing business hub was incredibly compelling. Being in Dallas meant the network was not abstract – it was accessible.

What made that accessibility especially valuable during business school was the ability it gave me to build connections in person. Instead of relying only on virtual networking, I could meet alumni and executives face-to-face throughout the city. That proximity made it much easier to develop real relationships and enabled me to understand the industries shaping the region. For me, the combination of the strong SMU Cox local network and Dallas’s economic momentum made the program a clear choice.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Susan Riffe taught our first accounting class, and what stood out most was how methodical and organized her teaching was. Each concept was carefully built on the previous one, making it easy to see how the pieces of financial statements connect and how accounting ultimately explains what is happening inside a business.

Before business school, I had exposure to finance and accounting through my work, but it was practical rather than academic. Professor Riffe’s class helped me understand the structure behind what I had been seeing professionally.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course was Valuation and Analysis taught by Professor Amar Gande. What made the class stand out was its hands-on structure. Each week, our team worked through real-world valuation cases, applying the frameworks and concepts we were learning in class. Instead of learning valuation purely in theory, we had to make assumptions, debate them as a team, and defend the conclusions we reached.

I especially enjoyed how the course forced us to connect the theory to practical decision-making. Building models, analyzing businesses, and presenting our reasoning made the material feel immediately relevant. The repetition of applying these tools in different situations helped the concepts stick in a way that lectures alone never could.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA events were the seminars hosted by the Business Leadership Center at the Cox School. Throughout the program, students could sign up to attend seminars with executives and subject-matter experts from a wide range of industries. These sessions were outside the normal MBA coursework, but many students regularly attend because of the quality of the speakers and the practical insights they share.

What made the experience valuable was the direct exposure to leaders who were actively running companies, investing capital, and shaping industries. The conversations were often candid and interactive, giving attendees the opportunity to ask thoughtful questions. The Business Leadership Center reflects something important about the SMU Cox culture: the school places a strong emphasis on connecting students with the business community and learning directly from practitioners.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Like many students, I initially focused heavily on classes and recruiting, which meant I didn’t take full advantage of networking with my classmates. If I could do it again, I would be more intentional about investing in those relationships earlier. As the program went on, I realized that some of the most valuable parts of the MBA experience came from getting to know my classmates, hearing how they approached problems, and building friendships that extended beyond the classroom.

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 I worked on was the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village transaction in Real Estate Finance taught by Professor James Ray. The case focused on the sale of Stuyvesant Town, one of the largest real estate transactions leading to the Global Financial Crisis. What made the exercise especially engaging was how interactive it was. Each student had to analyze the deal from different perspectives – seller, broker, general partner (GP), limited partner (LP) – and advocate for the outcome that best served each party.

The biggest lesson I took away was that every participant in a transaction sees the same deal very differently. What looked like a great deal to one party could be far less attractive to another. The case made it clear that successful investing and dealmaking require more than just financial analysis – one must understand the motivations and incentives of everyone at the table.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Dallas is a large and economically dynamic city, but it doesn’t have the friction that comes with many other major metros. Dallas has a thriving business community, a steady influx of companies relocating to the region and a strong presence across industries like finance, real estate and technology. Being able to live and study at SMU and connect with that business ecosystem all in the same city made the SMU Cox MBA experience more meaningful and efficient.

What business leader do you admire most? John C. Goff built his career in real estate and investing by taking big, calculated bets and sticking with them through the cycles. Through Crescent Real Estate and Goff Capital, he has been involved in some of the most significant real estate deals and investments in Texas. What I appreciate most is that Mr. Goff’s success wasn’t the result of a single transaction. It came from decades of operating, investing and rebuilding businesses across different market environments. I also respect how closely tied Mr. Goff remains to the Dallas-Fort Worth community, despite operating at a national level.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? One way the Cox School integrated AI into the MBA experience was through encouraging students to use generative AI tools to support research, summarize complex material and test ideas while preparing for assignments and cases. Rather than treating AI as something to avoid, several professors encouraged us to experiment with it responsibly as a productivity tool.

Using AI showed me that its value is less about replacing thinking and more about accelerating it. It can quickly scan information, summarize concepts or help structure ideas, but the quality of the output depends heavily on the user’s judgment and domain knowledge. The biggest insight I gained is that AI works best as a collaborator. It can help you move faster, but it still requires critical thinking to ask the right questions and evaluate the answers.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Madeleine Black is enrolled in the MA/MBA program, which combines graduate study in the arts and business. Madeleine has a background in classical music, and through our conversations, she introduced me to a world I previously knew little about. Hearing how musicians think about craft, discipline, and performance expanded my understanding of creativity and excellence.

What makes Madeleine especially impressive is that she pairs that artistic background with strong financial and analytical skills. That combination is rare. Watching how she bridges those two worlds has been both inspiring and a reminder that great thinking often happens at the intersection of very different disciplines.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Continue improving my business

One of my long-term goals is to keep sharpening my ability to make sound business and investment decisions. Judgment is built through experience – studying businesses, evaluating opportunities, and learning from outcomes. I want to continue developing the pattern recognition that allows great investors and business leaders to consistently make better decisions over time.

2. Keep learning about innovation and applying

I also want to stay close to innovation and new ideas. Whether it’s new technologies, business models or financial tools, I’m naturally curious about how innovations reshape industries and create opportunities. My goal is not just to understand these developments, but to apply them in practical ways that create value in businesses and investments.

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

“Ella Starr exemplifies the combination of academic excellence, leadership and service this recognition celebrates. As a Cox Distinguished Scholar, Ella was selected to receive full tuition and fees—an honor reserved for only the most exceptional students admitted to the program. This distinction reflects not only her academic capabilities but also the strong potential she demonstrated from the very beginning of her graduate business education.

Ella has consistently invested in the success of the broader community. She serves as Vice President of Alumni Relations for the Graduate Real Estate Club, where she helps strengthen connections between current students and the Cox alumni network. This outstanding MBA student is also a Cox Admissions Ambassador, who generously dedicates her time hosting prospective students on campus to let them know of the many opportunities available within our programs. In addition, she serves as a Teaching Assistant, contributing to the academic experience of fellow students while demonstrating both mastery of the material and a willingness to support others in their learning.

Most notable is Ella’s commitment to her peers. As a peer coach, she actively helps classmates prepare for interviews by providing guidance and conducting mock interviews to help refine their skills and build confidence. Her willingness to mentor others while navigating her own transition—from an undergraduate background in chemical engineering to a career in finance—demonstrates both determination and generosity of spirit. Through her intellect, leadership and genuine commitment to supporting others, Ella Starr is exactly the type of student who elevates those around her.”

Julie Maass
Assistant Dean, Graduate Student Enrollment and Engagement
SMU Cox School of Business

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2026

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